John 14¶

Overview:¶

v.1¶

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

v.3¶

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

*With every breath I long to follow Jesus
For He has said that He will bring me home
And day by day I know He will renew me
Until I stand with joy before the throne

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
All the glory evermore to Him
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
Yet not I, but through Christ in me*

Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me

hymn¶

v.6¶

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

v.14¶

You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

v15.¶

"If you love me, you will obey what I command.

v.21¶

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

The knowledge of God is not an intellectual exercise. It is the reward of obedience.

elisabethelliot¶

v.28¶

"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

Why does He refer to the Father as being greater than He is? He does so because He is reproaching the disciples for their selfishness. He had told them that He was going back to the presence of the Father. If they truly loved Him (and were not simply thinking about themselves), this announcement would have caused them to rejoice. Why? Because the Father is greater than the Son. Now immediately we can see what the term "greater" means. If it meant "better" as in "a higher type of being," these words would have no meaning. Why would the disciples rejoice because Jesus was going to see a being who is greater than He? Why would that cause rejoicing? But the term does not refer to "better" but "greater" as in positionally greater. The Son was returning back to the place He had with the Father before the world was (John 17:5, see below).