Judas has now gone out; Jesus is alone with the disciples whom He loved; and the last disturbing element has been removed from the midst of the little company. But the hour is come when the servants must be left without the immediate presence of their Master, and when they are to take that place, am... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:1. LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED: BELIEVE IN GOD, BELIEVE ALSO IN ME. No separation ought to be made between this chapter and the last section of chap, 13, for the place, the circumstances, and the object of the discourse here entered on are the same as there. The dominating thought of all... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:2. IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY PLACES OF ABODE: IF IT WERE NOT SO, I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU; BECAUSE I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU. All the substantives here used ‘house,' ‘places of abode,' ‘place' are full of meaning. The first is not the material building, but the building as occupied by... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:3. AND IF I SHALL HAVE GONE AND PREPARED A PLACE FOR YOU, I COME AGAIN, AND WILL RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF, THAT WHERE I AM THERE YE ALSO MAY BE. All that has preceded these words has rested upon the idea that, although Jesus is now ‘going away' to the Father, He is not really forsaking His di... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:4. AND WHITHER I GO AWAY YE KNOW THE WAY. These words convey to the disciples the assurance that they already had the pledge and earnest of all that Jesus had spoken of; for their interpretation depends on the same principle as that formerly applied at chap. John 4:32. To ‘know' is not merel... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:5. THOMAS SAITH UNTO HIM, LORD, WE KNOW NOT WHITHER THOU GOEST AWAY: HOW DO WE KNOW THE WAY? In John 14:4, Jesus had spoken of ‘going away,' not of ‘going,' as in John 14:3. The idea of separation is thus again brought prominently forward, and Thomas is overborne by the thought of it (comp.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:6. JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE: NO ONE COMETH UNTO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME. The three terms here used must not be taken as expressing three independent thoughts; still less can we fuse them into one, as if the meaning were, ‘I am the true way of life.' I... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:7. IF YE HAD LEARNED TO KNOW ME, YE WOULD KNOW MY FATHER also. The change in this verse from ‘the Father' of John 14:6 to ‘my Father,' as well as the use in the original of two different verbs for ‘know,' is peculiarly instructive. The meaning seems to be, that when we have gained a knowledg... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:8. PHILIP SAITH UNTO HIM, LORD, SHOW US THE FATHER, AND IT SUFFICETH US. The same bluntness of spiritual sight (that is, really the same weakness of faith) that had been exhibited by Thomas is now exhibited by Philip, though in relation to another point. Jesus had said (John 14:7) that the d... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:9. JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, HAVE I BEEN SO LONG TIME WITH YOU, AND YET HAST THOU NOT LEARNED TO KNOW ME, PHILIP? HE THAT HATH SEEN ME HATH SEEN THE FATHER: HOW SAYEST THOU, SHOW US THE FATHER? ‘Have I been with you,' literally, ‘Am I with you,' the very words of John 14:3. The words are those o... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:10. BELIEVEST THOU NOT THAT I AM IN THE FATHER, AND THE FATHER IN ME? THE WORDS THAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SPEAK NOT FROM MYSELF, BUT THE FATHER ABIDING IN ME DOETH HIS WORKS. If what is stated in the first clause of this verse be the fact, the bluntness of Philip's spiritual vision will be prove... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:11. BELIEVE ME THAT I AM IN THE FATHER, AND THE FATHER IN ME: OR ELSE BELIEVE FOR HIS WORKS' SAKE. Jesus has established the proposition by which He would show Philip the impropriety of his request. He now calls upon him, and upon the other disciples through him, to receive it. First, they o... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:12. VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, THE WORKS THAT I DO SHALL HE ALSO DO; AND GREATER WORKS THAN THESE SHALL HE DO, BECAUSE I GO UNTO THE FATHER. It seemed to the disciples that, by the departure of Jesus, all the glorious manifestations of the Divine which they had... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:13-14. AND WHATSOEVER YE ASK IN MY NAME, THIS I WILL DO, THAT THE FATHER MAY BE GLORIFIED IN THE SON. IF YE SHALL ASK OF ME ANY THING IN MY NAME, THIS I WILL DO. The twice repeated ‘this I will do' of these verses, IS THE taking up again of the ‘do' of John 14:12 ; so that what Jesus says is... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:15. IF YE LOVE ME, YE WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS. An abiding communion between the glorified Redeemer and His disciples on earth has been spoken of as established, a communion, as we have already seen, not to be broken by the ‘going away' of Jesus to the Father. The object of the present vers... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:16. AND I WILL ASK THE FATHER, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER ADVOCATE, THAT HE MAY BE WITH YOU FOR EVER. The word here translated in our English Version ‘Comforter,' and partially introduced into the English language as ‘Paraclete,' means properly, One called to stand by us for our help, our... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:17. EVEN THE SPIRIT OF THE TRUTH; WHOM THE WORLD CANNOT RECEIVE, BECAUSE IT BEHOLDETH HIM NOT, NEITHER LEARNETH TO KNOW HIM: YE LEARN TO KNOW HIM, BECAUSE HE ABIDETH WITH YOU, AND IS IN YOU. What this Advocate is, is now explained more fully. He is the Spirit of ‘the truth,' the Spirit whose... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:18. I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU DESOLATE: I COME TO YOU. The disciples were the ‘little children' of Jesus (chap. John 13:33), and He may therefore well speak to them as a father. Not from Pentecost, but from the moment of His reunion to the Father, and by means of the Spirit of the truth, He comes... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:19. YET A LITTLE WHILE, AND THE WORLD BEHOLDETH ME NO LONGER; BUT YE BEHOLD ME. The ‘little while' here spoken of is that of chap, John 13:33, extending from the moment immediately at hand to the resurrection. After that ‘little while' the world beholdeth Jesus no more, but His disciples beh... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:20. IN THAT DAY YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM IN MY FATHER, AND YE IN ME, AND I IN YOU. Not the particular day of the resurrection, or of Pentecost, or of the Second Coming, but the day beginning with the return of Jesus to His Father, when He shall send to His disciples the promised Advocate, the... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:21. HE THAT HATH MY COMMANDMENTS, AND KEEPETH THEM, HE IT IS THAT LOVETH ME; AND HE THAT LOVETH ME SHALL BE LOVED OF MY FATHER, AND I WILL LOVE HIM, AND WILL MANIFEST MYSELF TO HIM. The thought of privilege in John 14:14 led to that condition on which alone privilege can be preserved (John 1... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:22. JUDAS SAITH UNTO HIM, NOT ISCARIOT, LORD, HOW HATH IT COME TO PASS THAT THOU WILT MANIFEST THYSELF UNTO US, AND NOT UNTO THE WORLD? Judas is distinguished from the traitor, that we may have kept distinctly before us that the latter had gone out (chap. John 13:30). His ERROR consists in n... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:23. JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM, IF ANY ONE LOVE ME, HE WILL KEEP MY WORD; AND MY FATHER WILL LOVE HIM, AND WE WILL COME UNTO HIM, AND MAKE OUR ABODE WITH HIM. Again the thought of John 14:15, and a fuller expression of the main teaching of this chapter, and, indeed, of this whole secti... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:24. HE THAT LOVETH ME NOT KEEPETH COT MY WORDS: AND THE WORD WHICH YE HEAR IS NOT MINE, BUT THE FATHER'S WHICH SENT ME. A fuller explanation than before why the world cannot receive the manifestation of the Father and the Son, but given now from the negative rather than the positive side. It... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:25. THESE THINGS HAVE I SPOKEN UNTO YOU WHILE ABIDING WITH YOU. We now enter upon a new part of the discourse, in which the leading idea is the strength to be afforded to the disciples after the departure of their Lord. It is important to notice that this is bestowed upon them not merely as... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:26. BUT THE ADVOCATE, THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM THE FATHER WILL SEND IN MY NAME, HE WILL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS, AND HE WILL BRING TO YOUR REMEMBRANCE ALL THINGS THAT I SAID UNTO YOU. Again we meet with the expression ‘in my name' already considered by us at John 14:13, where we saw that it primar... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:27. PEACE I LEAVE UNTO YOU; A PEACE THAT IF MINE I GIVE ONTO YOU: NOT AS THE WORLD GIVETH GIVE I UNTO YOU. LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET IT BE AFRAID. The peace spoken of here is not the legacy of a dying father, but the salutation of a departing Master. It is thus not mere pea... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:28. YE HEARD THAT I SAID UNTO YOU, I GO AWAY AND I COME UNTO YOU. IF YE LOVED ME, YE WOULD HAVE REJOICED THAT I GO UNTO THE FATHER, BECAUSE THE FATHER IS GREATER THAN I. But the disciples were not only to have peace: true love would fill their hearts with joy. The ‘going away' of Jesus is re... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:29. AND NOW I HAVE TOLD YOU BEFORE IT COME TO PAST, THAT, WHEN IT IS COME TO PAN, YE MAY BELIEVE (comp. on chap. John 13:19). It is not a first faith, but the deeper working of faith, the experimental seal to it, that is spoken of.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:30. I WILL NO LONGER TALK MUCH WITH YOU, FOR THE PRINCE OF THE WORLD COMETH. (Comp. on chap. John 12:31.) Here it is particularly to be noted that ‘the prince of this world' is equivalent to the world in its essence. He embodies the spirit of the world, so that what is said of it may be said... [ Continue Reading ]
John 14:31. BUT HE COMETH THAT THE WORLD MAY PERCEIVE THAT I LOVE THE FATHER, AND THAT EVEN AS THE FATHER GAVE ME COMMANDMENT SO I DO. ARISE, LET US GO HENCE. The difficulty of interpreting these words is undoubtedly very great. The common interpretations of ‘hath nothing in me' such as, ‘hath no po... [ Continue Reading ]