John 14

Written on 05/10/2024

Verses 1-6

  • We have nothing to fear, because Christ has promised that we will be in His kingdom with Him—in heaven with Him.

  • But don't put your focus on the place/location of heaven. Make knowing Jesus your focus. Jesus is only the way to the Father and the only way to eternal life. 

    • As long as we keep our focus on Him, we have everything we need for relationship with God.

    • In fact, the point of eternal life is to know God, not to go to a heavenly place (John 17:3)

 

Verses 7-14

  • Jesus reminds His disciples again that He is the Father revealed. To see Him is to see God; to know Him is to know God. 

  • The words and works of Jesus, together, prove to us that Jesus is God. Only a God-Man could do all that Jesus did.

    • Jesus is the part of God that we can see. We will see Him in the flesh one day, and we will be with Him. Until then, we have the story of His life and His words in the form of the written Word, teaching us how to walk with God.

  • Verses 9-12. If you want see and know God, and learn how to enjoy relationship with God, learn how Jesus lived and emulate His habits!

    • By faith in Christ, and through the power of the Spirit that He gave to us after He went to the Father, believers can accomplish even more than Jesus did, through our combined efforts!

      • Know that God wants to use you to do great works for His kingdom!

  • Verses 13-14. As an additional value, anything that we pray for, as believers, if it agrees with the will of God, will be done, and it will be done in His timing. 

    • Know that your prayers are powerful and see them as a tool to accomplish tasks for the kingdom!

 

Verses 15-18, 25-26

  • If we are obedient to the gospel, to follow Christ, we receive God's own Spirit, who comes to dwell within us.

  • After Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave us the Holy Spirit—also called the Spirit of Christ—as His replacement until He returns.

    • The Spirit in us is His token to promise us that He will physically come again to receive us into His kingdom (Ephesians 1:13-14).

    • Understand that if you have the Holy Spirit, you have all of God that you need for this life, until Christ comes again.

      • You are not an orphan because Christ did not leave you alone. He gave you the Spirit to be with you in His stead for a time. And we know that Christ Himself will again return.

  • Verses 25-26. Part of the the Holy Spirit's role is to teach us about the Word and help us to remember the Word. 

    • Understand that the Holy Spirit is the part of God we get to have conversation or relationship with. We will not actually have face-to-face relationship with Jesus until He returns.

 

Verses 19-24

  • Verses 19-20. After Jesus rose again from the dead, it was known that He and God are one.

  • Verses 21-24. And now that we believe in Him, we must love Him by obeying His Word. The person that obeys Jesus is the one that loves Him. A person that does not obey the Word shows that they do not love Him.

    • The greatest love that you can show to Jesus is by learning and obeying His Word. Always focus on this and you will be loving Him well.

 

Verses 27-29

  • We don't have to be afraid and we can always have peace and joy because of what Christ has done.

  • We should be even happier about the fact that Jesus is now seated in heaven with the Father! Why?

    • Although Jesus and the Father are equally God in nature, in coming to earth as a Man, Jesus reduced Himself to a human form that was submitted to God (Philippians 2:7-8). In going back to the Father and joining with Him again, more could be accomplished (see notes on John 16).

    • Believe that it is better that Christ is in heaven right now, and rejoice in this! With the Father and the Son in heaven, and the presence of the Spirit on earth, it is an advantage, not a disadvantage (John 16:7)!

 

Verses 30-31

  • Jesus didn't have much time left, as the devil, now possessing Judas, was arranging to have Jesus arrested at that very moment.

  • But Jesus knew that the devil had no foothold in His life. He was going to the cross not as a victim of the devil, but in perfect submission to the will of the Father.

    • Understand that, like Jesus, if you are walking in obedience to God, Satan will have no foothold in you. Live obediently, and you will not have to be concerned about the devil.