For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.
14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believein God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.
- They believe in God, but soon it will be more difficult to keep their faith in Jesus.
- Things will become hard; once Jesus is arrested, they may feel hopeless.
- Note: The sentence could be translated, "... keep having faith in me, too."
- For more about the Messiah bringing peace, see: Isaiah 9:6-7; 52:7; 57:19: Ezekiel 37:26; Haggai 2:9; Acts 10:36: Romans 14:17.
- The Lord comforts them with a promise that he will one day take them to their heavenly home (vv.2-4).
- Or does he? "House" (see 2:16-19 and 2:21-22) seems to refer to a reality on this earth. Jesus will not leave them as orphans (v.18), but will come soon. Thus a perfectly legitimate way of reading the passage is in reference to the promised Holy Spirit (Pentecost onwards).
- Whether we understand John 14 as referring to heaven or not, when Jesus returns he will takes us to be with him.
- We will rise from the dead (5:25).
- No one goes to heaven before the second coming. See 3:13. For now, we wait.
- This means that the Protestant doctrine that those who die proceed immediately to heaven or hell is not right.
- For more on this, please see my book Heaven & Hell. For a short study of the intermediate state of the dead and the nature of eternal punishment, try What Happens After We Die?
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
- Thomas is confused (v.5). He does not know the way, to which Jesus responds that he himself is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus says there are no exceptions.
- Jesus is the way to heaven. (See also 1:51.) He came to earth to give mankind a way to salvation; this was his purpose.
- The Gospel of John consistently teaches that salvation is through Jesus alone. Refusal to believe is inexcusable (3:18 etc).
- This also means that there is no "path to God" in other religions. Though these systems may contain some truth, they do not have the truth. Though, like the moon, they may reflect some light, they are not, like the son, the source of light.
- V.6. is the 6th of 7 "I Am" sayings.
- There are ways to explain v.6 that will not cause the postmodern thinker immediately to bristle:
- Way: Instead of Christianity being a system, it is a person, Christ. Preach Christ, not the church, not ourselves (2 Cor 4:5).
- Truth: The truth isn't just a religion or set of doctrines, but a person, Jesus. Truth is relational.
- Life: This is not self-centered, autonomous living, but shared, others-directed life. The full or abundant life (10:10) is available in Jesus Christ. The is life as God intended it to be lived!
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
- Philip asks to see the Father (v.8).
- The request for God to reveal himself is similar to Moses' request in Exodus 33:18. (And the same Greek verb is used.)
- Jesus insists that those who see him see the Father. See also 1:14,18; Colossians 2:9.
- If this is a difficult concept for us, Jesus tells us to look at his works.
- They are good and righteous.
- They include miracles and signs that point us to ultimate spiritual reality.
- They include wonders that only God could do. (For example, walking on water, calming storms, knowing people's thoughts, and much more.)
- Whoever believes in Jesus will do greater works than he did (v.12). What does this mean?
- That we would accomplish more on the earth, since our geographical ministry is global, whereas Jesus' was local? Perhaps, but there may be another way to interpret this.
- Couldn't it mean that we complete Jesus' ministry by being his agents in realizing the spiritual realities that all his words and miracles pointed to?
- See also Colossians 1:24, another passage where our works build upon or supplement the works of Christ.
- For until the Spirit was given (see John 7:39; Acts 2:38-39), these realities were more potential than actual.
- We bring the Spirit to others, enabling them to enjoy the blessings and power of the kingdom of God. Jesus laid the foundation, of course, but now everything he taught about is becoming real in the lives of his followers everywhere.
- A parallel thought is contained in 5:20: "For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed."
- That the Christian church would work greater miracles? No, for that is not possible. No one did greater deeds than Jesus Christ, and so the neo-Pentecostal interpretation cannot be correct -- that 14:12 promises spiritual people will do miracles.
- Whatever we ask in his name, he will do (vv.13-14).
- This is so within the context of obedience.
- His name means his authority. As long as our requests don't violate his moral will or his sovereign will, he will grant them.
- The objects of our prayers being answered is that God be glorified. He is at the center, not we ourselves.
- This is no carte blanche guarantee. A doting father will spoil his children; this is not God.
- For more on meaning of "in the name of...", see Deuteronomy 18:7 and 1 Kings 18:32 (where the name represents authority); 2 Chronicles 2:4 (where the name represents presence); and especially Exodus 34:5-7 (where the name is the character of the one who owns it).
15 “If you love me, you will keepmy commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
- According to Jesus (vv.15,21), there is no such thing as loving Jesus while ignoring his commandments. How distorted the notion of being a Christian has become in our day!
- If we obey, Jesus will send another counselor to us (v.16).
- "Another" counselor suggests that Jesus is the first counselor. When he returned to heaven, the Spirit took his place on earth.
- The Greek parákletos means helper, intercessor, counselor, advocate. It is sometimes transliterated to paraklete.
- The Spirit helps us, intercedes for us, inspires us...
- Receiving the Spirit is connected with obedience. See Acts 5:32.
- The world cannot accept the Spirit (v.17). See also 1 Corinthians 2:10-16.
18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
- Although Jesus will depart this world, the relational connection will be reestablished through the Spirit (vv.18-20).
- Re: v.20: The relationship Jesus had with the Father ("in the Father") will be similar to our relationship with Jesus ("in him").
- The obedience of verse 21 is a relational thing.
- God loves everyone in the world, of course, as the Bible affirms. But vague acknowledgment ("easy believism") is not at all the same thing as reciprocation.
- The relationship is two-way. It is nonsense to speak of loving God while ignoring his will (v.22ff). See also 1 Corinthians 8:3 with Matthew 7:23.
- God reveals himself to us in Christ when we obey him (vv.21-24).
- Note: The Judas of verse 22 is Judas son of James (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). He seems to be the same person as Thaddaeus (called Lebbaeus in some manuscripts). For more, click here.
25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.
- The Spirit will come.
- The Advocate / Counselor will teach the apostles and remind them of all the things Jesus had taught them (v.26).
- The Spirit will come in Jesus' name, not in his own name -- just as Jesus did not come in his own name, but in the name of the Father.
- The Spirit isn't said to bring new revelation so much as to remind the apostles about all that Jesus had taught them.
- Considering the closest possible connection between Jesus and the Spirit (sometimes called the Spirit of Christ), this makes sense.
- For two examples of the Spirit "reminding" them, see 2:17,22 and 12:16.
- The teachings of the apostles were none other than the teachings of Jesus. When the later church altered the teachings of the faith, they were not doing so under the influence of the Spirit of Christ.
- Note: The Muslims claim that the paraklete is Muhammad! How do they do this?
- They suggest that parakletos is a corruption of perikletos (praised one, a common epithet for the prophet Muhammad). And yet there is no textual evidence whatsoever for such a corruption.
- They ignore the fact that the counselor was to come in Jesus' name (v.26).
- They ignore the fact that the counselor was to remain with them forever (v.16), whereas Muhammad was on the earth barely 60 years.
- The peace that Jesus gives (v.27) is not just a vague wish for things to go well with us. The world has so little to offer. Saying "Shalom" is one thing; conferring it is another entirely. The peace/shalom of Jesus is salvation itself.
- Although Jesus is about to depart (die, and later ascend), this is all for the good.
- It will look as though the devil (v.30) is scoring a victory -- but appearances can be deceptive!
- Obeying the Father's will, even to the point of death, is supremely difficult, and yet this is Jesus' resolution (v.31). "Get up, let us go."
Thought questions:
- Love and obedience go together. Have I bought into the distorted notion that I can love God while disregarding his clear commandments? Is there any area of my life in which I have been consciously disobedient?
- Do I have the peace of Christ in my heart? Being calm is a good thing, but am I sure that the peace I experience is spiritual? Is this the peace that comes from an obedient love-faith relationship with Jesus, or the (more common) ethereal bliss unconnected with true discipleship? Jesus' peace flowed from his perfect obedience to the Father's will, and so should ours. This is neither legalism nor priding ourselves in our spiritual achievements, though some mistakenly assume it is.