1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."
Jesus the Way to the Father
5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
23Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
"Come now; let us leave.
Interesting points of Discussion:
- [See verse 1] 'Do not let your hearts be troubled'- Jesus comforts his disciples
- [See verse 27] 'Peace I leave with you; my peace'- More comforting here from Jesus as he emphasizes the peace that he will bring to the world
- He tells them not to be afraid; one way to interpret this could be to see it in terms of life itself- that it won't turn out perfect and that there will be trouble but by resting in God's peace you will have nothing to be afraid of
- What is this 'peace' and what is it that the 'world gives' that Jesus says he does not give?
- Jesus said that this is 'my peace I give you'- that rather than being found in ourselves it is given to us as a gift from God through Christ; in another words, we cannot find this 'peace' by looking inside ourselves and setting up our own assurances ("I will be okay") and expectations ("I'll be fine") based on what we think will bring us peace
- If you take what the 'world gives'- material possessions, desires and false hopes, you will be left with no peace at all but with more worries and doubts and endless waiting or longings for things you covet
- Many times, people look to drugs, alcohol, sex, addictions, etc. to provide a false sense of peace instead of looking to God; instead of dealing with their issues as the Holy Spirit convicts them to, they continue to sin until the Spirit has become so weak that they are no longer able to feel God's correcting movements in their heart
- [See verse 26] 'Holy Spirit...will teach you all things'- the Holy Spirit is our 'Counselor' who guides us and talks to us so that we can apply the teachings of Jesus to our lives; the Spirit gives us the power to recall, discern and hear God's voice
- [See verse 6] 'I am the way'- only through Jesus and by knowing him do we know God; the idea of the Trinity is presented here with: (a) Jesus being the 'way' to access the Father and Heaven, (b) Jesus being the 'truth' which is the word of God and the fulfillment of it (prophecies of the Savior) and (c) Jesus is the 'life' that allows to be free from sin which causes spiritual death (and eventually eternal separation from God which is the second death) and instead empowers us by pouring out the Holy Spirit (giver of life) on those who accept him
- The word 'truth' can seem a bit ambiguous and too broad in scope yet here the 'truth' is the not just the partial truth or a fact; it is the complete truth in all its entirety- who God is, who we are and what we need to do to be saved from misery, hopelessness and death
- [See v.19-20] 'I am in my Father'- Jesus tells them that soon he will no longer be with them physically but that God will be with them through him, that is, Jesus invites us into the love relationship he has with the Father by hinting at the possibility of realizing that we are "in him" who is in the Father and he who is in the Father is "in us"
- This invitation of love is not only relational but also requires us to make an effort to obey Jesus' teachings which is the word of God [v.23-24]
- [See verse 26] 'will remind you of everything'- the Holy Spirit is our helper from God; we don't have to do it all on our own
- [See verse 28] 'Father is greater than I'- in a way Jesus is humbling himself before God even though he is the same as God in nature
- How is God 'greater'?
- God is the Creator of Life who came first and initiated everything by spoken words and Jesus was the One who was later on sent literally as the living Word
