1._Let not your heart be troubled. _Not without good reason does Christ confirm his disciples by so many words, since a contest so arduous and so terrible awaited them; for it was no ordinary temptation, that soon afterwards they would see him hanging on the cross; a spectacle in which nothing was t... [ Continue Reading ]
2._In my Father’s house are many dwellings. _As the absence of Christ was a cause of grief, he declares that he does not, go away in such a. manner as to remain separate from them, since there is room for them also in the heavenly kingdom. For it was proper that he should remove the suspicion from t... [ Continue Reading ]
3._And if I go away. _The conditional term, _if_, ought to be interpreted as an adverb of time; as if it had been said, “After that _I have gone away_, _I will return to you again_. ” This _return _must not be understood as referring to the Holy Spirit, as if Christ had manifested to the disciples s... [ Continue Reading ]
4._And whither I go you know. _As we need no ordinary fortitude, that we may patiently endure to be so long separated from Christ, he adds another confirmation, that the disciples _know _that his death is not a destruction, but a passage to the Father; and next, that they _know the way _which they m... [ Continue Reading ]
5._Thomas saith to him_. Though, at first sight, the reply of _Thomas _appears to contradict what Christ had said, yet he did not intend to give the lie to his Master. But it may be asked, In what sense does he deny what Christ asserted? I reply, the knowledge possessed by the saints is sometimes co... [ Continue Reading ]
6._I am the way. _Though Christ does not give a direct reply to the question put to him, yet he passes by nothing that is useful to be known. It was proper that Thomas’ curiosity should be checked; and, therefore, Christ does not explain what would be his condition when he should have departed out o... [ Continue Reading ]
7._If you had known me. _He confirms what we have just now said, that it is a foolish and pernicious curiosity, when men, not satisfied with him, attempt to go to God by indirect and crooked paths. (64) They admit that there is nothing better than the knowledge of God; but when he is near them, and... [ Continue Reading ]
8._Show us the Father. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
9._Have I been so long time with you? _Christ justly reproves Philip for not having the eyes of his faith pure. He had God present in Christ, and yet he did not behold him. What prevented him but his own ingratitude? Thus, in the present day, they who, in consequence of not being satisfied with Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
10._That I am in the Father, and the Father in me. _I do not consider these words to refer to Christ’s Divine essence, but to the manner of the revelation; for Christ, so far as regards his hidden Divinity, is not better known to us than _the Father_. But he is said to be the lively Image, or Portra... [ Continue Reading ]
12._Verily, verily, I, tell you. _All that he had hitherto told his disciples about himself, so far as it regarded them, was temporal; and, therefore, if he had not added this clause, the consolation would not have been complete; particularly since our memory is so short, when we are called to consi... [ Continue Reading ]
13._And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do. _By these words He plainly declares that he will be the Author of all that shall be done by the hands of the Apostles. But it may be asked, was he not even then the Mediator in whose name men ought to pray to the Father? I reply, he plainly discha... [ Continue Reading ]
14._If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. _This is not a useless repetition. All see and feel that they are unworthy to approach God; and yet the greater part of men burst forward, as if they were out of their senses, and rashly and haughtily address God; and afterwards, when that unw... [ Continue Reading ]
15._If you love me. _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 thei... [ Continue Reading ]
16._And I will pray to the Father. _This was given as a remedy for soothing the grief which they might feel on account of Christ’s absence; but at the same time, Christ promises that he will give them strength _to keep his commandments_; For otherwise the exhortation would have had little effect. He... [ Continue Reading ]
17._The Spirit of truth. _Christ bestows on the Spirit another title, namely, that he is the Master or Teacher of truth. (68) Hence it follows, that until we have been inwardly instructed by him, the understandings of all of us are seized with vanity and falsehood. _Whom the world cannot receive. _T... [ Continue Reading ]
18._I will not have you orphans. _This passage shows what men are, and what they can do, when they have been deprived of the protection of the Spirit. They are _orphans_, exposed to every kind of fraud and injustice, incapable of governing themselves, and, in short, unable of themselves to do any th... [ Continue Reading ]
19._Yet a little while. _He continues the commendation of special grace, which ought to have been sufficient for alleviating, and even for removing the grief of the disciples. “When I shall have withdrawn,” says he, “from the view of the world: still I shall be present with you.” That we may enjoy t... [ Continue Reading ]
20._At that day _Some refer this to _the day _of Pentecost; but it rather denotes the uninterrupted course, as it were, of a single day, from the time when Christ exerted the power of his Spirit till the last resurrection. From that time they began to _know_, but it was a sort of feeble beginning, b... [ Continue Reading ]
21._He who hath my commandments. He _again repeats the former statement, that the undoubted proof of our love to him lies in our _keeping his commandments_; and the reason why he so frequently reminds the disciples of this is, that they may not turn aside from this object; for there is nothing to wh... [ Continue Reading ]
22._Judeas _(_not Iscariot_)_saith to him. _It is not without reason that he asks why Christ does not cause his light to be imparted (71) to more than a few persons; since he is _the Sun of Righteousness_, (Malachi 4:2) by whom the whole world ought to be enlightened; and, therefore, it is unreasona... [ Continue Reading ]
23._And my Father will love him. _We have already explained that the love of God to us is not placed in the second rank, as if it came after our piety as the cause of that love, but that believers may be fully convinced that the obedience which they render to the Gospel is pleasing to God, and that... [ Continue Reading ]
24._He who loveth, me but keepeth not my words. _As believers are mixed with unbelievers in the world, and as they must be agitated by various storms, as in a troubled sea, Christ again confirms them by this admonition, that they may not be drawn away by bad examples. As if he had said, “Do not look... [ Continue Reading ]
25._These things I have spoken to you. _He adds this, that they may not despair, though they may have profited less than they ought to have done; for at that time he scattered a seed of doctrine, which lay hidden, and, as it were, suffocated in the disciples. He therefore exhorts them to entertain g... [ Continue Reading ]
27._Peace I leave with you. _By the word_peace _he means prosperity, which men are wont to wish for each other when they meet or part; for such is the import of the word _peace _in the Hebrew language. He therefore alludes to the ordinary custom of his nation; as if he had said, _I give you my Farew... [ Continue Reading ]
28._If you loved me you would rejoice. _The disciples unquestionably _loved _Christ, but not as they ought to have done; for some carnal affection was mixed with their _love_, so that they could not endure to be separated from him; but if they had _loved _him spiritually, there was nothing which the... [ Continue Reading ]
29._And I have told you now. _It was proper that the disciples should be frequently admonished on this point; for it was a secret far exceeding all human capacity. He testifies that he _foretells what shall happen_, _that_, _when it has happened_, _they may believe_; for it was a useful confirmation... [ Continue Reading ]
30._Henceforth I will not talk much with you. _By this word he intended to fix the attention of the disciples on himself, and to impress his doctrine more deeply on their minds; for abundance generally takes away the appetite, and we desire more eagerly what we have not in our possession, and deligh... [ Continue Reading ]
31._But that the world may know. _Some think that these words should be read as closely connected with the words, _Arise_, _let us go hence_, so as to make the sense complete. Others read the former part of the verse separately, and suppose that it breaks off abruptly. As it makes no great differenc... [ Continue Reading ]