John 14:1-31 (web)

The Way, the Truth, the Life

1 "Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions.
If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.
4 Where I go, you know, and you know the way."

5 Thomas says to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going.
How can we know the way?"

6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father, except through me.
7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.
From now on, you know him, and have seen him."

8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."

9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you such a long time,
and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father.
How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself;
but the Father who lives in me does his works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me;
or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

12 Most assuredly I tell you,
he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also;
and greater works than these will he do; because I am going to my Father.
13 Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do,
that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.

Love, Submission & Revelation

15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor,
that he may be with you forever, —
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive;
for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him,
for he lives with you, and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you 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 will live also.
20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father,
and you in me, and I in you.

21 One who has my commandments, and keeps them,
that person is one who loves me.
One who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him."

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him,
"Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us,
and not to the world?"

23 Jesus answered him,
"If a man loves me, he will keep my word.
My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
24 He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words.
The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.
25 I have said these things to you, while still living with you.
26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.
27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives, give I to you.
Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
28 You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’
If you loved me, you would have rejoiced,
because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I.
29 Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe.
30 I will no more speak much with you,
for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.
31 But that the world may know that I love the Father,
and as the Father commanded me, even so I do.
Arise, let us go from here.

Discussion Questions

vs 2 What might the mansions be? (2Cor 5:1,2)
vs 6 In what ways are way, truth and life related and how are these manifested in Christ?
Can people come to God through other religions?
vs 9 Is Jesus saying he is equivalent to the Father? If not, then how is he similar and how is he different than the Father?
vs 10-12 What are the works Jesus refers to? And how is it that believers will do even greater works than the Lord?
vs 13,14 Under what conditions does this promise of answered prayer apply?
Had this held true in your prayer life?
vs 21 What is the correlation between love, obedience (or submission), and intimacy?
And how is this correlation also apply in other vertical relationships?
vs 26 What is a role of the Holy Spirit according to this verse?
And what does it imply of the accuracy of the gospel accounts?
vs 1,27 One what basis was Jesus telling them not to fear or be troubled according to this chapter?
vs 30 Who is the prince of the world and what does Jesus mean that "he has nothing in me"?

Comments

Mansions Above

vs 1-3 Despite the fact he was leaving he didn't want them to be troubled. For they had an optimistic future. Christians look to the future with a hopeful anticipation reckoning our home to be not of this world, but of that which is to come. "For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. For most assuredly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven." 2Cor 5:1,2 And here in Corinthians is the key as to what the "mansions" are of which Jesus speaks. They are simply our resurrection bodies, which will be given us at Christ's return. "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1Cor 15:51-53 "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever." 1Thess 4:16,17

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

vs 4-6 Though our destiny is somewhat a mystery, yet we need not know our exact end in order to get there. We just have to "follow the yellow brick road" (for all you Wizard of Oz fans). Jesus is that yellow brick road. He is the true way to go to life. All you have to do is stay on that road and you'll end up in heaven. Jesus is exclusively the way to God and there is no other way. All other religions lead to hell.

vs 7-11 Jesus is just like God the Father. "His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance." Heb 1:3 As light is to the sun so is the Son to the Father. But in saying "He who has seen me has seen the Father", Jesus was not saying he was equivalent to the Father, just as the light which comes from the sun is not of itself the sun, but rather it is what we can see of the sun. So also Jesus is what we can see and hear of God. Furthermore the only way to get to the sun is by following its light. To get there you can't travel in darkness.

vs 12-20 What are the "works" he is referring to? He could be referring to his miracles which indeed are also seen to a degree being done by the apostles in the book of Acts. But more generally are his works of preaching and discipling. But how are the believers even today involved in doing even greater works than he did? Perhaps because his earthly ministry was to Israel, but ours is to the world. And in his earthly ministry though he did miracles, yet no one had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, for remember John 7:39 "he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified." Thus we see in Acts when the apostles preached that people not simply repented, but received the Holy Spirit as well. The experience of being born again of which Jesus spoke of to Nicodemus was not actually put into practice until Pentecost. And Jesus speaks of their own receiving of the Spirit to take place in a future date in verse 16-17.

vs 26 Also speaks of the role of the Holy Spirit. He explicitly refers to the Holy Spirit as "he", indicating two things. The Holy Spirit is a personality as opposed to an impersonal force. And secondly, Jesus is not himself the Holy Spirit, although being sent in Jesus' name he may represent Jesus to the Christian by proxy perhaps also in a similar manner in which Christians themselves are ambassadors of Christ to the world. (2Cor 5:20) In preaching and writing the Bible, the apostles were reminded of Jesus' words by the Holy Spirit. So also even today as we Christians live life, the Holy Spirit will bring the words of the Lord to mind from time to time as apply to our lives and to others for the purpose of counseling. And thus John writes, "As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him." 1 John 2:27

vs 13-14 And once again "asking" is implied to be with respect to carry out the works God has called us to do.

vs 15,21,23,24 In any vertical relationship the way the one under authority shows love is by submission and obedience. This is true in our relationship with God. Christians love for God is measured by our obedience to his commands. But there is another principle of vertical relationships. Submission leads to intimacy. If a wife wants intimacy, being in a subordinate role, she needs to practice submission. And the leader takes into his confidence those subordinates who have shown to be trustworthy in following his orders. So also with God. Getting to know God is not simply a matter of studying theology. Rather it's a matter of obedience.

vs 27 Although most frequently "peace" refers to an absence of hostility between two parties, and thus we have such peace with God, yet here it is apparent that he is speaking of peace of mind, which is nonetheless made possibly though the reconciliation obtained for us through Christ. The peace of mind we have available is not like that of the world's which is artificial and has no basis. We can have peace because we do have security in Christ. Thus fears melt away. "For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control." 2 Timothy 1:7

vs 28 "the Father is greater than I" indicates Jesus subordinate role to the Father of which Jesus has been speaking all along even as in verse 31 he says, "as the Father commanded me, even so I do."

vs 30 The prince of the world is Satan. Unlike with sinners, there is nothing in Jesus which Satan can grab a hold of to influence his actions, for Jesus was without sin. Nor could Satan bring an accusation against him.

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources Jan 28,2022