In Luke 22:19-20, Jesus introduces Himself as the fulfillment of the Passover Feasts promise. He declares His body to be the broken bread of every meal, and His blood is identified with a New Covenant that changes the heart of a person (Jer 31:31-33). What does the promised heart transformation look like? The Last Supper Discourse, John 13-17, details God’s promise of the Holy Spirit for believers, and how this will effect their lives. Jesus came as God in the flesh, serving His disciples and others, forgiving sin and healing broken people, all while demonstrating the Father’s love. To see Jesus was to see the Father. His intentions in this
Focus on John 14:15-23. Jesus had been their “Helper”, and now another “Helper” was soon to come. Who? God’s Spirit had been with them, but soon would be within them. How? He said “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” in verse 15. This appears to be the condition for receiving the promise (16), but a few things must be remembered or you will be focused on the wrong thing. Jesus came to be righteous for us (2Cor 5:21). Jesus lived in the flesh by seeing what His Father was doing and joining Him in it (Jn 5:19). No man in righteous in the flesh (Isa 64:6; Rom 3:23). Our righteousness is from God through Christ and received by faith alone (Phil 3:8-9). You may need to let all that soak in! We are capable of many things, but perfectly keeping the Ten Commandments isn’t one of them. That is why we have Heb 8:10-12, reminding us that the intent of the New Covenant is to change us on the inside, or give us a new heart. You can’t get there by trying harder!