John Chapter 14

Published Aug. 30, 2023, 12:52 p.m.

Review: Jesus washed the diciples feet and made it clear that this was his example for them.  If he is rightly their Lord and Master and he washes their feet, then they should wash each other's feet.  The shock of Jesus washing their feet may have been eclipsed by the shocking announcement that one of the closest diciples would be his betrayer.  Judas is identified secretly to John (the other diciples don't appear to understand yet) as the betrayer-- however, Jesus knew from the beginning.  Judas Iscariot is dismissed by Jesus to carry out his betrayal on Jesus' timeline.  Jesus gives a new commandment to his diciples: To love one another.  Peter's three denials are foretold.

Preview:  The diciples are troubled in heart.  Though it is Jesus who must face betrayal, denial, scorn, and brutal death (being lifted up) he will be the one offering encouragement and comfort to his diciples -- Including the promise of another "Helper", "Comforter", "Advocate", "Counselor", "Paraclete".

Love and its connection with obedience are themes to watch out for.

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I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[a] believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.[d] From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

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1. Jesus is comforting the disciples.  What is the source of comfort to which he points?
   
   
2. Do you find it assuring when Jesus says "You know the way" and how Thomas responds: We don't know the destination.  How can we know the way?
   
   
3. "No one comes to the Father except through me."  This is a clear and totally exclusive claim.  What does this mean to the Jew?  What does this mean to the Gentile?
   
   
4. Consider the following reflections:
   The words of Christ cry out to us (cf. John 14:6): “Follow thou me. I am the way and the truth and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou must follow; the truth which thou must believe; the life for which thou must hope. I am the inviolable way; the infallible truth, the never-ending life. I am the straightest way; the sovereign truth; life true, life blessed, life uncreated.”
       -Thomas a Kempis
   
   
5. A triplet of sonnets by D.A. Carson
   SONNETS ON JOHN 14:6
   I AM the way to God : I did not come
   To light a path, to blaze a trail, that you
   May simply follow in my tracks, pursue
   My shadow like a prize that's cheaply won.
   My life reveals the life of God, the sum
   Of all he is and does. So how can you,
   The sons of night, look on me and construe
   My way as just the road for you to run?
   My path takes in Gethsemane, the Cross,
   And stark rejection draped in agony.
   My way to God embraces utmost loss :
   Your way to God is not my way, but me.
   Each other path is dismal swamp, or fraud.
   I stand alone: I am the way to God.
   II
   I AM the truth of God: I do not claim
   I merely speak the truth, as though I were
   A prophet (but no more), a channel, stirred
   By Spirit power, of purely human frame.
   Nor do I say that when I take his Name
   Upon my lips, my teaching cannot err
   (Though that is true). A mere interpreter
   I'm not, some prophet-voice of special fame.
   In timeless reaches of eternity
   The triune God decided that the Word,
   The self-expression of the Deity,
   Would put on flesh and blood - and thus be heard.
   The claim to speak the truth good men applaud .
   I claim much more: I am the truth of God.
   III
   I AM the resurrection life. It's not
   As though I merely bear life-giving drink,
   A magic elixir which (men might think)
   Is cheap because though lavish it's not bought.
   The price of life was fully paid: I fought
   With death and black despair; for I'm the drink
   Of life. The resurrection morn's the link
   Between my death and endless life long sought.
   I am the first-born from the dead; and by
   My triumph, I deal death to lusts and hates.
   My life I now extend to men, and ply
   Them with the draught that ever satiates.
   Religion's page with empty boasts is rife:
   But I'm the resurrection and the life.
   -D.A. CARSON

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8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me[e] anything in my name, I will do it.

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1. Phillip wants the highest good thing:  To see God as he is.  Moses asked to see God's glory (Ex. 33).  What has writer John and Jesus tried to make clear up to and including now?  Why is it hard to accept?
   
   
2. Notice: To whom is Jesus ascribing his words and actions?
   
   
3. "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" -- How do you understand this?
   
   
4. How are we to understand "greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father"?
   
   
5. "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it" -- How are we to understand this?  (By not divorcing from the next verse...)

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Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,[f] to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be[g] in you.

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1. How would we summarize Chapter 14 up to this point?  Why are the disciples troubled?  What comfort has Jesus given them?
   
   
2. "If you love (agape) me, you will keep my commandments."  How would you know if you were breaking or keeping a local, state or federal law?  What would you do if you were made aware of a violation?  If Jesus makes this claim, and we love him, what should be our response?
   
   
3. How does the world view love? "If you love something..." What are some reasons that we conflate love with something else?
   
   
4. The "Helper", "Comforter", "Advocate", "Counselor", (Greek word "Paraclete") that Jesus promises will be with us forever.  The greek word implies a legal defender in court.  The opposite of a prosecutor.  We are living in this time now.  Christians have the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Why can the world not recieve the "Spirit of Truth"

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18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

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1. What real fear is Jesus addressing? 
   
   
2. How is our Love of Jesus revealed?  How does Jesus model this Love?
   
   
3. Judas (not Iscariot) is named in Luke 6:16 and is also called Thaddaeus (Mark 3).  Restate his question.  Does he have a point?  What is at the heart of his question?
   
   
4. What is the scary part of obedience following love?

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25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

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