John 14 - The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible: One-Volume Edition

Jesus’s Departure from this World (14:1–11). On three previous occasions we learned of Jesus’s deeply troubled feelings (11:33; 12:27; 13:21; Gk. tarassō). Here in 14:1 the disciples must face the same feelings. Jesus is charging his disciples to hold fast in light of the upcoming crisis.

In his departure he will be working on their behalf, preparing a place for them. God’s “house” (oikia) is a place with many “rooms” (monai; v. 2). This latter word is related to the common Johannine verb menō, to “remain” or “abide.” He is promising that death will not interrupt intimacy enjoyed with him.

To have a place in heaven reserved for us is one thing; confidence in getting there is quite another. But Jesus promises that he “will come back” (v. 3). When will this “coming” occur? The best view takes verses 2–3 as a plain promise of the second coming. As the chapter develops, Jesus points to other returns he will make, but these are separate from what he affirms here.

While Jesus affirms that they know where he is going, Thomas speaks up and presses for more clarification. Jesus’s answer in verse 6 is the premier expression of the theology of this entire Gospel. Access to the Father’s presence in heaven will only be through Jesus and no other. He is the only one who can lead his followers back to the places he will prepare.

This is the case because Jesus is the “truth,” the authoritative representative and revealer of God. He discloses God exhaustively unlike anyone else can because he has seen God. Those who follow Jesus, who come to the Father through his “way,” will be the ones who gain eternal “life.”

Jesus has disclosed more than anyone expected. Instead of simply defining his destination, Jesus takes the next inevitable step: only the Father can lead us to himself—and the Father is genuinely present in Jesus. This is an echo of the prologue (1:1–2), which explained the ultimate union (and differentiation) of the Son and the Father. If his followers know Jesus, they will know the Father as well. This is not a rebuke but a promise. Since they have known him, there is more to come, and they will discover the Father who is present in him. Moreover, they have seen the Father already.

Philip does not understand that no one has seen God (1:18a). It is beyond human capacity. But in Christ Philip has before him the full embodiment of God as it can be seen by humanity. This is one of the high points of John’s Christology. Jesus is not simply a religious teacher or guide, nor is he simply the means to some other destination. He is also the end, the goal. He is the one in whom God can be found.

Such a claim requires justification, and Jesus supplies it. At its most basic level, Jesus is God’s envoy. Jesus (as God’s agent) is authorized both to work for and to speak for his sender. But “agency” barely touches the surface of Jesus’s thought. Jesus and the Father enjoy a reciprocity of life: the Father is in him and he is in the Father. This is not merely a functional unity, as if Jesus’s life could be summed up by his obedience. This is an exhaustive, substantial unity—an ontological unity—that at last explains statements hinted in the public ministry: “I and the Father are one” (10:30; Cf. 10:38).

The First Promise of the Spirit (14:12–17). Once Jesus departs, two promises will be realized in the community of faith: great works will accompany those who believe, and prayer will be answered. Note that the promise of verse 12 does not simply point to miracles. What Jesus has been doing includes deeds of humility, service, and love as well as miraculous signs. Jesus’s followers will do works that are “greater” even than these.

What is “greater” is that these works will be done by regular people in whom the power of Christ has taken up residence following his glorification. This is why the departure of Jesus is crucial, for only through that can the Holy Spirit become a reality to all who follow him. The coming of the Spirit after Christ’s glorification will inaugurate an eschatological reality not known in the world.

One hallmark of the intimacy shared between Jesus and his disciples will be their ability to hear one another’s voice. This theme that Jesus will do what his disciples ask (in prayer) is frequent both in the farewell discourse and in the Johannine letters. Such prayer is given in Jesus’s “name” and directed to Jesus (v. 13).

However, John can just as easily refer to this prayer as directed to the Father; no doubt we should not make too much of this difference since every prayer must come in “Jesus’s name.” This promise of answered prayer is really a continuation of what is given in verse 13. Such answered prayer is another “great work” that Jesus will accomplish among them.

Next, as Jesus anticipates his departure he describes the Spirit that is coming. The Spirit’s gift in these verses is controlled by verse 15a, “if you love me.” The gift, then, is an outgrowth of the loving relationship between Jesus and his disciples, not an entitlement earned by the disciple.

Jesus uses an unusual term in verse 16 for the Spirit. The NIV’s “advocate” translates the Greek paraklētos. It occurs in secular Greek literature for an advocate in a court of law, who comes alongside a person to speak in his or her defense and provide counsel. It is interesting that Jesus calls the Spirit another Paraclete. Jesus is a Paraclete, who is now sending a second Paraclete. This means that the ongoing work of the Spirit will be a continuation of the work of Jesus during the disciples’ lifetime.

Jesus has been on trial, and like an advocate he has produced evidence and witnesses for the truth about God. The Paraclete, then, will pick up where Jesus leaves off. It is no surprise that he is also called “the Spirit of truth” (v. 17). He communicates the truth about God, which is the essence of God’s work in Christ. Moreover, we know that Jesus is “the truth” (v. 6), and inasmuch as the Spirit duplicates and sustains Jesus’s work, he will continue to defend the truth of Jesus.

In John’s Gospel, the “world” (kosmos) refers to the human environment that is in rebellion against God and in need of salvation (v. 17). Jesus recognizes that such people cannot perceive or penetrate the deeper things of God, such as the mystery of the Holy Spirit. The disciples, however, can know the Spirit of truth because he (i.e., Jesus) has been with them all along—and will be in them in the future (i.e., in the Spirit).

Jesus’s Return to His Disciples (14:18–24). Jesus has already reassured his followers that he will return to rescue his disciples from this world. In the meantime, they will be empowered by the Spirit to sustain his mighty work in the world. Moreover, the Spirit will not be merely an ambiguous force coming upon them, but in a genuine way he will sustain what they have loved about Jesus thus far. The Spirit-Paraclete will be “another” Paraclete (v. 16), another presence who will re-create the person of Jesus within them.

“I will come to you” (v. 18b) means that Jesus will not leave them desolate. But does this refer to the coming of the Spirit (vv. 16–17)? Subtle clues suggest that this is Jesus’s coming after his resurrection on Easter. The time frame is specific (“before long,” v. 19), and the disciples are to look for “that day” (v. 20). While from the world’s perspective Jesus will disappear from view (in his death), in his resurrection he will return to them and validate that the power of the Father has been with him all along.

But the coming of Jesus on Easter will mean more than a mere return of Jesus to life. His aim is to establish the sort of intimacy and unity he has promised throughout the discourse. The oneness he enjoys with the Father parallels the oneness the disciples will enjoy with him. Thus the Easter return will be the bridge that will inaugurate the spiritual union Jesus wants with them. The call to obedience (v. 21) is a clue that Jesus is speaking of a union that will include the coming of the Spirit. Out of love for his disciples, Jesus will “show” himself to them (v. 21), which will result in a profound spiritual union beyond the world’s comprehension.

Again (for the third time) Jesus talks about obedience as a key to what is planned: those who love Jesus show it by their fidelity to his word. But those who fail to invest faith in Jesus—who do not love him and refuse to obey him—are not connected either to Jesus or the Father and so cannot share in this divine union.

The delicate play on words in chapter 14 should not be missed. In 14:2 we learned that Jesus will depart in order to make heavenly “rooms” (monai) for his followers. But when he returns at Easter, he and the Father will reside within them, making a “home” (monē) within them (v. 23). That is, the places of dwelling promised in 14:2 will be realized as places of “indwelling.”

The Second Promise of the Spirit (14:25–31). The rudimentary Trinitarian implications of verses 25–26 are inescapable: the Father will send the Spirit in the name of Jesus. Therefore, this spiritual revelation promised by Jesus is in fact the effort of God himself (in every dimension) working for our benefit.

Jesus then emphasizes the conserving and teaching roles of the Spirit. During the earthly ministry of Jesus, understanding was difficult. But now, Jesus promises, the Spirit-Paraclete will recall the things Jesus has done and said and fix them in the minds of his followers.

It was the resurrection—and its gift of the Spirit—that provided the meaning of Jesus’s works. The inspiration of the Spirit, therefore, does not bring forward new revelations about Jesus but simply gives correct meanings and applications for what he did in history. Just as Jesus’s primary work was revealing the Father, so now the work of the Spirit-Paraclete is revealing the “Jesus of history” to his followers.

The discourse of chapter 14 closes with words of reassurance similar to those offered at the beginning. “Peace” in verse 27 refers to the Hebrew greeting shalom and for Jesus refers to the aim of his work on earth: to restore the equilibrium and richness of humanity’s relationship with God. Nothing in the world can offer such a gift.

Jesus mentions again that his disciples are troubled (v. 27). Jesus points to himself. Their love for him should lead to celebration because he is returning to where he began, to the Father. To receive the Father’s gifts is blessed; to return to live with the giver is beyond comprehension.

Few verses have caused more controversy than verse 28b. This verse has been used to deny the divinity of Christ. Taken in isolation, this may appear to be the meaning of the verse, but if so this verse jars the overwhelmingly divine portrait we have of Jesus in this Gospel. Making Jesus a lesser divinity or a lesser God would offend the solid Jewish monotheism of the Gospel. Making Jesus merely a human being loses the plain sense of his origin and unity with the Father in places such as the prologue, where incarnational Christology seems clear.

Classic exegesis has taken one of two paths out of this interpretive forest. Some interpreters have sought to make this “lesser” status refer to Jesus’s humanity limited in the incarnation. Others have pointed to eternal distinctions between the Father and Son that do not compromise the Son’s divinity. But these views owe more to later theological Trinitarian debates than the Gospel itself. Arguments about ontology are likely far from John’s mind. The Father’s greatness springs from his role as the origin and sender of Jesus, just as a ray of light might refer to the sun from which it came.

The word picture Jesus often uses to describe his life is the agent sent on a mission. Within this agent/sender relationship, the originator of the mission has greater authority. As courier of God’s message, Jesus is acknowledging the relationship, the source, of what has brought that message to life.

Not only should the disciples take comfort and rejoice because Jesus is returning to his origin, but they should realize that the events unfolding in Jerusalem for him are not controlled by Satan. In fact, his specific description of these matters should prove to encourage their faith because when they occur, the disciples will recall his words and see his predictions fulfilled. Moreover, Jesus’s obedience to God’s plan should be seen as an example of his love for the Father. Following the discourse Jesus says, “Come now; let us leave” (v. 31b).