George Washington’s Farewell Address was published in American newspapers in 1796 at the end of his second term.
Historians talk about the significance of this address as Washington called for national unity and warned about political factions, domestic troubles, and foreign entanglements. Sounds familiar.
The most important aspect of his farewell address is how he talked about the importance of religion and moral virtue for the stability of the public and political life of the nation.
In the backdrop of the Civil War, in 1862, Abraham Lincoln directed that Washington’s farewell address be read at military installations and in Congress.
Today, the annual reading of Washington’s farewell address continues in the Senate. Unfortunately, I think it’s symbolism without substance. It doesn’t have to be that way.
What’s the value in returning to something like Washington’s farewell address?
To remain clear-eyed about the future, we must look to the past. That’s why we study history.
The same is true in the Christian life. In order to live faithfully in the future and in the present, we must return again and again to God’s Word.
This morning we’re going to look at a farewell address of sorts from Jesus. John 14–17 is known as the final discourse. That’s Jesus’ final message with the disciples. The passage we will look at today isn’t the “final discourse,” but it is Jesus’ final public address to the crowds.
The passage is John 12:44–50. Jesus’ final public address before the rest of the gospel turns to Jesus’ private interactions with his disciples.
Here, in Jesus’ summary statement, we hear many things we’ve heard Jesus say before.
- Jesus is one with the Father.
- Jesus is light of the world.
- Jesus did not come to judge but to save.
- Jesus’ words bring eternal life.
It’s not mere repetition. Jesus ties together various statements that he previously made and here presents a compact summary of his mission.
My summary of Jesus’ summary statement is: Jesus came so that we would be saved to walk in darkness no more.
Let’s walk through the passage to see how Jesus makes his argument.
The first thing to notice is that if you’re going to believe that Jesus is the savior of the world, you must also believe that he is really and truly God. Only God can save.
44–45 Many Paths, Same God?
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.
In verses 44–45, we are confronted with Jesus’ claims about himself. Here, unequivocally and unapologetically, Jesus discloses the truth of his identity, namely that he is fully divine. He is fully God and fully man. He is the eternal Son sent from the Father.
He and the Father are one (John 10:30). They share the same one divine nature. If you have faith in the sent one (Jesus), you have faith in the sender (the Father). The Father, who sends, and the Son, who is sent, are one. All the “Godness” of God is in Jesus.
This means that all of the divine attributes that are true of God the Father are true of God the Son…and likewise God the Spirit. Without exception. There’s never a time when the Son gives up or empties himself of any divine attribute, even during his incarnation.
Let’s think about how remarkable vs 45 is, where Jesus says, “whoever sees me sees him who sent me.”
To understand the astonishing claim here, we must reflect some on God’s nature.
John tells us in John 4:24, “God is spirit.” What this means is that God’s divine nature is immaterial. Invisible. Properly speaking, God does not have a body. (For our purposes, bracket out Jesus’ incarnation and his assumption of a human nature). God is spirit.
Divine invisibility is an attribute of God. Think of a passage like 1 Timothy 1:17, “17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Remember Moses’ encounter with God when he asked God to show him his glory (Exodus 33).
God responds to Moses by saying, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” (Ex 33:20). This underscores God’s holiness. The only way into the holy presence of God is through some atoning sacrifice (That’s why the book of Leviticus is so bloody)…all of which is designed to be fulfilled in Christ’s atoning death on the cross.
In John’s prologue, John alludes to Exodus, when he writes, in 1:18 “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”
Jesus, the Son who is at the Father’s side has made him known. How?
We see God’s glory through the incarnation of Jesus, who is the Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (1:14).
Col 1:15 says, Jesus is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
Heb 1:3 says, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…”
Back to vs 45. Jesus says whoever sees him (in the flesh) sees the Father, who sent him. Why? Because Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He is the exact imprint of his nature.
Jesus is, as the Nicene creed says, “God of God, Light of light, very God of very God; begotten, not made. Being of one substance with the Father.” This means he is of the same divine nature.
Okay, all that is very theological. But here’s why theology matters. Here’s where the rubber meets the road.
If all of this is true, and this is, in fact, what Jesus claimed for himself, then what this means is that Jesus was not simply a good moral teacher.
I’ve quoted this before, but I’ll quote it again…C.S. Lewis, the patron saint of evangelicalism. Lewis’s famous Liar, Lunatic, or Lord argument from Mere Christianity:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [that is, Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
We are left with a choice. Who do you say, Jesus is?
In our day, we want to make Jesus in our image. But the Bible calls that idolatry. We cannot tinker with Jesus to make him fit what we would like to be true about him. (Very smart people do this. It’s really sad to see). We must learn to see him as he is revealed in God’s word.
Jesus emphatically, unequivocally, and unapologetically claimed to be God.
Here’s the other practical point regarding Jesus’ statement that whoever sees him sees the Father.
This highlights the exclusivity of Jesus. This statement rejects religious pluralism… the idea popular today that there are many paths to the same God.
No. Jesus is the exclusive way to the Father. As he says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The only way to see the Father (and here, I think see means know. The knowing of faith. Not merely physical) is to see/know Jesus.
The Son is sent from the Father. The only way to the Father is through the Son by the Spirit.
46–48 Saved to walk in darkness no more
Why was he sent? What was the purpose of the incarnation?
Last week, we looked at how the cross was at the center of his mission to save us. But Jesus came so that we would be saved to walk in darkness no more.
Jesus continues in vv 46–48.
46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
Two major themes in these few verses: Judgment and Light.
I’ll make brief comment here on vs 46, but we will come back to this as vs 46 as that will be the emphasis of our application.
Jesus has come as light so that we would be saved walk in darkness no more.
Apart from Christ, we are in darkness. Spiritual ignorance and spiritual blindness. In the Bible, darkness is imagery for God’s judgement.
In Matthew 25:30, Jesus describes hell as a place of “outer darkness.”
Jesus has come to save us, so that we would not remain in darkness, but that we would believe in him and become children of light. In him is life and light.
Now, vv. 47–48 Jesus talks about judgement. It can be a bit confusing because he says he did not come to judge… he says that twice. Then he says that those who do not obey and reject his words have a judge––and who is the judge? The words that Jesus has spoken will judge him on the last day.
This does not mean that judgement does not exist. Speaking of those who want to recast Jesus into our image. There are many who want to erase any notion of divine wrath or judgement. To do so is to lose the gospel, in the name of compassion and mercy.
Now, it’s crucial to properly understand justice and judgement. God’s righteous judgment must be understood in light of God’s holiness, goodness, and love. When God judges, he judges in accordance with his holiness, goodness, and love. When God acts, he acts consistent with his nature. It’s crucial that we do not make a caricature of God’s judgement.
Nobody wants to live in a world where there is no judgement. If there’s no judgement, there’s no justice.
When Jesus says, in vs 47 “I did not come to judge the world but to save the world,” he is talking about the purpose of his incarnation.
He’s talking about the 1st advent. (Incarnation). The purpose of Jesus’ first advent was not judgement. The purpose of the first advent was to save, to provide a way for salvation.
There will be a day of judgement, the Last Day…the 2nd advent, the return of Christ. He will make all things new.
Jesus’ first advent was a time for salvation. Jesus’ second advent will be a time for judgement.
We live in between the advents. And this is a time for repentance. This is a time for belief. This is a time for salvation.
For those who believe in Jesus, the verdict is in. The judgement has already taken place. As we read last week, vs 31, Jesus says, “Now is the judgement.”
He was referring to the hour of his crucifixion. The end time judgement has already taken place for those in Christ. And there will be no condemnation at the Last Day because their sin has already been condemned. This is good news.
49–50 Jesus offers us eternal life
Jesus concludes his final appeal by letting the people know his words bring eternal life. Believe in his words, abide in his words, and you will live with him forever.
Vv 49–50:
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
In the Greek, Jesus literally says, “For I spoke not from myself.” Or you might render it, “I did not speak on my own.”
When Jesus says, “I do not speak on my own,” he is emphasizing the union between the Father and Son. Jesus is not off doing his own thing.
Jesus never acts independently from the Father. They work inseparably. When Jesus speaks, God speaks. He and the Father are one. That’s why you can trust Jesus’ words that they bring eternal life. Because they are the words of God.
What is the commandment that Jesus has spoken as told him from the Father?
I think it’s shorthand for the gospel. Believe in the words of Jesus, believe in the message he proclaimed, and you will have eternal life. Jesus’ words are the words of God. Therefore, they bring life.
John 6:63, Jesus says “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
Jesus calls each of us to turn from our sin, and to believe in his life-giving words. When we believe that he truly is the Light of the World, we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness and into his marvelous light.
That light is unfading. Unconquerable. In that light is eternal, unending, everlasting life.
Application
For our application, I want to return to vs 46. Here’s what Jesus says:
46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
Jesus’ purpose for coming into the world as light was so that we would not remain in darkness.
Most of us here this morning are believers and have been walking with Jesus for a long time. How does this apply?
Don’t grow disillusioned with the light. Believing and abiding in Jesus’ words brings true freedom and eternal life.
Sin is deceitful. I’ve seen friends, whom I love, grow disillusioned with the light and become enamored with the darkness.
They think that pursuing those things will bring them greater joy and freedom.
It doesn’t. It’s a lie from hell. It only leads to enslavement, brokenness, and emptiness.
If you are a believer, you are a child of light. God’s purpose for you is not to remain in darkness.
Do not grow disillusioned with the light.
Here’s our application. How do you do that? How do we not grow disillusioned with the light.
1st Application
First, we must remind ourselves of the truth of who we are in the gospel. We must remind ourselves of our new creation identity.
Eph 5:8: 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
At one time you were darkness. But now you are light in the Lord. This is who you are. Importantly, this is who God says you are.
If anyone is in Christ, you are a new creation.
Jonathan Landry Cruse is a pastor and author. He’s written a wonderful little book on Christian identity, The Christian’s True Identity.
Here’s what he says, “For the Christian, our identity is not something we earn, but something we are given. It is not something we find inside ourselves; it is something that is intrinsically outside ourselves in the person of Jesus Christ. He becomes our identity.”[1]
This is the meaning of Paul’s statement in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Paul is not saying you have ceased to exist… Paul’s point is that you are now united to Christ and Christ lives in you. Your new identity is found in your union with Christ.
That’s my first application. How do we not grow disillusioned with the light? We must remind ourselves of our new creation identity in the gospel.
2nd Application
The second application for not growing disillusioned with the light is this: Walk in the light.
There’s effort. We have agency. We have responsibility.
Importantly, there’s a reason this application comes after the first one. Our efforts flow from the reality of the gospel.
First, we remember who we are in Christ, by the power of the Spirit in the gospel.
That’s foundational, because the gospel is foundational to any efforts that follow.
Our task now that we have become children of light is to walk in the light.
Ephesians 5:8–10: 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
Walk in the light. Learn to love what is good, right, and true. That comes from abiding in Jesus’ words. Hearing and keeping his words. Hearing and obeying.
You walk in the light, learning to love all that is good, right, and true…and then you live in such a way that brings honor and glory to God.
You live in such a way that brings a smile to God’s face. That’s what it means to live a life that is pleasing to God.
That is possible. Perfection is not going to happen in this life. But it is possible to live a life that brings a smile to God’s face.
Some of you might think that God is never pleased with you. But that is not true. If you are in Christ, as you walk in the Spirit, you are living a life that is pleasing to him.
Walking in the light is walking in step with the Spirit.
The more you walk in the light, the more you experience the blessing of the light.
Yes, it is true that as you walk in the light, you experience the blessing of the light… But you have to fight for it. You have to fight for the good.
The blessing of walking in the light is not always easy. It is difficult! It involves sacrifice and self-denial. But it is worth it.
If you are a child of the light, God’s purpose for you is not to remain in darkness.Keep fighting the good fight. Abide in the light. Don’t give up.
Let me close with Paul’s words from Galatians 6:9:
9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
[1] Jonathan Landry Cruse, The Christian’s True Identity