John 14
Jesus: “The Father is in me”
To Get to the Father, Go to the Son
1Jesus said, “Don’t let worry get the best of you. You trust God. Trust me too. 2Where my Father lives, there’s a lot of room and many homes. If that’s not the truth, would I have said that I’m going there to make a place for you? 3If I go and make a place for you, I’m coming back to get you. That way, where I am, you are. 4You know the way I’m heading.”5Thomas said, “What? Lord, we don’t have any idea where you’re going. How could we possibly find our way there?”
6Jesus said, “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. [1] If you want to get to the Father, I’m the one who’ll take you there.
Look at Jesus, See the Father
7“If you really knew who I was, you would understand why that means you also know my Father. Mark this date on your calendar, because from now on you know the Father and you have seen him.”8Philip said to him, “Lord, all we need is to see the Father. Show him to us.”
9Jesus told him, “Have I spent all this time with you, Philip, and you still don’t know me? If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. How can you ask me, ‘Let us see the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I’m in the Father and the Father is in me? I’m not telling you this on my own authority. The Father inside me is doing this. He’s doing the talking. 11Believe me when I tell you that I am inside the Father and the Father is inside me. If you can’t believe it based on what I’m telling you, at least believe it because of the miracles you’ve seen me do.
12“This is the truth. If you put your faith in me, you’ll do miracles too. More important miracles, in fact, because I’m going to make sure of it by going to the Father. 13Whatever you ask of me, it’s yours. I’ll give you anything that allows the Son to honor the Father. 14Ask for anything in my name and I’ll make it happen. 15But I’m asking you for this: if you love me, do what I’ve taught you to do.
Jesus Promises to Send a Helping Spirit
16“I’m going to ask the Father to send you another Spiritual Guide [2] who will be with you all the time. The Father will do this. 17You’ll have this Spirit to teach you the truth. Others won’t because they don’t know him. But you are going to get to know him because he’s going to live with you. He will live inside you as part of you.18“I’m not going to abandon you. I’m not going to leave you here all alone as orphans. I’m coming back to you. 19Soon the world won’t see me anymore. But you’ll see me. And I want you to know that because I live, you’ll live too. 20When that day comes, you’ll understand what I mean when I say I’m in my Father as part of him and that you’re in me and I’m in you.
How to Love Jesus
21“People who love me are the people who know and obey my teachings. My Father loves those people and so do I. I’m going to let them see me.”22The disciple Judas, not Judas Iscariot, asked, “Lord, what do you mean you’re going to let us see you but not the rest of the world?”
23Jesus told them, “Everyone who loves me will take my words seriously and do what I’ve taught you to do. My Father will love them and we will come to them and live with them. 24Anyone who doesn’t love me won’t take my words seriously and won’t follow my teachings. What I’m telling you right now isn’t coming from me. It’s coming from the Father who sent me.
25“I’m telling you this while I can, while I’m still with you. 26The Spiritual Guide my Father will send you in my place—the Holy Spirit—will help you remember everything I taught you.
27“I’m leaving you with a gift: peace of mind. This isn’t just any peace. This kind of peace comes from me. You can’t find this peace anywhere in the world. Don’t get worked up on worry. And don’t be afraid. 28You heard me tell you that I’m going away and then I’m coming back. That’s something for you to get happy about if you love me. That’s because I’m going back to the Father. He’s above me, and greater than I am.
29“I’ve told you all of this before it happened. That way, when it does happen, you’ll remember this and you’ll believe in me. 30I won’t be able to talk with you much longer. The king of this world is coming. But he’s no king of mine. So, he doesn’t have power over me. 31I want the world to know I love the Father. So, I do exactly what he tells me to do. Get up. Let’s get out of here.”
Footnotes
Some scholars interpret this to mean that Jesus is the way because he is the truthful message from God who will lead his people home to eternal life with the Father.
“I Am” is God’s name. When God told Moses to go to Egypt and free the Jewish people, Moses said the Jews would want to know who gave him the assignment. God told him to tell the people that “I Am” (Exodus 3:14) sent him. In John’s Gospel, Jesus seems to apply that name to himself as well, in seven “I Am” phrases. I Am:
The Greek word is parakletos. This word is sometimes translated into English as: comforter, advisor, counselor, intermediary. Jesus is saying he will ask the Father to send someone to continue the work that Jesus started in these disciples, by teaching them the truth about God.
Discussion Questions
- 1
Jesus tells his disciples, “Don’t let worry get the best of you. You trust God. Trust me too” (John 14:1). What do you think the disciples had to worry about?
- 2
How do you think you would have reacted to Jesus if you had been Thomas, asking him where he was going because you didn’t know the way? When Jesus answered, “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life” (John 14:6), which of the following might best describe your reaction?
- What in the world?
- He’s doing it again. Running off onto another topic.
- It’s Greek to me.
- If you are the way to the Father, let’s go.
- I might not get it. But I believe it. Your way is truly the way to life that never ends.
- 3
When Philip asked Jesus if the disciples could see the Father, Jesus essentially seemed to say, “Don’t you recognize me? Here I am.” Jesus says, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. . . . The Father inside me is doing this. He’s doing the talking” (John 14:9-10). What do you think are some of the ways of interpreting that, to understand the relationship between Jesus and the Father?
- 4
What do you think we are supposed to make of Jesus telling the disciples, “Mark this date on your calendar, because from now on you know the Father and you have seen him” (John 14:7)?
- 5
“Ask for anything in my name and I’ll make it happen” (John 14:14). What are we supposed to do with a promise like this from Jesus?
- 6
How do you react to the following statement Jesus made to his disciples? “I’m leaving you with a gift: peace of mind. This isn’t just any peace. This kind of peace comes from me. You can’t find this peace anywhere in the world” (John 14:27). How is the peace a Christian experiences any different from the peace nonbelievers feel?
- 7
LIFE APPLICATION. Jesus told his followers, “If you put your faith in me, you’ll do miracles too. More important miracles, in fact, because I’m going to make sure of it by going to the Father” (John 14:12). Have you done any miracles lately? Are followers of Jesus supposed to be doing miracles?
- 8
LIFE APPLICATION. Jesus tells his followers that he’s going to send the Holy Spirit as a “Spiritual Guide who will be with you all the time. . . . He will live inside you as part of you” (John 14:16-17). Can you feel him?
Maps/Guides
