Chapter 14
At the end of John 13, Jesus has just told Peter that he will deny him three times. They are still in the upper room, though Judas has left already. Almost all the words in 14-17 are in red. This is why so many chapters today. John, who was reclining on Jesus as these words were spoken, has recorded what he heard. Maybe we should think of this as Jesus' last discourse, his last instructions, his last orders, his last admonition/pep talk, his last appeal for them to be faithful. Note also that this four chapter discourse is only recorded by John - according to my Harmony.
2022 - Matthew would have been there. But perhaps Matthew considered these words as strictly intended for the 12, and so did not share them in his gospel. Perhaps the other apostles also considered them so, and did not share them with Mark or Luke. But when John writes, it's likely been 50 years since these events took place, and he considers that long enough. It is just as likely that John was the only apostle still living when he wrote his gospel, and so he did not want these last instructions from Jesus to die with him.
The footnote to Chapter 14 is interesting. It says that John 13-17 all really go together. It starts with Jesus trying to stop the bickering of the 12, then his warning, and their reply. Jesus continues to address them with repeated interruptions, but finally they fear to ask him further. The discourse concludes with the wonderful prayer (the real Lord's prayer) in chapter 17.
2021-2 - 13 ended with Jesus telling Peter he would deny him, but just before that, Jesus is talking about going where they cannot follow. In 14, he tells them that in the place he's going, he will be preparing a place for them. So this is really a continuation of what was being said in 13 before Peter interrupted.
It starts like this:
1 "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. [Jhn 14:1 ESV]
Belief in Jesus is a natural thing if you believe in God.
Jesus tells them he is going someplace else and will prepare a place for them there. Once prepared, he says, he will come get them and take them there. He tells them they already know the way. But Thomas disagrees, (2021 -2 - First Peter interrupted, now Thomas does so) and says he doesn't even know where Jesus is going, much less how to get there. As is usually the case, Jesus speaks of spiritual things, the disciples are stubbornly literal. Jesus' answer is this verse:
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [Jhn 14:6 ESV]
This answer was not just about how the 11 were to get there. This is a universal answer. Jesus doesn't say "none of you", he says "no one".
2021-2 - Look at vs 3:
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. [Jhn 14:3 ESV]. This is how you get to where Jesus already is. He comes and gets you, and takes you there with him, so that you can be in the same place he is. Perhaps Jesus here was talking about where his body was going, and about how the apostles could not come there in bodily form on their own, but they know that they will eventually be there, because Jesus is going to come and get them - and come and get us all. This is the rapture. But then vs 6...Is Jesus referring to the body? The only way to get a physical body into God's presence is through Jesus, at the rapture. Is this not about salvation at all???? He is talking here about getting to heaven, but I don't think he is talking about salvation. Well...back in vs 1 he is saying they already believe in God, and that peace comes from believing in him also. This is salvation. You believe in God, believe also in me. If you believe, Jesus will come back and get your physical body and take it to the place in heaven, in God's presence, that he has prepared.
2024 - This should not be confusing, yet I do believe that sometimes, in these chapters that record Jesus' last words to his apostles, Jesus is addressing things that will happen to them uniquely, and at other times Jesus addresses things that will happen to the church...and if his lifetime on earth has a different set of rules, then that comes in here also. We know from other scriptures - 2Thess for instance - that vs 3 encompasses more than just the 11 who hear it directly. We also know, from other scriptures, that this is talking about physical bodies. The spirit goes to heaven immediately when we die. The body follows at the rapture, perhaps some at the beginning of the Millennial, and the rest at the GWT.
2024 - In response to "we do not know the way", Jesus says "I am the way, and there is NO OTHER WAY". This would not have been addressed to the 11 only. The way to physically arrive in heaven is through belief in Jesus, and ONLY through that.
Verse 7 says this:
7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." [Jhn 14:7 ESV]
What does "from now on" mean? What was about to change? It is yet a while before the day of Pentecost, but this verse promises a sea change in the way the 11 see Jesus. Does this connect back with what Jesus says just before he washes their feet?
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, [Jhn 13:3 ESV]
The transfer had been made in verse 3. All things were in Jesus' hands. Jesus now has the full authority that previously was in the Father's hands. If he has the authority of God, then he is God. MSB says this is one of many references emphasizing that Jesus is God incarnate. Still...this verse says "from now on". Something was changing.
2021-2 - There is a footnote to this verse in TCR ESV. It gives two other possible ways to translate this verse. It is one of those places where the Greek carries more meaning in one word than English can carry. It is translated three ways in ESV because the Greek word is in the Indicative mood. Here is the definition of the indicative: It is a simple statement of fact. If an action really occurs or has occurred or will occur, it will be rendered in the indicative mood. So whether they already knew Jesus, or did know Jesus, or were going to know Jesus - as long as one of those was true and factual - then they would know the Father also. For us, this is about three tenses. In Greek it is about the indicative mood. The fact is not fixed in time. Didn't mean if you have already in the past done this, then and only then will you know the Father also. It meant whenever in your life, so long as you do at some point "know" Jesus, then you will know the Father also.
Then Philip (Peter, then Thomas, and now Philip interrupts) asks Jesus to show them the Father, and that will be sufficient. Jesus says Philip should know that if he has seen Jesus, he has seen the Father already. They are one and the same. I'm going to put both of these verses in:
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 authority, 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, or else believe on account of the works themselves. [Jhn 14:10-11 ESV]
If I was living in 30 AD, how would I explain the Trinity to a lot of fisherman and uneducated commoners? They didn't know a lot of biology. They had a hard time with "abstract thinking", and tended to hold onto the literal with both hands. So is that what Jesus is trying to explain to them? That He and God are the same spiritual being, yet each is performing a specific set of agreed upon tasks in order to stay within the rules ("No man has seen God at any time", and "the blood of bulls and goats" is not enough, and don't forget "for all have sinned") and yet keep God as both planner, executor, and savior of all that was, is, and will ever be? To keep everything "kosher", God must act as if he were three, though the three are of one mind, and of one person. They are not "of one body" because they are spirit. The incarnation was a supernatural "demotion" in order to save all mankind, God's creation in the image of himself and because of that similarity, a creature worth reconciling to him - not just worth saving from eternal damnation, but perfecting and resolving this image to that of the creator God.
Maybe that's the way to look at all this.
2021-2 - I think so. "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" certainly makes them inseparably the same - yet they are two. It is the Father that speaks through Jesus - so God is the one speaking. God is right there, in the person of Jesus. God is being God, but in the human form named Jesus. It is the Trinity. And then again we get the verse about "believe BECAUSE OF the works". I think we have to read this as Jesus saying only God Himself could do miracles the way Jesus has done miracles. I go back to the "kind and quantity" argument. Jesus did things never before done in history. No prophet had ever restored the sight of one born blind. I don't think anyone had ever healed a man lame since birth. And I know no one had ever restored life to one dead four days. And then there is quantity. How many places does it say he healed ALL who came to him. No one had ever done that either. The outpouring of supernatural power on such a scale was unprecedented, and was done to affirm that God was present Himself, in Christ.
2021-1 - You cannot "demote" God. God cannot be less than He is, nor can He be more, because He is all. Everything is contained in Him, nothing can possibly be added. The man Jesus was not less than God, but a manifestation of God in human history. God had to enter "time" in order to be a physical sacrifice. God had to indwell us to reveal himself to us and to transform us into His image. All this is God, though in three applications. Think of the Rosetta Stone. All three version say the same thing, reveal the same thinking. But one part reveals itself to one group, another part to a second, and the third to a third. But all three parts point back to the same intent, the same "mover". Never thought of this before, but it is a way to look at it. Seems like a pretty good way.
Moving on now...
Vs 11, above, ties back to Jesus earlier claims to Pharisees directly. Either believe me, because I'm standing right here, or believe the works that prove I am God. That's what Jesus is saying to them. He is man, yet he is also the Father. Both the Father AND the Son.
2021 - 1 - If we interpret "...I am in the Father and the Father is in me..." as Jesus' way of revealing these two aspects of the Trinity, and not try to get too far into the details/weeds/comprehension of it all, this will read a lot better. Let's try that...
I do think it is important here that Jesus is saying that the Father isn't working "through" him to do His own miracles, as God did with Moses, Elisha, and so on. Jesus says that in his case, the sheer magnitude of the works, the power of the works, demonstrate that he is not just in tune with God and acting on His behalf, but is in fact one and the same with God. No "mere" man could do these things. Only God could do these things. Jesus does these things. God and Jesus are one. But I am getting bogged down in explaining the Trinity again.
This verse:
12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. [Jhn 14:12 ESV]
I was afraid of this...every single verse is just a lens to a much greater, much lengthier, more profound concept. Jesus is telling them so much...
MSB note on vs 12 (I so wish they were online so I could copy/paste) says the greater works referred to are about the scope of what they do, not the miraculous extent of what they do. Not that they will do more or more "impossible" miracles, but that what starts with them as disciples going to all the world will reach more people and win more souls than Jesus did during his 33 years or so on the earth. The "because" is because the Holy Spirit will not be sent until Jesus has gone. I do not know why this is a requirement. Perhaps the world can only take one of the Three at a time? Perhaps it is only in heaven all three can be present and understood. Perhaps it is the mind of mortal man that limits us. Understanding the concept of the Trinity even with only one present in physical space at a time is beyond us, how would we understand both a physical and a spiritual at the same time while the person of the Father was still in heaven. The thing is, there's no need to speculate on that. The key is that the Spirit will not come until Jesus has gone, and it is the power of the Spirit, indwelling with power, that makes Christianity the force that it was and still is.
These verses, because I think the MSB note is important:
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. [Jhn 14:13-14 ESV]
Jesus promises that whatever they ask in his name, he will do it. I believe this is a promise specifically to the 11. As apostles, the power that is coming after Jesus returns to the Father will be theirs in huge measure, and as they die, that kind of power will never again be wielded by man.. Not so to us today.
2021-1 - I think this is right. The Holy Spirit acted with greater power in the 11/12 at the start of the church than it has ever acted through anyone else since then. Whatever the apostles asked, Jesus would do. I think this is in the sense of the valve being fully open for power to flow in them. I don't think there is anything that we cannot ask. I don't think there's anything he won't answer. I just don't think he is going to answer everything. With the apostles, I think he pretty much answered everything.
Answered prayer may be likewise. They were being given a special privilege because they were the chosen 11 that does not extend to all. The rest of us get answers in accordance with his will. I think Jesus meant they could have whatever they wanted...and their lives show that they set aside earthly things and prayed for his help and to do his will.
2021-1 - After reading the MSB note here, and after some of the things I read today in Chapter 15, I don't think this promise is limited to the apostles. I think it is to all Christians. Here are some things from the MSB note on vss 13, 14. Putting quotes around it as I will just copy it:
"In their hour of loss at the departure of Jesus, He comforted them with the means that would provide them with the necessary resources to accomplish their task without His immediate presence which they had come to depend upon. To ask in Jesus' "name" does not mean to tack such an expression on the end of a prayer as a mere formula. It means: 1) the believer's prayer should be for His purposes and kingdom and not selfish reasons; 2) the believer's prayer should be on the basis of His merits and not any personal merit or worthiness; and 3) the believer's prayer should be in pursuit of His glory alone."
So this promise is the "tool" Christians have been given to perform the work assigned to us. It is prayer, a privilege, directly to the Father through the Son for God's help in what we do for Him. Add to this the coming of the Helper, who will "interpret" for us with groanings that cannot be uttered, and you get the bigger picture of just how we pick up the spreading of the gospel that Jesus started. The Spirit that interprets is in us, we are in Christ, Christ is in God. We are all one in the purpose and plan of God.
Vss 15-17 are about the coming of the Helper. It says the world cannot receive him because it doesn't see or know him. This is a supernatural thing in the lives of those not in the world. From/through the Holy Spirit within us, we gain insight, understanding, and are instantly changed into a new creature, and we continue to be pulled free of the encumbrances of sin as we grow in truth and knowledge. This is all sounding like a preachy sermon. It is in fact a modern day ongoing miracle right in front of our eyes that we rarely acknowledge.
Further, Jesus uses the same language as to the Holy Spirit and man as he uses of Himself and the Father. He says "...he will be in you...". Wait though...it doesn't say we will be in the Spirit, but only that the Spirit is in us...at least so far that's all that's been said. Then in vs 18, this:
18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. [Jhn 14:18-20 ESV]
When the Spirit comes, Jesus is in the Father, and we are in Jesus. So we are in the Father via Jesus. Jesus in also in us. This is the difficult part. How can we be "in" Jesus at the same time Jesus is "in" us? This violates our human concept of physical space. So, this must be an entirely spiritual concept, that we will understand by and by...
This verse:
21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." [Jhn 14:21 ESV]
This is a two-sided relationship. It says that those who are truly saved keep the commandments, and are therefore loved by God, and will see Jesus in their own lives. Only the saved get this promise. (I am worried about saying parts of what Jesus says are just for the 11, and other parts are for everyone. There are certainly no grammatical indications that this is the case. Only the 11 are there. Perhaps the best way to look at it is to say that all that is said is to the saved universal, but that the degree to which it is true is different. The 11 did miracles after Jesus had ascended, up to and including raising the dead. But such things diminished with time. There are still miracles today, but not really through individuals. More corporate miracles through the prayers of many.
Judas (the other one) asks how Jesus will manifest himself to them but NOT to the world? (Peter, Thomas, Philip, and now Judas) I never really saw this question this way before. What is it that will be different about the apostles - and I think this one applies to all saved people - that they see Jesus in the world but the world doesn't see him. Jesus answers that those who keep his commandments are the ones that love him, and because of that his Father loves them, and Jesus and the Father will make their home with him. Jesus moves on to tell them that the Helper will be sent by the Father in Jesus name to explain it all to them, to reveal the whole truth to them.
So Jesus will reveal his continued presence to us through the work of the Spirit.
2021-2, This verse:
24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. [Jhn 14:24 ESV] What does this mean? Those who don't love Jesus don't hear Jesus' words, but they hear the Father's words. Think of the unsound/false doctrine that could be made out of this verse! And wouldn't you know...there is no MSB note on this verse. This seems to be about those who worship God but not Jesus. First people that come to mind are the Jews who deny that he is Christ and yet pray to God at the wailing wall every day. There are so very many like this - believers in God, but not in His Son. Then there is Islam. They believe in the God of Abraham. But not in Jesus as Son. But...doesn't it also say that if we don't know Christ we don't know the Father either? I found this one, also from John: 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. [1Jo 2:23 ESV]. So...you don't "have" the Father, but you hear Him? I really need to come back to this. What does this mean????
Later, same day. It isn't a mystery at all. Just one of those brain locks I sometimes get. What it means is that this "rule" about how keeping the words of Jesus signifies a love for Jesus, and not keeping them means you don't love him, is not Jesus' rule, but God's rule. God ordained that it be this way. Once again, both to my surprise and chagrin, it was the NIV that clarified the meaning of this verse.
2021-1 - These verses:
25 "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. [Jhn 14:25-26 ESV]
This would seem to be specifically addressed to the 11, and we should be very careful in applying it to ourselves. I do think that the more saved people study the Bible, the more of it is revealed - that whole to him who has most, more will be given concept. But the fact that we have parables that say that is what we should go back to for support, not this verse right here.
This one:
28 You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. [Jhn 14:28 ESV] What do we say to "the Father is greater than I"? MSB addresses the question. Jesus gave up glory to be incarnated as a man. He will return to the Father and have equal glory with Him. The phrase "found in fashion as a man" comes to mind. The apostles should have rejoiced that Jesus was going to the Father and re-assuming the glory that is only found in heaven, indeed can only be found in heaven. It cannot be that Jesus meant the Father was greater, because in vss 7-11 he repeatedly claimed equality with the Father. MSB gives a long list of references in the book of John where this claim was made.