Introductory remarks:
Chapter fourteen is a continuation of chapter thirteen. After Jesus tells Peter that he will be denying Him, He now comforts him and the rest of the disciples ahead of time. "There cannot be doubt, that the first Discourse (recorded in chapter 14) was spoken while still at the Supper-Table. It connects itself closely with that statement which had caused them so much sorrow and perplexity, that, whither He was going, they could not come (13:33). If so, the Discourse itself may be arranged under these four particulars: explanatory and corrective (vs. 1-4); explanatory and teaching vs. 5-14); hortatory and promissory (vs. 15-24); promissory and consolatory (vs. 24-31). Thus there is constant and connected progress, the two great elements in the Discourse being: teaching and comfort" (Edersheim).
Jesus the Way to the Father
Verse 1, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me."
LGT "Let not be troubled your heart; you believe into the God also into me you are believing."
"Let not your heart be troubled:"
Jesus Himself knew what it was to have a troubled heart as we learned form the last chapter when He expressed His grief over the prospect of Judas betraying Him; He also knew that His disciples were troubled because of His statements in the last chapter of going away to where they could not follow, and that one of them would betray Him; Jesus assures them not to let their hearts be troubled. In the Greek NT the term 'heart' kardia' is never used of the physical organ, but always of the seat of the 'soul' pseuche. In the NT the heart is where man thinks, reasons, decides, and also feels emotions. The Lord tells them that they need to put their trust in God and in Him.
"Ye believe in God, believe also in Me."
I agree with most commentators I have studied that Christ uses an imperative 'believe' pistuete', that is, 'you must believe on God and on Me.' There are two very important facts brought out in this phrase; 1) in order to have peace in our heart we must put our complete trust in God, and 2) Jesus is definitely claiming equality with God, that is, He is stating once again His deity. McGee says, "to believe in God means you are not an atheist; but to put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ means you are a Christian." This is why, kids, I say that there is no such thing as an atheist, because I believe everyone knows there is a God, but they are unwilling to put their trust in Him as their Savior, because they don't believe they have a need of a Savior.
Verse 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;"
LGT "In the house of My Father are many abiding places: otherwise, I would have told you. Because I go away to prepare a place for you."
"In My Father's house are many mansions:"
The Greek word for 'mansions' is monai which means 'dwelling places.' "The Jews taught that those in glory occupied different abodes according to their rank" (Edersheim). It seems to make sense to me that there will be different 'dwelling places' in heaven based on how we will be rewarded, and this seems to be reinforced by what the apostle Paul teaches in his Epistles of crowns and rewards for how we have treated the brotherhood. There seems to be two areas that the believer will receive rewards, 1) study of the Scripture, and 2) love for God and our brothers and sisters. This opinion about various dwelling places I have adopted is not a dogmatic choice, for there are many expositors that hold the opposite view, that is, that all the dwelling places are the same.
"If it were not so, I would have told you."
Here Jesus is comforting His disciples with a promise for the future, that they will one day be with Him in His Father's house. "He is going home to His Father's house, but had there been room in it only for Himself He would necessarily have told them that this was the case, because the very reason of His going was to prepare a place for them" (The Expositors Greek Testament).
"I go to prepare a place for you;"
This clause begins with a casual particle hoti meaning because, seeing that, for this reason, etc. literally, 'because, or for this reason I go away to prepare a place for you. Vincent notes that in this verse Jesus describes the Heavenly Dwelling with these three terms, house, mansions, and place. "They had been dismayed when He spoke of going away; now they are assured that His going away is for their advantage. He is going to get ready a place for them and, having done that, He will come back and take them there" (Bruce).
Verse 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."
LGT "And if I go away and I prepare a place for you, I come again and will take you along with Myself, that where I am also you may be."
"And if I go and prepare a place for you,"
This is the whole purpose of His going away, that he may receive all believers to Himself. By His death and resurrection He will make provision for all believers through death to be absent from the body to be present with the Lord.
"I will come again, and receive you unto Myself;"
When Christ says He will come again He is referring to receiving all believers at their death, and the actual second coming to receive the Church that will be on earth before He returns to set up His Millennial Kingdom. Bruce writes, "John does not touch on the cosmic dimension of the Lord's return; it is introduced here as the consummation of the personal fellowship between Him and His disciples. In the Pauline writings we may compare the personal note of I Thess. 4:13-18, where believers are comforted with the assurance 'so we shall always be with the Lord', over against the 'world-historical' setting in which the great event is placed in 2 Thess. 2:3-8. It would, indeed, be interesting to explore the relation between the 'word of the Lord' reported by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 and the word of the Lord here recorded by John."
"That where I am, there ye may be also."
The object of Christ's departure is for a permanent abiding place for all Christians. Our proper time for entrance into heaven will come at our death; now, this must really take the sting out of death, if we really believe the Lord.
Verse 4, "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know."
LGT "And where [I] go you are knowing the way."
Robertson says the way to the Father's house is now plain to the disciples. The best text omit the second 'ye know.'
Verse 5, "Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?"
LGT "Thomas says to Him, Lord, we are not knowing where you are going; how are we able to be knowing the way."
It seems that the way the Lord always posed His remarks it would invariably draw out a response from at least one of the disciples. McGee says that He is glad Thomas was there to ask the question, because he would have asked the same question if he were there. We do have quite an advantage over the disciples, because we have already read the Book, and we know the answers. "Thomas does not know the goal of our Lord, therefore he does not know the way" (The Expositors Greek NT).
Verse 6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
LGT "Jesus says to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one comes unto the Father except through Me."
We should all be thankful to Thomas for asking this question, for the Lord has given us a very absolute dogmatic answer.
"I am the way, the truth, and the life:"
"Either of these statements is profound enough to stagger any one, but here all three together overwhelm Thomas. Jesus had called Himself 'the life' to Martha (11:25) and 'the door' to the Pharisees (10:7) and 'the light of the world' (8:12). He spoke 'the way of God in truth' (Mark 12:14). He is the way to God and the only way (verse 6), the personification of truth, the center of life. Except by Me (ei me di'emou). There is no use for the Christian to wince at these words of Jesus. If He is really the incarnate Son of God (1:1, 14, 18), they are necessarily true" (Word Pictures of the NT - A.T. Robertson).
Each one of these words Jesus uses describing Himself is preceded by an article 'the' so in the Greek language, this particularizes the word:
"I am the way." The disciples are engrossed with the thought of separation from Jesus. To Thomas, ignorance of whither Jesus is going involves ignorance of the way. 'Therefore, with loving condescension the figure is taken up, and they are assured that He is Himself, if we may so speak, this distance to traverse' (Milligan and Moulton). All along the course to the Father's house they are still with Him.
"The truth." As being the perfect revelation of God the Father: combining in Himself all divine reality, whether in the being, the law, or the character of God. He embodies what men ought to know and believe of God; what they should do as children of God, and what they should be.
"The life." Not only life in the future world. He is "the principle and source of life in its temporal development and future consummation, so that whoever has not received Him into himself by faith, has become a prey to spiritual and eternal death" (Meyer). "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." Compare Col. 3:4; John 6:50,51; 11:25,26).
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou shouldest pursue; the truth which thou shouldest believe; the life which thou shouldest hope for" (Thomas A Kempis, 'Imitation of Christ,' 3:56)" (Vincent's Word Studies in the NT).
"No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
McGee has an interesting illustration on this dogmatic phrase:
"No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." He made a dead-end street of all the cults and 'isms.' He says the only way to God is through Him. That is a dogmatic statement! Years ago a student at UCLA told me he didn't like the Bible because it is filled with dogmatism. I agreed with him that it is. He especially selected this verse and said, 'That's dogmatic.' I said, 'It sure is, but have you realized that it is characteristic of truth to be dogmatic? Truth has to be dogmatic.'
I had a teacher who was the most dogmatic, narrow-minded person I ever met. She insisted that 2 plus 2=4. It didn't make any difference what you had two of - apples or cows or dollars - she always insisted that 2+2=4. She was dogmatic. I have found that the bank I do business with operates on the same principle. Only in my case it is 2-2=0, and they are dogmatic about it. Friend, let me say to you that one of the characteristics of truth is its dogmatism.
Now, not all dogmatism is truth - there is a lot of ignorance that is dogmatic. However, that which is truth has to be dogmatic. When I ask directions to go somewhere, I do not want my directions from a man who isn't sure and doesn't know exactly how to get there. I want my directions from one who knows exactly where I'm to turn and how many blocks I'm to go. As I said to this young student, 'Millions of people for over nineteen hundred years have been coming to Christ on the basis of His statement, 'I am the way,' and they have found it is accurate, that it has brought them to heaven. Why don't you try it? The Lord Jesus says you are not going to get to heaven except through Him. Why not come through Him and make sure?" (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)
"Follow thou Me. I am the way and the truth and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way, which thou must follow; the truth, which thou must believe; the life for which thou must hope. I am the inviolable (unbreakable - firm) way; the infallible (perfect) truth; the never-ending life. I am the straightest way; the sovereign (supreme) truth; life true, life blessed, life uncreated. If thou remain in My way thou shalt know the truth, and the truth shall make thee free, and thou shalt lay hold on eternal life" (The Imitation of Christ; quoted by - F.F. Bruce).
Verse 7, "If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him."
LGT "If you had known Me, also My Father you would have known: and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
"If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also:"
Thomas and the other disciples had come to know Jesus personally, but they are still taken back by His words. The phrase 'had known' is literally had come to know by Christ revealing Himself to them (Vincent). Jesus again uses the term 'My Father', not the Father, proving His divinity that He is truly the Son of God.
Bruce writes: "To come to God by this way is to know Him. The disciples have already begun to know the Father because they have come to know the Son; in fact (although they do not realize it yet) in the Son they have seen the Father." Calvin says, "Christ, therefore blames the disciples for not acknowledging that the fullness of the Godhead was manifested in Him. 'I see,' (says He,) 'that hitherto you have not known Me in a right and proper manner, because you do not acknowledge the lively image of the Father which is exhibited in Me'"
"And from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him."
Robertson notes, "Because they have seen Jesus who is the Son of God, the Image of God, and like God (1:18). Hence God is like Jesus Christ (That is, in essence - homo-ousias). It is a bold and daring claim to deity. The only intelligible conception of God is precisely what Jesus here says. God is like Christ."
"Here also our Lord, by what He says, intends rather to gain their ear for further explanation, than to tell them how much they already knew" (David Brown).
Verse 8, "Philip saith unto Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us."
LGT "Philip says to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it (will) satisfy us."
"Philip's request betrays ignorance of the truth that the Son came into the world to reveal the Father, and has been doing so throughout His ministry. To know the Son is to know the Father; to see the Son is to see in Him the otherwise invisible God. As the prologue to the Gospel (1:1-14), 'No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten, (Himself) God, who has His being in the Father's bosom (presence), is the One who has declared Him' (John 1:18)" (F. F. Bruce).
"Philip was a very quiet individual, the opposite from loquacious (talkative) Peter. I think he spoke very seldom. He has a Greek name and some Bible students believe that he was a Greek. However, he could have been Jewish and still have a Greek name. He is a very unusual man because every time we meet him he is bringing someone to Jesus. Remember that he brought Nathanael. I've often wondered about that. Philip was the quiet man and Nathaniel was the wisecracker. Philip was the straight man and Nathanael was the humorist. But quiet Philip brings people to Jesus. Remember that the Greeks came to him, wanting to see Jesus. Here he expresses the highest ambition any man can have, the highest desire expressed by any person in the whole Bible, 'shew us the Father.'
I'd like to ask you a personal question today. What is your desire in life? What is your ultimate goal? Do you want to get rich? Do you want to make a name for yourself? Do you want to educate your children? Do you want to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord? Our goals may be worthy goals, yet the highest goal is this expressed by Philip, 'Lord, shew us the Father'" (T. T. B. J. Vernon McGee).
"Philip, utters the universal human craving to see God, to have the same indubitable (absolute) direct knowledge of Him as we have of one another. Perhaps Philip supposed some appearance visible to the eye would be granted. Always there persists the feeling that more might be done to make God known than has been done" (The Expositor's Greek NT).
Calvin says, "It appears to be very absurd that the Apostles should offer so many objections to the Lord; for why did He speak but to inform them on that point about which Philip puts the question? Yet there is not one of their faults that is here described that may not be charged on us as well as on them. We profess to be earnest in seeking God; and when He presents Himself before our eyes, we are blind."
Verse 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?"
LGT "Jesus says to him, so long time I am with you and you do not know Me? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father: How (are) you saying, show us the Father?"
"Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me?"
After all this time we have spent together, Philip, and you do not know Me? Remember Philip, when you found Nathanael you said, 'We have Him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph' (John 1:45).
"He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father;"
"Philip had the greatest revelation of God because he had seen Him incarnate in flesh and been with Him - in His presence - for three years! Remember that the writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus is the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person (see Heb. 1:3). 'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father' does not mean you are seeing the identical Person, but you are seeing the same Person in power, in character, in love, and in everything else. You have seen all you would see in God the Father because 'God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth' (John 4:24). 'No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him' (John 1:18). It is Jesus Christ whom we see. We are going to spend all eternity with Him. For those of us who love Him, the goal of our lives is to come to know Him" (T. T. B. J. Vernon McGee).
Verse 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."
LGT "[Do you] not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words which I speak to you from myself I speak not, but the Father in Me remains, He is doing the works."
"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?"
Of course Philip knew Jesus, but obviously he did not know of this union Christ had with His Father. Christ here declares this Divine Unity that exists between Him and the Father. When we accept Christ as our Savior we enter into this wonderful union. What Christ is saying to Philip is, you know the Father when you know Me as the God Man." The mutual indwelling is such that everything Jesus says or does is the Father's saying or doing. This was so obvious that Jesus could appeal to the works He did in case His assertion was disbelieved" (The Expositor's Greek NT). Christ's claims to equality with the Father could not be any clearer.
"The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works."
Christ tells Philip that the Father should not be looked for anywhere else but in Him; Christ goes on to say if My words are not enough to convince you of My deity, then at least consider My wonderful works, for My words and My works are not from myself, but they are from my Father. When you behold the Son you also behold the Father. We, in this age of grace, should not look for the Father or the Son anywhere else but in the wonderful Word of God.
Verse 11, "Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very work's sake."
LGT "Believe Me that I [am] in the Father and the Father in Me: but if not because of the works themselves believe."
"Believe My assertion, not My manifestation, 'or if you find that difficult, believe on account of the works themselves'. The mention of His works and the evidence they afford that He is in the Father suggests a ground of comfort to His disciples in view of His departure. And from this point onwards in this chapter it is to the comforting of the disciples our Lord addresses Himself. First in vv. 12-14; second, in vv. 15-17; third, in vv. 18-21. The mention of the Paraclete [Holy Spirit] in connection with this third item of encouragement gives rise to a fourth interruption, this time by Judas, vv. 22-24; and at vs. 25 Jesus resumes His explanation of the Paraclete's function, and closes with several considerations calculated to remove their fears" (The Expositor's Greek NT).
Verse 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."
LGT "Verily, verily I say to you, the one who is believing on Me the works which I do also that one will be doing and greater than these he will do, because I go to the Father."
"He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also;
Jesus is giving encouragement to His disciples here in this verse, by describing their future apostolic ministry. The last phrase of this verse describes how it all will be possible, by His death burial and resurrection.
"And greater works than these shall he do:"
Jesus is not saying that the works will be better, by comparison, just greater in number. If you notice my literal translation does not have this second word 'works' because it is not in the better manuscripts, but was added by the translators for clarity, for it should literally read: 'and greater than these he will do'.
"Greater works; not more remarkable miracles, but referring to the wider work of the apostolic ministry under the dispensation of the Spirit (from the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost to the completion of the Scriptures and ushering in the 'Age of Grace'). This work was of a higher nature than mere bodily cures. Godet truthfully says: 'That which was done by St. Peter at Pentecost, by St. Paul all over the world, that which is effected by an ordinary preacher, a single believer, by bringing the Spirit into the heart, could not be done by Jesus during His sojourn in this world.' Jesus' personal ministry in the flesh must be a local ministry (that is, Jesus had to die first, before the miracle of the 'New Birth' could be manifest). Only under the dispensation of the Spirit could it be universal" (Vincent's Word studies in the NT).
"Because I go unto My Father."
The reason for this expansion of Christ's ministry is that He died, rose again, and ascended to the Father's right hand, and now the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete is carrying on His message, through frail instruments of flesh. This work that the Paraclete is accomplishing is beyond our human awareness, and there is no way topside this earth that any one can take any credit for what is being accomplished by Him. Edersheim writes: "Primary, no doubt, these words about greater works which they who believed in Him would do, because He went to the Father, refer to the Apostolic preaching and working in its greater results after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit."
"How are these greater works done? 'Because I go unto My Father.' You see, it is Christ who is still working, but today He is working through human instrumentality. He works through frail human clay, human flesh. If Jesus Christ were here speaking to people it would be great work. When Jesus Christ takes you and me and works through us to reach people, that is greater" (T. T. B. J. Vernon McGee).
"The substance, then, of these five rich verses (8-12) is this: that the Son is the ordained and perfect manifestation of the Father; that His own word for this ought, to His disciples, to be enough; that if any doubts remained His works ought to remove them; but yet that these works of His were designed merely to aid weak faith, and would be repeated, nay exceeded by His disciples, in virtue of the power He would confer on them after His departure. His miracles, accordingly, apostles wrought, though wholly in His name and by His power; while the 'greater' works - not in degree but in kind - were the conversion of thousands in a day, by His Spirit accompanying them" (David Brown - JFB).
"The disciples knew that in themselves they were quite incapable of any such achievement, but He went on to tell them of the coming Paraclete, who would empower them and make their witness effective. The 'greater works' of which He now spoke to them would still be His own works, accomplished no longer by His visible presence among them but by His Spirit within them. And it was only by His going to the Father that the Paraclete would come to them (John 16:7)" (F. F. Bruce).
"First, we must understand what Christ means: namely, that the power by which He proves Himself to be the Son of God, is so far from being confined to His bodily presence, that it must be clearly demonstrated by many and striking proofs, when He is absent. Now the ascension of Christ was soon afterwards followed by a wonderful conversion of the world, in which the Divinity of Christ was more powerfully displayed while He dwelt among men. Thus, we see that the proof of His Divinity was not confined to the person of Christ, but was diffused through the whole body of the Church" (Calvin).
Verse 13, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
LGT "And whatever you ask in My name this I will do, in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
This verse is so misunderstood by the so-called Church today; they think all they have to do is say 'in Jesus name' and He will grant their wishes. If we keep all these words of Christ in context, we will come to the correct conclusion; first, Jesus is speaking to His disciples for their Apostolic future ministry for them exclusively, after the outpouring of His Spirit on them, enabling them for this ministry, and, secondly, it was for the expanding of the Kingdom of God that they were asking, that the Father would be glorified. We can't expect God to answer any of our prayers, if it isn't for His Glory. These disciples were also to pray in Christ's name, for it is for Christ's purposes that they were to pray.
"In My name, the first occurrence of this phrase. Prayer is made in the name of Jesus, 'if this name Jesus Christ, as full substance of the saving faith and confession of him who prays, is, in his consciousness, the element in which the prayerful activity moves; so that thus that Name, embracing the whole revelation of redemption, is that which specifically measures and defines the disposition, feeling, object, and contents of prayer. The express use of the name of Jesus therein is no specific token; the question is of the spirit and mind of him who prays' (Meyer). Westcott cites Augustine to the effect that the prayer in Christ's name must be consistent with Christ's character, and that He fulfils it as Savior, and therefore just so far as it conduces to Salvation" (Vincent's Word studies of the NT).
"A great many people have picked this up like a dog picks up a bone and runs with it. They say they prayed and God just didn't answer their prayer. I've had Christian people tell me that they took that verse at face value. They prayed and God didn't answer their prayer. They ask me what is wrong. I tell them that they are reading something into the verse that is not there at all. They need to keep on reading. This is all tied into one package" (McGee).
Verse 14, "If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
LGT "If anything ye ask in My name, I will do [it]."
Again, I say that Christ is speaking to His disciples as they are getting ready to go out and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to their fellow Jews, and it does not apply to us today; however, as I have said many times, our prayers should not only be asking something from God, but we should fellowship around His Word in prayer, and then only pray according to His will.
The Promise of the Spirit
Verse 15, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments."
LGT "If you love Me, you will be keeping the commandments which are mine."
"A continued Love prevents disobedience" (Robertson).
Notice the LGT rendering, the commandments which are mine. Christ gave two commands that cover all the law; first, to love God with all your mind, soul, and spirit, and second, to love your fellow believer as yourself.
"Hitherto Jesus has spoken of His love for His disciples and of their obligation to love one another; now for the first time in this Gospel He speaks of their love for Him. The vital link between their love for Him and their obedience to Him (cf. verses 21, 23; 15:14) is a recurring theme in the Johannine writings. 'This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments' (1 John 5:3), and chief among these is the commandment that the followers of Jesus should love one another; indeed, 'we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments' (1 John 5:2). To love the Father is to love His children; to love the Son is to love His followers; for them to love one another is to love the Father and the Son. In such love the keeping of the divine commandments realizes its perfection. And in such a setting of love the first promise of the Paraclete is made" (Bruce).
"The love with which the disciples loved Christ was true and sincere, and yet there was some superstition mixed with it, as is frequently the case with ourselves; for it was very foolish in them to wish to keep Him in the world. To correct this fault, He bids them direct their love to another end; and that is, to employ themselves in keeping the commandments which He had given them. This is undoubtedly a useful doctrine, for of those who think that they love Christ, there are very few who honor Him, as they ought to do; but, on the contrary, after having performed small and trivial services, they give themselves no farther concern. The true love of Christ, on the other hand, is regulated by the observation of His doctrine as the only rule. But we are likewise reminded how sinful our affections are, since even the love which we bear to Christ is not without fault, if it be not directed to a pure obedience" (Calvin).
Verse 16, "And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;"
LGT "And I will ask the Father and another Paraclete [Comforter] He will give you, in order that [remain] with you forever;"
"And I will pray the Father,"
Literally And I will ask the Father. The Greek word for 'pray' is eratao meaning to ask on equal terms, always used by Christ when He asks from the Father (Vincent).
"And He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever."
The Greek word for 'Comforter' is Parakletos a 'Paraclete'. The word is para= along side, and kaleo= to summons or to call. Jesus is our Paraclete or advocate with the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the other Paraclete from the Father to believers. The Greek word for 'another' is allov meaning 'another of the same kind.' So what Christ is saying is that when I leave I will be a Paraclete with the Father as your Mediator, and the Father will send His Paraclete the Holy Spirit to be your helper along side. And He caps it all off with the assurance that the Holy Spirit will remain with the believer forever as a helper and guide.
Calvin writes concerning Christ's words in this verse: "I was given to you by the Father to be a Comforter, but only for a time; now, having discharged My office, I will pray to Him to give another Comforter, who will not be for a short time, but will remain always with you. Christ was the Protector of His disciples, so long as He dwelt in the world: and afterwards He committed them to the protection and guardianship of the Holy Spirit." Calvin goes on to say: "He calls the Spirit ANOTHER Comforter, on account of the difference between the blessings which we obtain from both. The peculiar office of Christ was, to appease the wrath of God by atoning for the sins of the world, to redeem men from death, to procure righteousness and life; and the peculiar office of the Spirit is, to make us partakers not only of Christ Himself, but also of all His blessings. And yet there would be no impropriety in inferring from this passage a distinction of Persons; for there must be some peculiarity in which the Spirit differs from the Son so as to be another than the son."
Verse 17, "Even the Spirit of truth; 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."
LGT "The Spirit of truth, whom the world is not able to be receiving, because it does not see Him neither is knowing: you are knowing Him, because with you He is abiding and in you will be."
"Even the Spirit of truth;"
What a most beautiful name, 'Spirit of truth' as opposed to the spirit of evil. Vincent says, "There is false knowledge, false faith, false hope, false love; but there is no such thing as false truth." "Christ bestows on the Spirit another title, namely, that He is the Master Teacher of Truth. Hence it follows, that until we have been inwardly instructed by Him, the understandings of all of us are seized with vanity and falsehood" (Calvin).
"Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him:
The world, cosmos, world system, cannot see the truth, and is completely void of it, because they reject the source of all truth, Jesus Christ the righteous One. "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Cor. 2:14 - NASB). The unbeliever cannot see the truth until he or she accepts Christ, and then the Holy Spirit opens their eyes to truth. I believe it is a vain pursuit to argue truth with an unbeliever, because it is mere foolishness to them. "It is the Spirit alone, therefore, who, by dwelling in us, makes Himself to be known by us; for, otherwise, He is unknown and incomprehensible" (Calvin).
"He does not say that the world would not receive the Spirit of truth. He says the world cannot receive Him. Oh, if we could learn this! The Spirit of God can take the Word of God and open it to the believer, but the unsaved man must first believe in Jesus Christ as his Savior. The man of the world cannot see Him because He is seen and worshipped in spirit and truth. He is seen with the spiritual eye. It is only by the Spirit of God that these eyes and ears can be opened to understand the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher to lead and guide us into truth. Without Him, the Bible becomes a book of history, a book of facts. The Holy Spirit teaches the truths of the Bible. The Holy Spirit has been in the world, but Jesus says that now He 'shall be in you' " (T. T. B. J. Vernon McGee).
"For He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
Jesus says, the Holy Spirit not only will come along side as Paraclete, to strengthen you, but He will take up residence within our hearts. Ever since Pentecost, every soul that has accepted Christ is immediately indwelt with the Holy Spirit. This truth is imperative to grasp, for without this knowledge, we lose the blessing of giving God all the glory for our spiritual growth.
Verse 18, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."
LGT "I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you."
"I will not leave you comfortless:"
The Greek word for 'comfortless' is orphanous meaning orphans. Jesus referred to His disciples as His little children (John 13:33), and so it is understandable that He says He will not leave them orphans, or helpless.
"I will come to you."
"But which aspect of His coming is signified here? If the reference is to His resurrection appearance, they were brief and temporary - although they bring the glad assurance that He was no longer dead but alive for evermore. If the reference is to their realization of His presence through the Spirit, that would fit well with His promise that they would not be bereft of support, for the Spirit would be their supporter, their Parakletos. But we must see a reference also to His words in verse 3: 'I am coming back again and will take you to Myself.' Indeed, His present words illustrate what was said in the comment on verse 3, that in this Gospel the distinction between various phases of Jesus' promised coming to His disciples is a 'vanishing distinction'. Every phase of His promised coming is embraced in this assurance: 'I am coming to you'" (F. F. Bruce).
Verse 19, "Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also."
LGT "In a short time and the world will no longer behold Me, but you behold Me, because I live and you will live."
"Yet a little while and the world seeth Me no more;"
The world is seeing Jesus with their physical eyes, while His disciples are beholding Him as the Son of God. "As for 'the world', it had seen Him during His public ministry and it would see Him again for a short time during his trial and crucifixion, but not after that. After that He would be visible to faith alone" (Bruce).
"But ye see Me."
The disciples see Christ through the eyes of faith. Someone may ask me why I believe in Christ? My answer to them could only be, why do you not believe in Christ? It is easy to answer the question why I believe, because I see Christ by faith, but it is impossible for me to answer the question why anyone does not believe in Christ.
"Because I live, ye shall live also."
"His disciples would go on seeing Him by faith (the present tense 'you see me' implies continuity stretching indefinitely into the future); more than that, His resurrection life guaranteed unending life to them, because faith were united to the Living One, and would draw their life from Him. Although the Spirit is not explicitly mentioned here, it is through Him, as the Lord and life-giver, that they will draw their life from the ever-living Christ" (Bruce). "He does not say, 'When I shall live, after My resurrection from the dead,' but 'Because I do live,' for it is of that inextinguishable Divine life which He was even then living that He is speaking - in reference to which His approaching death and resurrection were but as momentary shadows passing over the sun's glorious disc. And this grand saying Jesus uttered with death immediately in view. What a brightness does this throw over the next clause, Ye shall live also!" (David Brown JFB).
Verse 20, "At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you."
LGT "In that day you will know that I [am] in My Father and you in Me and I in you."
"At that day"
That 'day' is referring to the period after His resurrection and ascension when He pours out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
"Ye shall know that I am in My Father,"
The disciples will have the assurance that Jesus has returned to His Father as He so often spoke. The assurance will come when they are baptized with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; by the way, all believers are baptized with the Holy Spirit the moment they put their trust in Him as their Savior. John Calvin does not believe that this verse is referring to Pentecost, but that it is referring to His life from that point to His last resurrection. The problem with Calvin's theory is, is that the context, starting from verse sixteen, that He will not leave them 'orphan's' because He will send another 'comforter,' is quite obvious that it is pointing to Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit is poured forth, and remains on the believers forever.
"And ye in Me, and I in you."
The only way we can rest assured that this threefold coherence (unity) exists between the Son, the Father, and us is by the revelation of the Word interpreted to us by the Holy Spirit.
"Ye in Me, and I in you is the most profound statement in the Gospel of John or in the whole Bible. They are all monosyllabic (one syllable each) words so that a little child can understand them; yet no philosopher can plumb (test or examine) the depths of their meaning. 'You in Me' - that is Salvation. To be saved means to be in Christ. That is why Peter says that we are saved by baptism. Baptism means identification, and it means to be identified with Christ. God sees everyone as either in Christ or out of Christ. You are either in Him by faith or you are out of Him with your sins still upon you. (This is where McGee and I disagree - I believe that all sin was paid for by Christ, and the only sin that Christ could not pay for is rejecting Him as Savior. So I do not believe the unbelievers sin will remain on him, but that he was so stupid as to not believe in Christ and allow his sins to be redeemed. 'For He is the propitiation for our sins, and not ours only, but for the sin of the whole world' (I John 2:2.) So you see, the unbeliever does not go to hell for his or her sins, only by rejecting the complete satisfaction, (propitiation for their sins, in Jesus Christ's death on the Cross, 1 John 2:2) If you are in Christ, then God sees you in Christ, and His righteousness is your righteousness. You stand complete in Him. 'I in you' - is sanctification. That is Christian living down here. Is Christ living in you? Paul says, 'I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me' (Gal. 2:20)" (T. T. B. J. Vernon McGee).
Verse 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."
LGT "The one who is having My commandments and keeps them that is the one who loves Me: and he will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest to him Myself."
This verse is all about fellowshipping with the Father and the Son. Please don't get confused by thinking that this has anything to do with Salvation.
"He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me:"
This entire verse is talking about Divine love. Our Lord gave us the two commandments that we must keep in order to enjoy fellowship with Him and our Father, and fellowship with one another; these commands are 'to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our fellow believer. These two commands are imperative if we want to remain in fellowship; it is impossible to love God and hate our fellow believer at the same time.
"And he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him,"
Jesus is making it very clear that the one who loves Him will be happy because the Father will also love him. Notice the distinct demarcation here between the Father and the Son, and then the Holy Spirit, who will be mentioned in the last phrase, as the One who will manifest this great love through the Holy Word.
"And will manifest Myself to him."
The only place Christ can be manifest to us in this 'Age of Grace' is in the Word of God. If we are to love Christ, we must know Christ, and the only way we can know Christ is in the Scriptures. Those who believe it is not necessary to study the Word of God diligently are only fooling themselves, because with out constant study of God's Word, we wither, shrivel up and die. I know from experience that all we have to count on in this world is the Word of God, for without it we are lost.
Verse 22, "Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?"
LGT "Judas says to Him, not Iscariot, Lord, what has come to pass that you are about to manifest yourself and not to the world?"
"Not Iscariot,"
"Judas Iscariot had gone (13:30), but John is anxious to make clear that this Judas (common name, two apostles also named James) was not the famous traitor. He is also called Thaddacus or Lebbaeus (Mark 3:17; Matt. 10:3) and the brother (or son) of James (6:15; Acts 1:13)" (Robertson).
"Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not the world?"
Judas thought that Jesus had a change in His plans, because He, as well as the rest of the disciples, figured that Jesus would reveal Himself to the whole world, publicly. "The question Judas asks (as spokesman, no doubt, for his fellow disciples) is one which must have occurred to many who heard or read these words of Jesus as recorded by the Evangelist. If 'all the tribes of the earth . . . will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory' (Matt. 24:30), what kind of private revelation is this of which Jesus speaks?" (Bruce). "Judas is saying, 'Lord, this is wonderful to be here and hear you say these things, but have you forgotten the world?" The Lord Jesus answers him and His answer is the rest of the chapter" (McGee).
"One outstanding novel fact here arrested the attention of the disciples. It was contrary to all their Jewish ideas about the future manifestation of the Messiah, and it led to the question of one of their number, Judas - not Iscariot: 'Lord, what has happened, that to us Thou wilt manifest Thyself, and not to the world?' Again they thought of an outward, while He spoke of a spiritual and inward manifestation. It was of this coming of the Son and the Father for the purpose of making 'station' with them that He spoke, of which the condition was love to Christ, manifested in the keeping of His Word, and which secured the love of the Father also" (Edersheim).
Verse 23, "Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and make our abode with him."
LGT "Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone love Me he will be keeping My word, and My Father will love him and to him will We come and an abode with him We will make."
"If a man love Me, he will keep My words:"
Jesus is naturally speaking of fellowship in this verse. The way we can be confident that we are loving the Father and the Son is by our obedience to their Word. The word 'love' agapa is not an emotional love that can be stirred up in our souls, but is a love that is acquired by the study of the Word of God, by recognizes who Christ is, and what He has done for us.
"And My Father will love him, and make our abode with him."
This is true fellowship. When we love God and His Son, we will study His Word, and then be able to understand what this love is, and by study, we will know Him, and the fellowship of His suffering, and the power of His resurrection. There is absolutely no way of knowing the Father or the Son without the Word of God. We love Him, because He first loved us. The more we know about Him, the more we love Him, and the more we love Him, the more we realize that He and the Father are residing in us. The Father and the Son do not abide with us because of our worth, but because we have fellowship with them; the only way to fellowship is confession and study, in order to know Him fully, there are no shortcuts to happiness. How happy are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, when we study and obey their Word, and how grieved they are when we neglect their word.
Verse 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."
LGT "The one who is not loving Me My words does not keep: and the word which you are hearing is not Mine but of the Father who sent Me."
The opposite is true of verse 23; The only way any one would be able to tell if we are believers is if we are keeping His word, and loving one another. It is most obvious when we do not display our love one of another. It is impossible for us to be having fellowship with the Father and the Son if we do not love our fellow believer, and it is also impossible in this state of rebellion to be learning anything from His word.
"And the word which ye hear is not Mine,"
"Whenever then may be the rage and madness of the world, let us follow the doctrine of Christ, which rises far above heaven and earth. When He says that the word is not His, He accommodates Himself to the disciples; as if He had said that it is not human, because He teaches faithfully what has been enjoined on Him by the Father. Yet we know that, in so far as He is the eternal Wisdom of God, He is the only fountain of all doctrine, and that all the prophets who have been from the beginning spoke by His Spirit" (Calvin)"
Verse 25, "These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you."
LGT "These things I have said to you with you abiding:"
These things I have said while yet abiding with you before I depart and send another comforter. Jesus indicates to the disciples that His earthly ministry is now coming to a close.
Verse 26, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
LGT "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things which I said to you."
These disciples were very slow at catching on to what Christ was teaching them during His earthly ministry, but He assures them that after He leaves they will be receiving the Holy Spirit, who would teach them all the things that He Himself tried to teach them. He says that the Holy Spirit would bring these things to their remembrance. "Hence it follows, that the Holy Spirit will not be a builder of new revelations. By this single word we may refute all the inventions, which Satan has brought into the Church from the beginning, under the pretence of the Spirit. Mohammed and the Pope agree in holding this as a principle of their religion, that the Scripture does not contain a perfection of doctrine. But the spirit that introduces any doctrine or invention apart from the Gospel is a deceiving spirit, and not the Spirit of Christ" (Calvin).
Verse 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."
LGT "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you: Not just as the world gives I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled nor let it fear."
"Peace I leave with you,"
"These are the last words, as of one who is about to go away and says 'goodnight' or gives his blessing" (Luther). "Peace! Was the ordinary oriental greeting at parting" (Vincent).
"My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you."
The assurance of peace that Christ was giving to the disciples was not a peace the world could offer. "He says that He goes away from them in body, but that His peace remains with the disciples; that is, that they will be always happy through His blessing" (Calvin). When Calvin and other commentators say that they would always be happy, what they mean is that they will always be able to find the answer for their own happiness of relaxing in the care of the Lord.
"Jesus' farewell word of peace was different from that which was current in the world (The world could only wish peace, Christ gives peace). What He called 'My peace' was something deeper and more lasting, peace at heart, which would banish anxiety and fear. Paul speaks to the same effect of the 'peace of Christ', which arbitrates in the hearts of His people, maintaining harmony among them (Col. 3:15), and of the 'peace of God' which stands sentry over their hearts and minds, preventing anxiety from gaining an entrance (Phil. 4:7). In these farewell discourses Jesus not only imparts to the disciples 'My peace' but also 'My love' (15:9, 10) and 'My joy' (15:11). When we recall that love, joy and peace are the first three graces in the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22, we may wonder if these three did not form a triad in primitive Christian thought comparable to faith, hope and love" (The Gospel and Epistles of John - F. F. Bruce).
"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Jesus is assuring His disciples that His bodily presence will soon be replaced by the presence of the Holy Spirit, which Christ says will be even more satisfying because of the spiritual presence will remain on them forever. "This verse takes us back to the beginning of this chapter. It is His final word of comfort. The peace He is talking about here is not the peace of sins forgiven. This is the glorious, wonderful peace that comes to the heart of those who are fully yielded to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the peace of heart and mind of those who are in the will of God" (McGee).
Verse 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."
LGT "You heard that I said to you, I go away and am coming to you. If you loved Me you would have rejoiced that I go to the Father, because the Father is greater than I."
"If you loved Me you would have rejoiced that I go to the Father,"
Jesus is saying to His disciples, if you understood what I mean you would be rejoicing. The term 'loved' implies a knowledge they did not possess. Love of the Son and the Father must be accompanied by knowledge of them; a believer cannot love what they don't understand, and we must study the Word of God to be able to love God.
"In their hearing the fact of His going away, which had filled them with such sorrow and fear, had now been conjoined with that of His coming to them. Yes, as He had explained it, His departure to the Father was the necessary antecedent and condition of His coming to them in the permanent Presence of the other Paraclete, the Holy Ghost. That Paraclete, however, would, in the economy of grace, be sent by the Father alone. In the dispensation of grace, the final source from whence all cometh, Who sendeth both the Son and the Holy Ghost, is God the Father. The Son is sent by the Father, and the Holy Ghost also, though proceeding from the Father and the Son, is sent by the Father in Christ's Name. In the economy of grace, then, the Father is greater than the Son. And the return of the Son to the Father marks alike the completion of Christ's work, and its perfection, in the Mission of the Holy Ghost, with all that Advent implies. Therefore, if, discarding thoughts of themselves, they had only given room to feelings of true love to Him, instead of mourning they would have rejoiced because He went to the Father, with all that this implied, not only of rest and triumph to Him, but of the perfecting of his Work - since this was the condition of that Mission of the Holy Ghost by the Father, Who sent both the Son and the Holy Spirit. And in this sense also should they have rejoiced, because, through the presence of the Holy Ghost in them, as sent by the Father in Him 'greater' work, they would, instead of the present selfish enjoyment of Christ's Personal Presence, have the more power of showing their love to Him in apprehending His Truth, obeying His Commandments, doing His Works, and participating in His Life (The great difficulty in understanding the last part of verse 28 lies not in any one of the clauses, nor in the combination of two, but in that of three of them. We could understand that, if they loved Him, they would rejoice that He went to the Father, as marking the completion of His work: and again, that they should rejoice in His going to the Father, Who was greater, and would send the Holy Ghost, as implying benefit to themselves. But the difficulty of combining all these, so that love to Christ should induce a wish that He should go to the Father, because He was greater, seems one, of which I can only see the natural solution in the interpretation which I have ventured to suggest). Not that Christ expected them to understand the full meaning of all these words. But afterwards, when it had all come to pass, they would believe" (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah - Alfred Edersheim).
"For My Father is greater than I."
"Christ does not here make a comparison between the Divinity of the Father and His own, nor between His own human nature and the Divine essence of the Father, but rather between His present state and the heavenly glory, to which He would soon afterwards be received; as if He had said, 'You wish to detain Me in this world, but it is better that I should ascend to heaven.' Let us therefore learn to behold Christ, humbled in the flesh, so that He may conduct us to the fountain of a blessed immortality; for He was not appointed to be our guide, merely to raise us to the sphere of the moon or the sun, but to make us one with God the Father" (Calvin).
Verse 29, "And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it come to pass, ye might believe."
LGT "And now I have told you before it comes to be, in order that when it will come to be you might believe."
Jesus is telling the disciples that His going away should be a reason of rejoicing for them. "The disciples are told about its imminent accomplishment in order that, when it takes place, they may recognize in it the fulfillment of Jesus' words and believe that He is the person that He claims to be" (Bruce). "He has told them of His departure, that they might not be terrified or depressed by its occurrence, but might recognize it as foretold by Him as the consummation of His work and so might have their faith increased" (The Expositors Greek NT).
Verse 30, "Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me."
LGT "No longer many things will I speak with you, for the ruler of this world comes: and in Me he has nothing."
"For the prince of this world cometh,"
Satan is the prince of the world 12:31. God allows Satan to have his way in this world; by world is meant the whole human race. The entire human race is under the bondage to Satan and can only be delivered by accepting Christ's redemption. Jesus says that this prince is coming making reference to His hideous death on the Cross; if the disciples were to know more, they would be thinking that they were putting their trust in a lost cause; but Christ will come back after His resurrection from His death and make everything clear.
"And hath nothing in Me."
When Satan comes to the world he has willing subjects that have great pleasure in their sins, but with Christ he has nothing to work; Christ is free from all sin, and Satan is the all out loser even though he causes the death of Christ because of sin; this death will eventually ruin Satan for eternity Gen. 3:15.
Verse 31, "But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence."
LGT "But in order that the world may know that I love the Father, and just as the Father commanded Me, thus I do, rise up, let us go hence."
"But that the world may know that I love the Father;"
That the world may know that He loved the Father by His obedience to die that the Church might live. Christ was not dragged to his death, unwillingly, but He submitted at the proper time.
"Arise, let us go hence."
The end of the upper room discourse, Christ is saying let us leave this place; it is now time for Christ to proceed to the Cross. "He tells them He cannot walk and talk very much more with them, and He didn't - in a few hours He would be arrested and His disciples scattered. The prince of this world was coming. Jesus Christ would have another siege with Satan, which I believe took place in the Garden of Gesthemane. After that, He would go to the cross for the sins of the world. After His ascension, the Comforter would come to indwell believers" (McGee).
"With the meaning and the issue of the great contest on which He was about to enter thus clearly before Him, did He now go forth to meet the last assault of the 'Prince of this World'. But why that fierce struggle, since in Christ 'he hath nothing'? To exhibit to 'the world' the perfect love, which He had to the Father; how even to the utmost of self-examination, obedience, and suffering He was doing as the Father had given Him commandment, when He sent Him for the redemption of the world. In the execution of this Mission He would endure the last sifting assault and contest on the part of the Enemy, and, enduring, conquer for us. And so might the world be won from its Prince by the full manifestation of Christ, in His infinite obedience and righteousness, doing the Will of the Father and the work which He had given Him, and in His infinite love doing the work of our salvation" (Edersheim).
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