A couple decades ago I started studying John 13 through 17 in earnest. Jesus' promises sounded good, but with a measure of frustration, I had to admit that their practical meaning escaped me. What was the tangible application when He said, "Abide in Me, and I in you" (John 15:4)? There is, of course, no thousand-foot-tall, Jesus-shaped building where believers can physically reside. So this question launched me on a quest to understand, which ultimately led to hidden treasures beyond my wildest imagination.
John wrote his gospel account for two purposes, first, "That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God," and second, "that by believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31, NASB). Through the chapters he holds very closely to these two themes, bringing forth witness upon witness that Jesus is the Christ, and interspersing them with teachings, signs, and parables that reveal what it means to have life in His name. When we study this gospel with those themes in mind, hidden treasures burst from its pages.
Through His miracles and teachings, Jesus sought to draw people's minds deeper - the wedding feast at Cana, clearing the temple, feeding the 5000, walking on the sea, and healing a blind man with mud made from spit were signs that reveal the mystery of God, which is, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). And at the last supper, Jesus swept back the curtains, revealing astounding realities about the experience that awaits those who will receive Jesus in the form of His teachings. He bowed before His Father with the heartfelt request that all who believe in His word would be one - not one with each other, but one with Him on the level that He is one with the Father. "The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me" (John 17:22-23, NASB).
A worthwhile study is to highlight all the verses in John that share some witness about Jesus being the Christ, the Son of God. Then carefully read the remaining unhighlighted verses, because these are the ones that contain the hidden treasures. Ask yourself, "What does this passage reveal about having life in Jesus' name?" I believe all who will study like this will be amazed at the marvelous truths that emerge.
