For the study, today I tried something different. I really wanted to study out Jesus’ last “talk” with his disciples. In order to do that, I read through chapters 13-17 in one sitting. I was focusing on Jesus’ words after He sent Judas out to do what he was going to do, until they arrived to the garden where He was arrested. My goal is to think deeply about these last words of Jesus to His disciples. I understand intimately the importance of last words. I thought much about the things I wanted to share with my mother when I knew she was dying. I didn’t want to miss anything. I wanted to drink in her last words to me. I thought about the words I wished I would have said to Mark’s mom before it was too late. While the disciples didn’t understand that this would be their last conversation with Jesus, Jesus knew it was, and so I imagine these words hold a special significance.
As I read through, I tried to ignore chapter breaks and get a sense for how long this conversation lasted.
If you feel led to look at the next chapters in this way, I would love to hear what one or two themes you see recurring in this last private interaction that Jesus has with his disciples.
As we have been reading through this discourse, seeing it as the singular conversation it is, we have seen some recurring and important themes to Jesus’ last conversation with his disciples. We tried to look at the overall context of what his message was. In doing so, one theme that came out was how he repeatedly comes back to statements about what it really means to be/ show/prove their discipleship to Him. I really want to encourage us as a group to read through these chapters today with that focus, trying to discern how he defines the true marks or evidence of our discipleship.
For instance focus on Jesus’ statements that say something along the lines of:
This is how you show you are my disciple….
This is how men will know you are my disciple….
I look forward to seeing what we come up with.
Wild Hope 