John 14 Study Notes
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14:1 Jesus’s words echo similar admonishments in the OT (Dt 1:21,29; 20:1,3; Jos 1:9; cp. Jn 11:33; 12:27; 13:21). Believe denotes personal, relational trust in keeping with OT usage (Is 28:16).
14:2-3 Jesus elsewhere said his followers would be welcomed into “eternal dwellings” (Lk 16:9). The disciples’ homecoming will be comparable to a son’s return to his father’s house (Lk 15:11-32). The words I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also echoes the terminology in Sg 8:2. Jesus, the messianic bridegroom (Jn 3:29), said he would prepare a place for his followers in his Father’s house and then come to take them home to be with him.
paraklētos
| Greek pronunciation | [pah RAH klay tahss] |
| CSB translation | counselor |
| Uses in John’s Gospel | 4 |
| Uses in the NT | 5 |
| Focus passage | John 14:16,26; 15:26 |
The Greek word paraklÄ“tos is derived from the verb parakaleo (basically to comfort, counsel, exhort). It is also related to the noun paraklÄ“sis (comfort, exhortation). Both are much more common than paraklÄ“tos but do not occur in John’s writings, while paraklÄ“tos occurs only in John’s writings. In all four occurrences in John’s Gospel, Jesus used the term to refer to the Holy Spirit as our Counselor. The idea is that the Spirit comes alongside to aid us in the tasks Jesus gave us as his disciples.
14:4-6 Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (see note at 6:35,48), and no one comes to the Father except through him. Jesus alone is able to provide access to God because he alone paid the penalty for our sins (Is 53:5; Heb 1:3). He is the truth (Jn 1:14,17; 5:33; 18:37; cp. 8:40,45-46) and all contrary claims are false. He alone is the life (1:4), having life in himself (5:26). He is thus able to confer eternal life on all those who believe in him (3:16). Jesus is truth and life, and he is the one and only way of salvation.
14:7 The emphasis on truly knowing Jesus and God the Father harks back to OT covenant language (Jr 24:7; 31:34; Hs 13:4).
14:8 Philip apparently wanted some sort of revelation of God. In the OT, Moses asked and was given a limited vision of God’s glory (Ex 33:18; cp. Ex 24:10); Isaiah received a similar vision (Is 6:1; see note at Jn 12:41). In keeping with OT teaching, however, Jesus denied the possibility of a direct vision of God (1:18; 5:37; 6:46).
14:9-11 Jesus spoke of his unity with the Father, who made himself known in Jesus.
14:12 The disciples’ greater works are made possible because Jesus was going to the Father after his work on the cross (12:24; 15:13; 19:30). The works are greater because they are based on the totality of Jesus’s work and will bear lasting fruit (Mt 11:11; Jn 15:8,16).
14:13-14 Praying in Jesus’s name expresses alignment of one’s desires and purposes with God (1Jn 5:14-15). See note at Jn 3:16-18.
14:15 Jesus’s words echo the demands of the Deuteronomic covenant (Dt 5:10; 6:5-6; 7:9; 10:12-13; 11:13,22).
14:16-17 Another Counselor or the Spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit (v. 26), who guides disciples into all truth (16:13). The Spirit replaces Jesus’s physical presence by permanently indwelling his followers. Divine presence for Jesus’s followers includes the Spirit (14:15-17), Jesus (vv. 18-21), and the Father (vv. 22-24).
14:18 The Spirit’s presence within disciples essentially amounts to Jesus’s own presence, because the Spirit testifies about Jesus (15:26) and helps disciples understand the significance of what Jesus has done (16:14). Jesus’s assurance, I will not leave you as orphans, echoes Moses’s parting words to Israel (Dt 31:6; cp. Jos 1:5). By saying this, Jesus likely had in mind both his resurrection and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.
14:19-20 On that day probably refers to Jesus coming on his disciples in the Spirit at Pentecost.
14:21 The references to the one who has my commands and keeps them and the phrase reveal myself hark back to the giving of the law at Mount Sinai and to other OT appearances of God (Ex 33:13).
14:22 This Judas (not Iscariot) is probably “Judas the son of James,” also known as Thaddaeus (see note at Mk 3:18-19), mentioned in Lk 6:16 and Ac 1:13, not Jude, the half-brother of Jesus (Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3).
14:23-24 Make our home with him recalls God’s dwelling among his people in the tabernacle (Ex 25:8; 29:45; Lv 26:11-12) and the temple (1Kg 8:10-11; cp. Ac 7:46-47), and points forward to the time when the Spirit would come at Pentecost (Ac 2).
14:25-26 The Holy Spirit (1:33; 20:22) is mentioned infrequently in the OT (Ps 51:11; Is 63:9-10). Jesus’s focus here was on the Spirit’s future teaching ministry (1Jn 2:20,27).
14:27 The expression peace (Hb shalom) could serve as a greeting or announce blessing upon those who enjoyed a right relationship with God (Nm 6:24-26; cp. Ps 29:11; Hg 2:9). The OT prophesied a period of peace following Messiah’s coming, for he is the “Prince of Peace” (Is 9:6), who would “proclaim peace to the nations” (Zch 9:10; cp. 9:9). There would be tidings of peace and salvation (Is 52:7; cp. 54:13; 57:19), and God would establish an everlasting “covenant of peace” with his people (Ezk 37:26). Jesus’s parting encouragement for his followers not to be troubled or fearful (cp. 14:1) echoes Moses’s parting counsel (Dt 31:6,8).
14:28-29 After Jesus’s exaltation, his disciples would be able to call on the exalted Jesus and the indwelling Spirit. The Father is greater than I refers not to ontology (Jesus and the Father are one), but to Jesus’s subordination as eternal Son.
14:30 On the ruler of the world, see note at 12:30-31. Satan has no legal claim or hold on Jesus.
14:31 Some scholars view the transition from 14:31 to 15:1 as a literary seam, which would indicate that John’s Gospel was pieced together from different sources (one ending at 14:31; another beginning at 15:1). More likely, John is simply describing Jesus’s transition (Get up; let’s leave this place) from the upper room to the garden of Gethsemane, where he arrived in 18:1.