John 15:26–16:15

  ²⁶ “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. ²⁷ And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. ¹ “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. ² They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. ³ And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. ⁴ But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. “And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. ¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Commentary 

Vs. 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” 

 Having condemned the worlds rejection of His Word and hatred of Him without a cause; which will culminate in their Crucifixion of Him; Jesus now foretells of the Ministry of the Helper who will continue on His Work and Witness in the world through His disciples. Now Jesus also calls Him the Spirit of truth because He is the only Holy Spirit who comes from the Father from whom all truth precedes. Therefore, in departing from this world the Lord Jesus Christ will/has sent Him to His disciples to testify of Him. The Lord Jesus Christ’s Witness then is not lost with His departure, rather with His departure the Holy Spirit now takes this Work upon Himself! 

Vs. 27 “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” 

 Therefore, Jesus now links the Helper, i.e. Holy Spirits Arrival and Witness of Him with the disciple’s witness of Him, for just as the Holy Spirit has been with Him from the beginning, so too have His disciples, and so they too will bear witness of Him, of all that they saw and heard!

 

John 16:1-15 

¹ “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. ² They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. ³ And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. ⁴ But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. “And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. ¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. 

Commentary 

Vs. 1 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.” 

 The Lord Jesus now tells the disciples that His foretelling them all these things is so that they should not stumble, that is lose their faith or their hope, because these things will take place in every generation. For the world will hate Him, and because they hate Him, they will hate us who believe in Him also. 

Vs. 2 “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.” 

 And so, Jesus begins with their generation, and Jews to whom He came, who because they rejected Him, will also reject His disciples. Indeed, Jesus says first they will start by putting His disciples out of the synagogues (i.e. the local places where Jews worshipped). However, they will soon digress to killing them under the guise that they are doing God’s Will, for such is the deception that this world is under by the ruler of this world. 

Vs. 3 “And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.” 

 Here the Lord Jesus Christ makes it clear that they will do these things to His disciples because they know neither Him nor His Father who sent Him! Thus, all their religious worship and services are nothing, for if they truly knew God, they would love God and His Son and His own! 

Vs. 4 “But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. “And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.” 

 Jesus now explains to the disciples that He is telling them these things now so that when they happen, they will remember that He foretold them of them. And so, with His imminent departure He is now preparing them for what will happen to them when He is gone. Both the Holy Spirits Arrival and Work as well as their own rejection and persecution by the world. 

Vs. 5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 

 Here Jesus seems to lament the disciples seemingly lack of understanding/interest in the great things that were to coming and to be accomplished with His departure back to the Father. For it would be from there sitting on His Throne next to His Father in heaven with the Holy Spirit poured out that He would sanctify His people and direct our new lives! 

Vs. 6 “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” 

 Jesus now reveals the source of the disciple’s temporary disinterest in the things to come and that was their immense sorrow at hearing of His departure from them. 

Vs. 7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” 

 Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ makes it clear that His departure is not the end for them, rather it is to their own advantage that He depart from them, for only then will the Helper, i.e. Holy Spirit come to them. And thus, He will be the One who will both transform them, then empower them, as well as now teach and remind of Jesus’ Word but also guide them into doing the Word/Work of the Lord Jesus Christ! For when Jesus was there amongst them, they were mostly only His witnesses, but now the Lord Jesus Christ through the Helper’s Ministry is going to make them His workers as well! 

Vs. 8-11 ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 

Now the Witness and Work of the Holy Spirit towards Jesus disciples is far different than His Ministry towards the unbelieving world. For the Lord Jesus Christ says that He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment! 

“of sin, because they do not believe in Me” 

That is not only the sins that unbelieving people have committed and commit, but specifically of being under the condemnation of sin, because the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior of the world has made the Atonement for sin there is no more excuse for either sin or their unbelief, Jesus Christ by His death on the Cross and Resurrection from the dead has paid the price so that anyone anywhere may have remission of all their sins and everlasting life! 

“of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more”  

 Thus, the Holy Spirit also convicts the world of righteousness, that is that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed Righteous, and His ultimate act of being so was His returning (i.e. Ascending) back to His Father in heaven! 

“of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” 

 Because the world rejected the Lord Jesus Christ they now are convicted of judgment by the Holy Spirit, because at the Cross the ruler of this world was judged! Therefore, in rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ they now will share in the judgment that the ruler of the world will have who orchestrated Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion through them. 

Vs. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” 

The Lord Jesus Christ now tells the disciples that still are many things He has to say to them, but He would not yet reveal everything then to them, because as He said they could not bear them. And so later through the N.T. writings of the Biblical Apostles and then the Revelation of God given the Apostle John we have His complete Revelation for us all! 

Vs. 13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” 

Here the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, i.e. the Spirit of truth, is revealed. For it is He who guides us into all truth, for with the Lord Jesus Christ’s departure He is the One who speaks for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, it was He who spoke to the Biblical Apostles and gave them the commandments for the Body of Christ to keep and follow, as well as gave them Revelations of things to come. His ministry then in that sense in giving us the Word of God to keep and follow has ended because we now have the full Revelation of God given us in the Word of God. However, His ministry in teaching and instructing us on the Word of God, and giving us discernment into all truth continues on to everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 2:27). 

Vs. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” 

Thus, the expressed Ministry of the Spirit of truth (i.e. Holy Spirit) is not to glorify Himself, or magnify Spirit gifts, but only to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ! And this He does by taken what is the Lords His Words, Commandments, and Truth and declaring these to us. And so its not Spirit gifts that He seeks to magnify amongst mankind, but the Lord Jesus Christ’s Word! 

Vs. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” 

The connection then between God’s Word being the Lord Jesus Christ’s Word and the Holy Spirits Word and Revelations then coming from Him is here undeniably clearly stated!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson. 

John 15:18–25

 ¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵ But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

Commentary 

Vs. 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” 

 In this section of Scripture Jesus makes it clear that we will be hated by the world, and not for what we have done, but for who we are, His disciples. For the world loves only those who live and believe as they do, and so whatever the tenure or mood of the world is at any given time, Christians who reflect and represent the unchanging moral and Spiritual character of the Lord Jesus Christ will only find the worlds hatred and wrath. For through us they feel the guilt and condemnation of their own sinful and unbelieving lives. And so, Jesus here reminds us that we are hated by the world because it first hated Him! For they did not want His Lordship and rule over their persons and lives when He came to them, but instead drove Him out and Crucified Him, and so just as they hated Him so they will hate us, for we bear the Spiritual and moral likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ! 

Vs. 19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” 

 Jesus makes it clear that those who are of the world, who have not been chosen by Him, and thus born-again by His Spirit, are loved by the world. For they belong to the world and world knows and loves its own, just as the Lord Jesus Christ knows and loves His own! Therefore, because we are not of the world, because Jesus choose us out of the world to be His own, the world now hates us! 

Vs. 20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” 

 Here the Lord Jesus says we should expect no better treatment from the world than He Himself received from it! For as He says, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ Therefore, if they persecuted Him, they will also persecute us, thus we should not think that there is something we can do or say that would make them like us. For they will always think evil of us, just as they thought evil and did evil towards the Lord Jesus Christ, for as they rejected Him and His Word so they will reject us. However, Jesus also says, “If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” Indicating again that from the world Jesus will choose people to believe in Him and follow Him in discipleship just as He choose us! And these we will know when they keep our word, meaning His Biblical Apostles’ Word. 

Vs. 21 “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.” 

 Again, Jesus makes it clear that the hatred of our person and rejection of our word (i.e. our preaching and teaching His and the Biblical Apostles Word), they will do to us for His Names sake, because they do not know God the Father who sent Him! Thus, both the outwardly religious Jews and ungodly Gentiles who know neither God nor Christ His Son whom He sent to them, will hate us for our faith in and profession of the Lord Jesus Christ to them and to all! 

Vs. 22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” 

 Here their sin is one of unbelief, of not repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. For no one ever spoke as Jesus did, nor has anyone done the works that Jesus has done and continues to do. Therefore, in coming to the Jews first, being sent by His Father to them, to reveal and bring salvation first to them, and then to all, they then in rejecting Him have no excuse for their sin. For the Lord Jesus Christ came to them according to the Scriptures prophecies about Him, and lived amongst them, preaching and teaching the Gospel to them all. There is then no excuse for their sin, for they now have the way of salvation clearly preached and presented to them, and now even purchased and brought near to them by His Death on the Cross and Resurrection from the grave! Therefore, neither they, nor anyone else has any excuse for their sin, because the Lord Jesus Christ has had made the way to turn every believing sinner into a Godly saint! 

Vs. 23 “He who hates Me hates My Father also.” 

 Here Jesus makes it clear that to hate Him is to hate His Father who is always with Him! Therefore, to claim to belong to His Father and yet hate Jesus Christ is only to be lying! For to hate the Lord Jesus Christ is only to hate His Father in heaven who sent Him, for they are One! 

Vs. 24-25 ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵ But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ 

 Here the Lord Jesus Christ strengthens His condemnation of them, for not only did His Word which came from God in heaven reveal to them that He is the Messiah, but also His very works that He did openly amongst them, which no else did, clearly revealed Himself to them. Therefore, they have no excuse for their sin, for having heard and seen the Lord Jesus Christ, God clearly revealed Himself to them through His Son. However instead of repenting and believing in Him they only went on to hate Him, just as they hate His Father in heaven. Therefore, Jesus knowing this now recalls how this was all foretold in the O.T. prophecy of David in Psalm 69:4 when he himself foresaw that they would do this to Him, not that they had to do this, but that they themselves would chose to do that, and thus they themselves would be the means by which that prophecy would be fulfilled, and not only them, but also everyone since who likewise hates the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson. 

John 15:12–17

 ¹² This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, that you love one another. 

Commentary 

Vs. 12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” 

 With Jesus just finishing His discourse on the paramount importance of abiding in Him (in His love) and keeping His Word and Commandments, and that as the Father loves Him so He loves us, therefore Jesus now gives us one great commandment that is to mark all of His disciples, which is that we love one another as He has loved us. Thus, as God’s love is openly expressed and given between the Father and the Son and then to us, so we are to exemplify His love to one another! Love then is the key to both the churches and individual believer’s well-being as the Apostle Paul clearly understood when he wrote the infamous love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13. 

Vs. 13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” 

 Here Jesus makes Sacrificial love, His Sacrificial Love, the standard of all true greatness. For nothing good has ever been born out of self-seeking and self-serving “love”. Thus, there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends, something which Jesus was now preparing Himself and later his disciples to do. 

Vs. 14 “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” 

 Friendship then with God is not by casual acquaintance, nor is it by lip service or flattery, it is only by doing whatever He commands us to do! 

Vs. 15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” 

 The Lord Jesus now makes it clear that His view of His disciples is not one of their being mere servants, rather He views us as His friends who of course are in His service, just as He was in ours. Now because He sees us as His friends, He shares with us all things that He Himself heard from His Father. Thus, Jesus by saying as much is saying that He Himself has taken them (and us all who believe in Him) into His own confidence, and thus into His “inner circle” where He can freely entrust us with keeping His Word! 

Vs. 16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” 

 Jesus now recalls several key things. First is that He chose us, not just to be His disciples or to eternal salvation, but He chose us, that is He foreordained and foresaw the roles and purposes that we as God’s children and His disciples would fulfill. Therefore, in choosing us, He also appointed us to go and bear fruit, and that the fruit that we bear should remain. For the works that we do in Christ’s Name, their everlasting impacts, must remain! And so Jesus once again says that whatever we ask the Father in His Name He may give us, for we are not independent of Him but fully dependent upon Him for the fruit we bear and which remains! 

Vs. 17 “These things I command you, that you love one another.” 

 Jesus now commands us that we are to love one another, because in the process of seeking to do great and mighty things for the Lord, love sadly can get left behind. Therefore, it is paramount that in all that we do that we do it through God’s love and in accord with His love, otherwise it will not remain! 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson. 

John 15:1–11

 ¹ “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. ⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. ⁹ “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. ¹¹ “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 

Vs. 1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 

 In this passage the Lord Jesus Christ now uses some allegory to convey some great Spiritual truths. And so, in this Jesus begins by saying that He is the true vine, and His Father is the vinedresser. Thus, Jesus harkens back to the Biblical metaphors where Israel itself was described as a vine planted by God (Psalm 80:8). However, when Israel itself willingly moved away from God and into the idolatry and sins of the nations around them, it fell under the wrath and judgment of God (Isaiah 51:1-7; Ezekiel 15:1-8; 17-5-10; 19:10-14; Hosea 10:1-4 etc.). Therefore, in no way could Israel ever have been said to be God’s true vine, for though planted by God, it did not love and obey God, but rather they choose their own course and way, just as they continue to do even to this very day! Therefore, when Jesus says that He is the true vine He is in essence saying look to Him, not to Israel for salvation! Because at this time (as in ancient times) Israel is far away from Him! Now when Jesus calls His Father; God the Father; the vinedresser He is attributing to His Father the authority and power that is only held by Him. Thus, just as His Father in ancient times watched over Israel and did to it according to its works and ways, so now He also watches over His Sons ministry, seeking the fruits of His Son in all of us who believe in Him! 

Vs. 2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” 

 Here the Lord Jesus describes the pruning work of God His Father; for as every gardener knows pruning is necessary for the life of a plant; but here specifically for the fruit production of His vine. Therefore, Jesus says that “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Now the mention of branches here is Jesus’ first mention of all of us who are His disciples, (which includes both professing and genuine Christians) thus here Jesus’ describes what happens to His disciples that do not bear fruit, and what also happens to those that do. Thus, those disciples who do not bear fruit, i.e. because they are not born again, and thus do not have the life of Christ, nor the love of God inside of them God Himself takes away. Now the reason He does this is why any good gardener takes away dead branches so that there can be new growth. That said, when and how God does this is completely up to Him, because it is decided by Him alone when and how to do this, for He alone knows the vine better than anyone else. So that is what happens to disciples who do not bear the fruits of Christ, God Himself takes away! That said Jesus goes on to say that, “…and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Once again, the Father is at work but this time His pruning is not to completely remove those branches that are bearing fruit, but rather He prunes them so that they might bear more fruit! In this then we can see the chastening hand of God at work in our lives removing from us those ideas, attitudes and behaviors that inhibit us from being more fruitful and plentiful as Jesus Christ’s disciples. Thus, His pruning work here is His removing from us those things that would keep us or hinder us from reaching our full potential as disciples of Jesus Christ. And so, though process maybe at times painful, at the end of it the increased fruits and joy of greater and greater harvests makes it exceedingly worth it! For nothing gives believers more joy then to see God accomplish many mighty things through them! 

Vs. 3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” 

 Here Jesus makes it clear that we who believe in Him are already clean because of His Word which He Himself has spoken to us and which we ourselves have received. Thus, what Jesus is describing here is the sanctification and justification of everyone who believes in Him. 

Vs. 4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” 

 The Lord Jesus now gives the “secret” to bearing fruit and that is by our abiding in Him and His abiding is us. Thus, first and foremost, a relationship must first be established with Him, and this begins by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, that begun, we are then to ongoingly abide in Him, because as Jesus makes the analogy here, just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own, neither can we bear fruit, good and Godly fruit, unless we are abiding in Him. For apart from the Lord Jesus Christ we have neither His enabling us by His Spirit, nor His guiding us by His Word to enable and guide us into bearing good fruit by our abiding in Him and He is us. 

Vs. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” 

 And so here Jesus makes it clear that He metaphorically being the vine is the source of our life, and thus all that we are and can do. Therefore, we metaphorically being the branches must abide in Him, the vine, in order to bear much fruit, for again we are fully and completely dependent on the vine as the source for all that are and can do. Therefore, Jesus promises, “…He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” Christians then cannot bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and thus bring forth the Character and Person of the Lord Jesus Christ through their own persons and lives unless they are abiding in Christ! For that is where good and Godly fruit always begins from abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ! The works then that Christians do and achieve all stem then from their abiding in the Vine! 

Vs. 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” 

 Here the Lord Jesus warns us all of failing to abide in Him, that when we lose touch with Him, we metaphorically become dry and withered branches, and so no longer abiding in Him and bearing His fruits, people no longer respect our profession or even His Person, but rather they just cast us and our profession and person aside (into the fire) (gleaned from Believers Bible Commentary). 

Vs. 7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” 

 Again, the importance of abiding in Christ, which is not just attending church on Sunday, rather it is daily abiding in Jesus Christ and having His Words abide in us. For we continually need His Word to keep us grounded, focused, and secured, otherwise one will only end up drifting around like a branch on the waters. Therefore, Jesus promises that when we abide in Him and His Words abide in us, we can be assured that when we ask for what we desire it will be done for us! For then both our focus and motives will be right, because we will have a Godly focus and Godly desires being close to His own heart, so that He Himself will grant us what we desire. Promises like this then should never be distorted into Jesus promising to fulfill ones own Godless greed or desires. 

Vs. 8 “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” 

 Therefore, God is glorified when His children bear much fruit, good and Godly fruit, as the Lord Jesus Christ’s disciples! 

Vs. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” 

 Here Jesus wants us all to believe and understand that His love for us is on par with God the Fathers love for Him! Now because love is so important to a disciple’s survival and wellbeing Jesus tells us all to abide in His love, that is recall it often, bring it to mind and praise Him for it, and let it be what motivates you to do good and serve others. For to know Christ’s love is to know God’s love, and His love will not only transform your person, but it will make you someone who can also truly reach and love others as well. 

Vs. 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” 

 Once again, Jesus makes it clear that by keeping His commandments, we abide in His love. For just as He kept His Father’s commandments, and thus abides in His love, so must we keep His to abide in His love. The Lord Jesus Christ then never moves away from that reality, so that we ourselves don’t drift away into making loving Him into something of our own making! 

Vs. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” 

 Jesus now in summing all that He has just said, now says that He said these things to us so that His joy may remain in us and thus our own joy may be full! For no one has lasting joy apart from abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ! 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson. 

John 14:1-31

¹ “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And where I go you know, and the way you know.” ⁵ Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, 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; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” ⁸ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. ¹¹ Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. ¹² “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. ¹³ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. ¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he 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 and said to 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 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. ²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while being present 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 things that I 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 heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. ²⁸ You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. ²⁹ “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. ³¹ But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here. 

Commentary 

Vs. 1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” 

 Having told the disciples that He was going away, and then rebuked Peter for his assumption of his own courage, Jesus now tells the disciples not to be troubled by this but to believe in Him as they believe in God. For Jesus knew that His departure (i.e. death) would be devastating to the disciples, and so they needed to believe in Him as they did in God the Father, because just as all things are possible with God the Father all things are likewise possible with the Lord Jesus Christ! 

Vs. 2 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” 

 Jesus now tells the disciples that His going away from them is to prepare a place for them, i.e. mansions, (lit. dwelling places). For as Jesus says there are many such places in heaven, but He is going there to prepare places just for them, that will be perfectly suited to them, and of course by default for us all who likewise believe in Him! 

Vs. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” 

 And so, the Lord Jesus Christ now reassures the disciples that His departure from them is not permanent, for He promises them (and us all) that He will come again and receive them (and us all) to Himself! So that where He is there we may be also. 

Vs. 4 “And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 

 Jesus now reaffirms their faith, that He was going to heaven, and that they knew the way to heaven which He had told them is with and through Himself. 

Vs. 5-6 ⁵ Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 

 Thomas though did not immediately understand (vs. 5). Therefore, Jesus now uses Thomas’ question to make one of greatest and profoundest declarations in all of Scripture, saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” ^{John 14:6} Nothing else then needs to be said, for in the Lord Jesus Christ’s declaration is all that is needed to guide anyone to salvation! 

Vs. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 

 Here Jesus is referring to knowing Him as God Himself! Come in the flesh to save and redeem believing humanity! Therefore, Jesus having just revealed Himself to Thomas as God, now says to him, “…and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 

Vs. 8-9 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 

 And so now it is Philipp who does not fully understand, for he says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” ^{Vs. 8} Jesus though ever patient now says to Him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ^{vs. 9} Thus making it abundantly clear to Philip and to us all to that to know the Lord Jesus Christ is to know God the Father in heaven, for they are One! 

Vs. 10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” 

 And so now Jesus by way of a question Jesus reveals that just as He is in the Father so is the Father in Him, thus you cannot separate them in your faith and belief about them, otherwise you will have neither of them! For God the Son cannot be accepted, acknowledged, received, or worshipped without God the Father, similarly God the Father will not be accepted, acknowledged, received, or worshipped without God the Son! The Lord Jesus now tells us all that the Words that He speaks He does not speak on His own Authority, thus as an independent Deity from God His Father, rather the Works that Jesus has done and continues to do are the very Works of God the Father who dwells in Him! 

Vs. 11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” 

 The Lord Jesus Christ now exhorts all His disciples to believe that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, or else to believe Him for the sake of the works themselves! Because no man has ever done what the Lord Jesus Christ has done! 

Vs. 12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” 

 Because the God the Father was doing through the Lord Jesus Christ all the works that He has done while He was in the flesh, that is a Man on earth. The Lord Jesus Christ now Promises that works the He Himself has done so will all who believe in Him likewise do, and not only that Jesus says that greater works than these will we do, and so because He goes to the Father His Witness and His Works must continue on but now through His disciples. Thus, in one sense we see this clearly through the Apostles ministries to whom Jesus was then speaking. For after the Holy Spirit’s outpouring they began do many mighty works and miracles, even raising people from the dead! Now in another sense Jesus’ Promise comes to all of us who believe in Him, for throughout our new lives many works born out of our faith in Him and enabled and empowered through His Holy Spirit are likewise done through us all, for it is Christ in us all who likewise does the works (Isaiah 26:12). Jesus’ then going back to the Father was not His or our defeat, rather it was the means by which greater and mighty things were going to be accomplished, and in this it was and is being accomplished through us all! 

Vs. 13-14 ¹³ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. 

 Having foretold us all of the great things that we are going to do, the Lord Jesus now promises that whatever we ask in His Name that He will do, that the Father maybe glorified in the Son. Thus, Jesus’ Promise here is not His Promising to fulfill all of our wants and desires (James 4:3), rather when we are doing His Will in His Service, we are to pray ask Him for whatever we need that the Father maybe glorified in the Son. Thus, we are never to do anything independently, as if anything that would glorify God would come through us without His Son having first paved the way for us. 

Vs. 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” 

 The Lord Jesus Christ throughout the Gospels (and later in the rest of the N.T) has given us commandments to keep, meaning both to observe and to hold onto as Christians. For in this world of ever-changing morals and values keeping the Lord Jesus Christ’s commandments is what truly defines His disciples, so much so that Jesus Himself linked keeping them with having love for Him. 

Vs. 16-17 ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 

 Having exhorted the disciples to keep His commandments, Jesus now promises that He will pray to the Father, and that the Father will give us another Helper, that He may abide with us forever. This Helper then is the Holy Spirit Himself; whom Jesus also calls the Spirit of truth in verse seventeen, for it is He who not only transforms believing individuals into Christians, but it is He who enables us to keep the Lord Jesus Christ’s commandments, not flawlessly, but ongoingly, giving us both the desire and means to do, and want to do so. Notice too that Jesus says the Holy Spirit abides with us forever! For once He comes to us, to dwell in us, He seals us for the Day of Redemption (Eph. 1:13-14). No one then loses their salvation, nor do they need to be “rebaptized” by the Holy Spirit, for once He comes to us, He abides with us forever! Now in verse seventeen Jesus says of the Spirit of truth that the world cannot receive Him, thus when the Holy Spirit was poured out into the world at Pentecost only those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ receive Him. For the world cannot receive Him, because as Jesus says it neither sees Him, nor knows Him, that is because they do not see Him Physically, they will not believe in Him, for they always walk by the sight of their eyes and not by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As well because they do not believe and obey the truth, the Spirit of truth will not come to them, those then who do not believe the testimony and the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ will never have the Spirit of truth come to them! However Jesus then goes on to say and Promise to us who do believe in Him that the Spirit of truth will come to us, because we know Him, therefore He dwells in us and He will be with us. 

Vs. 18 “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” 

 Therefore, in Jesus’ Promise of sending to us the Spirit of truth, (i.e. His Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity) He says that in His going away from us back to the Father in heaven He will not leave us orphans, rather He will come to us, that is come to us through His Holy Spirit indwelling each and every one of us who believe in Him. Every believer then has an intimate and everlasting connection with God the Father through Christ the Son and thus the Holy Spirit indwelling them. 

Vs. 19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.” 

 Now in foretelling of His going back to the Father, Jesus now says that in a little while the world would no longer see Him, for after His imminent Crucifixion the world will not see Him again until He returns on the Day of the Lord for its finial Judgment! That said, Jesus Promises us who believe in Him that we will see Him, which has two-parts. First the disciples would see Jesus again when He rose from the dead, second is that we will all see Him when we go to be with Him forever! Although one may also infer now that our seeing Jesus now is with our eyes of faith, and so we believe in Him! That said Jesus also Promises us that because He lives, we who believe in Him shall also live, which begins the moment we are born-again by faith in His Person, and thus we our brought from spirit death and brought to Spirit life. Therefore, Jesus looking past His Crucifixion, and onto His Glorious Resurrection’ and then Ascension now Promises us that because He lives, we also will live! Live here and now yes, but His emphasis is on our glorious eternity with Himself where neither death. nor suffering. nor pain will ever again afflict us, or have dominion over us when we go to be with Him forever (Rev. 21:4). Life then, Eternal Life then is assured us because the Lord Jesus Christ Himself now lives and He has made the way and paid the price for us! 

Vs. 20 “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” 

 Only when we go home to heaven to be with the Lord Jesus Christ will we fully see and understand the intimate connection between God the Father and God the Son and thus Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior dwelling inside us all who are redeemed and saved. 

Vs. 21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 

 The only real way that any of us love the Lord Jesus Christ is by obeying Him, that is keeping His commandments. Therefore, when we do so we will be loved by God the Father and God the Son and God the Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ then will manifest Himself to us. No one then who does not want to keep the Lord Jesus Christ’s commandments will ever be saved by Him (vs. 23-24). 

Vs. 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 

 The Judas mentioned here is the other Judas (and not the Judas Iscariot who left to betray Jesus), he wondered how Jesus was going to manifest Himself to all who believe in Him and not to the world. 

Vs. 23 Jesus answered and said to 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. 

 Jesus now explains how He will manifest Himself to believers and not to the world, and it is in the most intimate way, and it is by His and His Father coming and making their home inside of us! Each and every one of us then who believe now have the Living God, and the Living Son of God dwelling inside each and every one of us! Thus, we are the Temple of the Lord, His dwelling place here on earth! (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:19-22). And so that is how the Lord Jesus manifests Himself to us who believe in Him and not to the world, for we know He lives inside of us, but the world cannot see Him, though they may perceive Him in us, yet because they do not now see Him in the flesh, therefore Jesus is not manifested to them as He is to us! Now this is once again all predicated on our loving Him, which means keeping His Word (i.e. commandments) given us all in the N.T. Scripture which is applicable for us all in every generation and culture! 

Vs. 24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ makes it clear that loving Him means keeping His Words. And that is not His own Word but the Fathers who sent Him! Beware then of anyone who wants to alter the clear and easily understood teachings and commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, for they do not love Him, as God the Father has said! 

Vs. 25-26 ²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while being present 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 things that I said to you. 

 Jesus told the disciples all these things while He was present with them, and yet their understanding of these things was not yet complete. Therefore, after Jesus departed back to the Father, He would send His Spirit to them who would bring to remembrance all things that He said, giving them the ability to understand all the things that He said after they were regenerated/recreated (i.e. born-again) by His Spirit. Something that every believer is likewise endowed with because the Lord Jesus Christ’s Holy Spirit also dwells in us, He also teaches us and brings His Word to our remembrance (1 John 2:20-21, 27). 

Vs. 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 heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 

 Jesus then having foretold us that He would still be with us (even after He had Physically departed now gives us one of the great promises in the Bible, saying, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Every believer than should keep this promise and verse in their heart, for it will carry you far! Now in it, Jesus promises us an internal condition of peace, not an external condition devoid of conflict and troubles, because in this world there is no peace, but an internal peace given us by Him to see us through all the inevitable troubles of this life that we will have to face. Now in giving us His peace Jesus does not give it as the world gives, that is gives it, then takes it away on a whim. No Jesus’ peace given us is everlasting, because He has secured our souls redemption by His own Crucifixion! Therefore, Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be troubled, nor to be afraid, for He has secured our peace with God Himself forever! Everything else then, every trouble and trial, every setback and let down is then only a temporary condition that we must pass through. 

Vs. 28 You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. 

 Jesus knew the things He was then telling the disciples were not yet fully sinking in. For they were not yet born-again by His Spirit so they were then just trying to learn and obey and understand Him by their own natural means. Thus, they did not understand in Jesus’ going away from them, before coming back to them was the greatest thing that He could do for them to secure their eternal dwelling places with Him. Now if they had understood all that it entailed for Him to do this, they truly would’ve loved Him, and greatly rejoiced when they heard Him say these things. For in Jesus’ going to His Father He would also be glorified in heaven just as He should’ve been on earth, which again if they understood this would’ve caused them to rejoice! And so, Jesus now says to them that He is going to His Father, for His Father is greater than Himself, meaning that in heaven God the Fathers position is Superior to the one that Jesus Himself held here on earth, where He was mistreated and blasphemed and spoken against by vile and wicked and proud and evil people, something that no one does in heaven! Therefore, when Jesus returned to the Father, He would not only still be equal in Person with Him, as He always was and is, but now with Jesus returning victorious over sin, Satan, and death, He will sit on His throne until His Father makes all of His enemies His footstool! Jesus then will be rightly exalted by His Father in heaven just as He should’ve been on earth! 

Vs. 29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 

 Jesus then in foretelling the disciples about these things, i.e. His Death, Resurrection, Ascension and ultimately His Return did so, so that when these things came to pass that the disciples would not marvel or be afraid but rather, we would all believe! 

Vs. 30 “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” 

 Jesus then knowing that His time is at hand, and having already given the disciples His Word to keep, now tells the disciples that He will no longer talk much with them, that is much more about these things (vs. 30), for the ruler of this world was coming and as Jesus says He has nothing in Him, nor in any of us who believe in Jesus Christ (vs. 30). The next time then that Jesus would speak of things to come would only be when He had Ascended back to the Father when He by His Spirit would entrust to John, the then only living Apostle, the finial Revelation while John was imprisoned on the island of Patmos for His faith in and obedience towards the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Vs. 31 “But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.” 

 Jesus’ obedience then to the Father was His demonstrating to the world, that is the unbelieving and hostile world, His love for the Father. Having then already foretold the disciples that the ruler of this world (i.e. Satan, the devil) was coming to betray Him and arrest Him through his own people, Jesus now says to His disciples, “Arise, let us go from here.” Not as a means of escaping them, but rather to go to place and be there at the time when this must take place.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson. 

John 13:36–38

 ³⁶ Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” ³⁷ Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” ³⁸ Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. 

Vs. 36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” 

 When Jesus finished speaking Peter did not understand what Jesus meant when He said that He was going away. And so, Jesus now tells Peter that where He is going, he cannot come now, that is come to suffer on the Cross with Him and then be buried three days before rising again and later Ascending back to God in heaven. That Jesus must do alone. However, as Jesus says to Peter, “…but you shall follow Me afterward.” That is Peter after Jesus’ Ascension and later holy Spirit’s outpouring, would follow Jesus in ways he could not yet imagine, which would likewise culminate in his own suffering death before going home to be with Him in heaven. 

Vs. 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” 

 Peter still not grasping why he could not now follow Jesus, (in all that the Cross entailed), now says that he is willing to lay down his life for Jesus’ sake. 

Vs. 38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. 

  Jesus though is unimpressed by Peters statement for He knows the heart of man that when push comes to shove unregenerate man will always default to self-preservation. And so, Jesus calls out Peter on this and says directly to him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.” Again, Peter is not unique in this, for no matter how sincere, how apparently willing, unregenerate man will always do what he believes is in his own best interest, whether in life or in death. Which is one more reason why the Lord Jesus Christ had to go and suffer and die on the Cross for us all (Rom. 5:6-8). That said, Peter would follow Jesus Christ all the way to his own martyrdom death, just like countless other believers and saints who down through the centuries had to also endure the rejection and wrath of this Godless world (Heb. 11:13-16; 24-40). But first Peter had to stumble (just like Jesus foretold that he would) before he would become a man who would endure such things. And so let no one look down on Peter for we all stumble in many things, and yet through our stumbling we are all being refined and made white (Daniel 12:9-10). 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.