John 14 explained: Leaving, but Not Abandoning Them

A place made ready (vv. 1-4)

Jesus has just said he is leaving, so he tells his anxious friends he is going ahead to get a place ready for them in his Father's house, which has many dwelling places. Christians read his promise to come back for them as his return at the end of time, his coming for each person at death, or both.

The way to the Father (vv. 5-14)

When Thomas asks the way and Philip asks to see God, Jesus says he himself is the way, the truth and the life, and that whoever has seen him has seen the Father. He adds that those who trust him will do even greater things, which many read as his message reaching far more people, and that he will do what they ask in his name, usually understood as asking as his followers.

Another helper promised (vv. 15-17)

Jesus says love for him shows in keeping his commands, and he promises another helper, the Spirit of truth, who will stay with them for good. The Greek word means someone called to your side, so translations differ between advocate, helper and comforter.

Not left alone (vv. 18-24)

He promises not to leave them alone like orphans but to come to them, which readers take as his appearances after rising from death, his presence through the Spirit, or both. When a different Judas, not the betrayer, asks why only they will see him, Jesus says he and the Father will make their home with anyone who loves him and keeps his teaching.

Peace as a parting gift (vv. 25-29)

Jesus says the Holy Spirit will teach them and remind them of all he said, and he leaves them peace, the usual Jewish farewell, but calls it his own gift and unlike what the world gives. Most Christians read 'the Father is greater than I' as speaking of Jesus's human life or of the Father as the one who sends him, while groups that reject the Trinity (the belief that Father, Son and Spirit are one God) take it to mean Jesus is less than God.

The ruler of the world (vv. 30-31)

The coming ruler of the world is usually understood as the devil, whom Jesus sees behind his arrest, yet he says that power has no hold on him and he goes willingly out of love for the Father. His closing call to get up and go is puzzling because the talk continues for three more chapters, so they may have set off while he kept speaking or the speeches may have been joined later, and scholars are unsure.

Key verse: John 14:27

Where Christians differ

Christians differ over what Jesus means when he says no one comes to the Father apart from him (v. 6): many, especially evangelical Protestants, hold that only those who knowingly trust in Jesus come to God, while Catholic teaching and some others hold that people who never knowingly believed may still come to God through Christ.

Something to think about

When someone you depend on is leaving, what kind of reassurance actually helps, and what kind rings hollow?