ye believe in God...- ''Be putting your trust in God. Also be putting your trust in me.'' [Wuest]
Their hearts would not be troubled, if they would commit everything to His keeping.
Jesus refers to God and Himself as equally trustworthy. cp. 10:27-30; Isa 43:1-3
14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions:
if [it were] not [so], I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.
14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, [there] ye may be also.
14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
my Father's house- GK= oikia, house, habitation (ie., the heavens. cp. 1Kin 8:27).
many mansions - GK= mone, dwellings, abidings. cp. 2Cor 5:1
a place- GK= topos, a place marked off (as a city is delineated from wilderness).
The believer's true Home is heavenly, not earthly -
I would have told you, if it were not so - Christ is uniquely qualified to confirm
the reality of the heavenly city, the hope of OT believers. cp. Heb 11:8-16; Joh 3:13
Note that our Lord has taken these tasks upon Himself. He has not delegated them to angels. The Bridegroom personally prepares for and gathers His Bride to Himself.
The language of v.2-4 is in keeping with the marriage customs of the jews at that time. The bridegroom, having secured the hand of his intended bride by paying a dowery, would return alone to his father's house. There he would prepare a place (often an addition to the father's house) for his bride. Only after everything was ready, would he return for her, and take her to his father's house, where they would be married, and where they would live together in the place prepared.
14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; {cp. 13:36}
and how can we know the way?
14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also:
and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
14:9 Jesus saith unto him,
Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;
and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?
14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself:
but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
14:11 Believe me that I [am] in the Father, and the Father in me:
or else believe me for the very works' sake.
hast thou not 'known' me?- GK= ginosko, to come to understand, to know by experience (cp. v.7).
14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also;
and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
greater works- The disciples had already done miracles like those of Jesus. Mat 10:5,8
Which is greater? (a.) to heal the physically sick and raise the physically dead, or
(b.) to lead spiritually dead men to eternal life?
The later ministry of the apostles included many physical miracles, but these were not greater than those of Jesus. However, as they preached Christ crucified, risen and coming again, great multitudes were born again. cp. Acts 2:41; 3:6,12-19
because I go unto my Father -
These 'greater works' are part of what Jesus referred to as ''the works that I do''. v.12-14
Christ continues the ministry which He came into the world to do, but ever since He departed out of the world, He does His work through men who ''believe in'' (trust in) Him (not in their own ability).
He entrusts them with the proclamation of His word (2Cor 5:18-20),
which calls men to seek Him, who alone can supply their need. cp. Joh 1:50,51; 5:20,21
14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do [it].
to 'ask in my name'- Means more than just adding His name at the end of my prayer. It means-
To ask for things which the blood of Christ has secured for us. Heb 10:19
(This privilege belongs only to believers.)
To ask with confidence in His authority, and ability. v.12; Mat 28:18-20
To ask according to His will (1Joh 5:14). This implies that --
- - we know His will. cp. Joh 7:17
- - we desire His will. cp. James 4:3
It is proper to pray to God the Father (16:23,24,26) or to God the Son (cp. Acts 7:59).
14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. {cp. v.21-24} 14:16 And I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
14:17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; {cp. v.6; 15:26; 16:13}
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him:
but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more;
but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
14:20 At that day ye shall know that I [am] in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
another {of the same sort} Comforter- GK= parakletos, one who comes alongside, a consoler, a counselor.
Up until this time, Jesus was their comforter (v.1). But He was about to go away. In heaven, Christ is our 'advocate' {GK= parakletos} with the Father. 1Joh 2:1; cp. Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25 Like Him, The Holy Spirit helps us in our infirmity. He is always with us. Rom 8:26-27
the Spirit...-
...dwells {present tense} with you- ie., in the Person of Christ. cp. v.7,9; 3:34
...shall be {future tense} in you- since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit indwells all believers.
In John's Gospel, Jesus declared Himself as the fulfillment of the feasts of Tabernacles & Passover. These were two of the three feasts at which attendance was required of all Jewish men. The significance of the third feast, would not be fulfilled until the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks).
I will come to you- ie., bodily, after His resurrection (v.19) and at His second coming (v.3), and
assure them of their relationship to Him- ''at that day ye shall know...'' v.20; Rom 8:16; 1Joh 5:10
I in my Father... ye in me... I in you-
ye in me- In Christ, believers have salvation.
We are 'baptised' into Him (ie., identified with Him)-
- - as Noah, in the Ark, passed through judgment. cp. 1Pet 3:20,21
- - as members in His body, joined to Him. 1Cor 12:12,13
- - as branches in the Vine, dependent upon Him. 15:1-11
I in you- Because He lives within, believers have sanctification.
- - as He lives within, we become more like Him. Gal 2:20
14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot,
Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him,
If a man love me, he will keep my words:
and my Father will love him,
and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings:
and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being [yet] present with you.
14:26 But the Comforter {v.16}, [which is] the Holy Ghost {ie., the Holy Spirit},
whom the Father will send {cp. 15:26} in my name, {''ie., in Jesus' place and for Him.'' [TBKC]}
he shall teach you all things, {cp. 16:13; 1Cor 2:13}
and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you. {2:22; 7:39; 12:16; 20:9}
Judas, not Iscariot - this disciple is called Thaddeus in Mat 10:3; Mark 3:18.
if a man love me -
he will keep my words- keep- GK= tereo, to attend to carefully, to observe.
he that loveth me not...- disregards His Word, which is God's Word. cp. v.10; 12:49
14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:
not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. {cp. v.1}
fellowship with Him in the present, through -
- - Participation in His work, v.12
- - Prayer in His Name, v.13,14
- - Obedience to His Word, v.15,21
- - awareness of His invisible Presence, v.18,22,23
- - growing understanding of His Teaching, v.26
14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come [again] unto you.
If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father:
for my Father is greater than I.
14:29 And now I have told you before it come to pass,
that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. {cp. 13:19; Mark 8:31,32; 9:31}
I go unto my Father... my Father is greater than I.-
God the Father & the Son are One in essence and purpose. 1:1,2; 10:30; 14:9; 20:28
The Father was greater in glory during the Son's voluntary humiliation. Php 2:6-8
The Son was about to return to the Father, and to His former glory. 13:31,32; 17:5
(This should have caused those who loved Him to rejoice, if only they had understood.)
But before returning to the Father, He had a cup to drink...
14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you:
for the prince of this world cometh, {ie., Satan, cp. 12:31; 16:11}
and hath nothing in me.
nothing- GK= oudeis, 'not even one thing'. The NIV translates it as ''has no hold on me''.
But he could not get a grip on the sinless One (Heb 7:26), who was motivated only by love for the Father and obedience to Him. (5:19,30)
Regardless of Satan's attempts to divert Him or destroy Him, He would fulfill the Father's will.
14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; {cp. 4:34; Mat 26:39}
and as the Father gave me commandment, {cp. 10:17,18; 12:27}
even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.