The Cost of Witness (1)

 The Upper Room – The Cost of Witness (1)

Our next section, or movement, in the Upper Room is John 15:18 – 16:4 (remember that chapter and verse numberings were not in the Bible as it was first written). As we prepare to explore this passage, it will be helpful if we read it again, and again, and again. It may also be helpful to read it in multiple translations to allow the central thought of what Jesus is saying to soak into us. Don’t get hung up on individual word choices in the translations, rather pay attention to the theme. 

That is, look at the entire tree, at the shape of the tree. Only after we “see” the tree can we appreciate its branches. (I can’t count the number of Bible studies I’ve been in where folks get so absorbed in individual branches that they never see the passage they are reading, they never see the tree, they never get the point of the passage. If we don’t see the tree we really can’t see the role the branches play.)

How does this passage fit into the entire Upper Room (chapters 13–17)? 

What role does it play in its immediate context (15:1–17 and 16:5–22)?

Why might Jesus have included 15:26-27?

How might this passage have played out in the lives of the disciples who first heard it?

How has this passage been expressed in the Church through the ages?

What does this passage look like in our congregations?

What does this passage look like in my life?

In your life?