ST JOHN
CHAPTER 14
Jesus speaks of many mansions; says he is the way, the truth, and the life; that to see him is to see the Father—He promises the first and second Comforters.
[ These messages were given at the end of the last supper]
1 LET not your heart
be troubled: [
Does this mean we should just not worry about anything? No - but when it comes to worrying about spititual matters and what God's plan for us is then - well we should not worry. Their worry is based on the fact that the Savior has told them that he is leaving them, so it is only natural to try to project what things will be like without Jesus being around - hence they worry. If we put ourselves in the position of the apostles what would we have been expecting? We would have expected in part tha tthe Savior was going to be a deliverer in a physical sense, and now he is leaving them - yes I think we would all feel very uneasy, we have only just begub to learn about the gospel really. ] ye believe in God, believe also in me. [ How easy it for men to believe that there is a God - A Father in Heaven? We believe it almost by instinct. Why is it so hard then to believe that there is likewise a son, and why is it so hard to believe on him? ]
2 In my Father’s house [
Where is the Father's house? 1) The
Temple, 2) The Celestial world. Which one is
he addressing here? The
Celestial world ] are
many mansions: [ a better translation would be “abodes” or “dwellings”. The same Greek word translated to “abode” in v. 23 is translated to “mansions” here. “My
text is on the resurrection of the dead, which you will find in the 14th
chapter of John—‘In my Father’shouse are many mansions.’ It should be—‘In
myFather’s kingdom are many kingdoms,’ in order thatye may be heirs of
God and joint-heirs with me. . . .“There are mansions for those who obey
a celestiallaw, and there are other mansions for those who comeshort
of the law, every man in his own order.” (Smith,Teachings, p. 366.) ] if it
were not so, I
would have told you. [ or because there are several
places for you to go or kingdoms that may await you - you will be judged
and rewarded for your righteousiness. There is more than just heaven
and hell. If it was just that I would have told you that! ] I
go to prepare a place for you. [ as my disciples I go to prepare a place
wg=here you can be with me and our Father in the highest kingdom of the
celestial kingdom. D&C 131:1-4 ]
3 And if I go [ Note who is the one that is making the decision to go - so it is volentary. ] and prepare a place for you, I will come again, [ After the resurrection. ] and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
[ In Hebrew, the word for "know" is the word yada, which means not only learning about something or someone but experiencing something or someone. It is not a superficial experience of God but a profoundly intimate experience. In the Israelite worldview, The Old Testament is the foundation of this experience. ]
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we
know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? [
Why was Thomas concerned when Jesus told the Apostles, “Whither I go
ye know, and the way ye know”? Perhaps Thomas thought that Jesus was going to travel to some place and he did not know where it was. ]
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
[ How is he the way? He
is the one who has charted the coarse that we must follow. He said to
us "Come follow me". I am the way to what? Back to our Father.] the truth,
[ How is he the trueth? He
knows all things and all trueth. D&C 93:26 He contains the true direction
back to the Father. He is the trueth that if we know him we will be free.
John 8: 32 ] and
the life: [ How
is he the life? 1) He is the creator - so there
would be no life without him 2) He is the redeemer of all man who without
there would be no eternal life.] no
man cometh unto
the Father, but by me. [ Why
is Jesus the only way by which we can come unto Heavenly Father? No
man of any culture, race or belief will be able to return to the Father until
he accepts Jesus as his Savior. He is the only name through which salvation
comes D&C 132:12 ]
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. [ If Jesus is going to leave them then will you show us how to see the Father in what we do - in other words if the Father is with Jesus at that time and in all things - including this point in time; while the Savior is on the earth, how do we see him so that we can know how to see him when you (Jesus) are gone. So Jesus attempts to teach that Jesus is always doing things the same way that the Father would do them (vs 11) , that the words that he speaks are the same words that the Fathe rowuld speak (vs 10). ]
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with
you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath
seen me hath seen the Father;
[ What does he mean by
that statement? When
Jesus ministered in this world, he looked like the Father would have
looked; he said what the Father would have said, and he did what the
Father would have done. As Elder Marion G. Romney has taught:“Jesus in
his mortal ministry, being, as Paul said, ‘the express image of his [Father’s]
person’ (Heb. 1:3),was a true and complete revelation of the person and
nature of God. This he confirmed to Philip when he said: ‘. . . he that
hath seen me hath seen the Father. . . .’ (John 14:9.)” (CR, Oct. 1967,
p. 135.)] and
how sayest thou then, Shew
us the Father? [ Philip, Philip, Philip, have
you not been with me so long; and been taught that I Am his son; that
in me are manifast all of the qualities and characteristics of the Father?
]
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. [ We are one in purpose, and also in operation, as I do all things through the power of the Priesthood which has been given me by the Father. ]
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on
me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than
these shall he do; because I go unto
my Father. [
How Could His Servants Do Greater Works Than
Jesus Did? “He
does not say that they should do these works in time; but they should
do greater works, because he went to the Father. He says in the 24th
verse [of the 17th chapter of John]: ‘Father, I will that they also,whom
thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory.’
These sayings, taken in connection, make it very plain that the greater works
which those that believed on his name were to do were to be done in eternity,
where he was going and where they should behold his glory.” (Lectures
on Faith, Lecture Seventh, vs. 12.) A better translation might be the following given what we know from lectures on faith; [The disciples] that believeth on me, the works that I do shall [those disciples] do also; and greater [works] than these shall [the Father] do. It is plain from v. 10-11 the works Jesus does are the works his Father gives him to do, as it says “the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works”. And now that Jesus is returning to his Father, the Father will do great things to Glorify Himself and his son, per v. 13. It is plain from the verses surrounding v. 12 that the Father is One doing the greater works, not the disciples. Finally, in v. 28 Jesus states flatly that the Father is greater than he (and see 5:20 where Jesus states the Father will do greater works than he). If there is One who is to do greater works than Jesus, it must be the Father. ]
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in
my name, [
Now at the end of his mortal monistry; the Lord teaches the principal that
we must ask thru him for those blessing that we desire; as he is our intercessor
and intermediary wurg rgw Father. ] that will I do, that the Father may
be glorified in the son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my
name, I will do it. [ repeats the message
twice to make sure they got it. The Savior knows that he only has a short
time left to teach, he is tryibg ti perfect his teachings - putting the
icing on the cake so as to speak. The disciples may not fully inderstand
that they will be on their own very shortly; and as such will be left
to what they can recall of his teachings. ]
15 ¶ If ye love me, keep my commandments.
[ This commandment is further extended with service in D&C 42:29 where he says If ye love me serve me and keep my commandments. Christ explains better than anyone what it means to Love God. In His last sermon to the apostles, He states that “if ye love me keep my commandments”. The overt way of expressing our love of God is to keep the commandments and love all others around us as He loved us. If the work and glory of God is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39), then the individual’s necessary contribution to the Atonement is to develop the love and character that Christ had for all of mankind. What does the Lord mean by that? If
we love him enough that we want to spend eternity with him - we want to be
with those that we love; then do those things that will allow him to be close
to us in this life and those things that will allow us to live with him in
the next life.]
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,
[ What Are the Two Comforters?“These
statements about the two Comforters climax and crown the teachings of the son
of God. We have no record of anything he ever said which can so completely
withdraw the curtain of eternity and opento the faithful a vision of the glories
of God. Based onlove, born of obedience, Jesus promises the saints thatthey
can have, here and now in this life, the following:“(1) The gift and constant
companionship of the HolyGhost; the comfort and peace which it is the function
of that Holy Spirit to bestow; the revelation and thesanctifying power which
alone will prepare men for the companionship of gods and angels hereafter;“(2)
Personal visitations from the Second Comforter,the Lord Jesus Christ
himself, the resurrected and perfected being who dwells with his Father
in the mansions on high; and“(3) God the Father—mark it well Philip!—shall
visit man in person, take up his abode with him, as it were,and reveal
to him all the hidden mysteries of his kingdom.” (McConkie, DNTC, 1:735.)] that
he may abide with
you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, [ ] because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: [ What do it require to be able to see and know God? Remember that God will not force himself on anyone but rather we have to seek him out, we have to have faith, we must want to know, then he will reveal himself and his truth. ] but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: [ Literally, orphans. The original word orfanov, is by some derived from orfnov, obscure, dark, because, says Mintert, an orphan (one deprived of father and mother) is little esteemed, neglected, and is obliged to wander about in obscurity and darkness. Others derive it from the Hebrew Prj charaph, to strip or make bare, despoil, because such a child is destitute of comfort, direction, and support, and is a prey to misery and disease, to sin and to death. ] I
will come to
you. [“Now what is this other Comforter. It is
no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ himself; and this is the
sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this
last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend
him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even he will manifest
the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and
the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will
teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries
of the kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient saints
arrived at when they had such glorious visions—Isaiah, Ezekiel, John
upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the saints
who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the First
Born.” (Teachings,pp. 150–51.)]
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. [ As surely as I shall rise from the dead, so shall ye. My resurrection shall be the proof and pledge of yours. ]
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? [ This is a great learning point for the disciples. You see all that they have known has been their personal interacrtion with Jesus, no he is about to leave. So the apostles are curious If Jesus is no
longer the leader, then who? Moses departed and was replaced by Joshua. Who then is Jesus’ successor, who could be? Jesus tells them it will be the Holy Spirit. But how can this Holy Spirit be revealed only to them and not to everyone? Jesus answers this question by making it plain the Spirit will only manifest itself to those who live Jesus’ teachings. "How is it" - Or, how can it be-ti gegonen, what is to happen?- on what account is it? Judas, who was probably thinking that the kingdom of Christ should extend over all the earth, wonders how this can be, and yet Christ manifest himself only to his disciples and not to the world, ver. 19.]
longer the leader, then who? Moses departed and was replaced by Joshua. Who then is Jesus’ successor, who could be? Jesus tells them it will be the Holy Spirit. But how can this Holy Spirit be revealed only to them and not to everyone? Jesus answers this question by making it plain the Spirit will only manifest itself to those who live Jesus’ teachings. "How is it" - Or, how can it be-ti gegonen, what is to happen?- on what account is it? Judas, who was probably thinking that the kingdom of Christ should extend over all the earth, wonders how this can be, and yet Christ manifest himself only to his disciples and not to the world, ver. 19.]
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
[ Joseph Smith says that this is a personal appearance. One day the prophet called on Orson Hyde to speak and Orson Hyde had said some things that were not accurate and later the prophet said as they were eating Orson would you object to me given some corrections to some of the things you said and Orson Hyde said no I would appreciate it. Orson Hyde in the morning sermon you taught based on revelation 19:11-12; 1 John 3:2 and John 14:23 that the Savior will appear on a white horse as a warrior and maybe we shall have some of the same spirit then. Orson Hyde also said our God is a warrior it is our privilege to have the father and son dwelling in our hearts. However; Joseph Smith corrects Orson Hyde that is not true he said "the idea that father and son dwell in a man's heart is an old sectarian notion and is false". ]
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, [When Did the Disciples Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost? Elder Joseph Fielding Smith stated that “the disciples of Jesus did not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost while he was with them. The reason for this, in part at least, was due to the fact that they had with them to guide and teach them the second member of the Godhead, even Jesus himself. While he was with them there was no occasion for them to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Before the Savior left them, he promised to send them the Comforter, or Holy Ghost.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:159.)] he [ The Holy Ghost. ] shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, [ What kind of peace can the world provide? absence of fear, that you are safe and protected. Financial peace that you will always have enough money for whatever you need. ] give I unto you. [ What is the peace that the Lord gives to us? That we can be resurrected, that we will live again, that there is a way for us to be forgiven of sin, that we can actually return and live with God. ] Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, [ Who is the prince of this world? Satan the same that is called the god of this world, 2 Cor. 4:4; ] and hath nothing in me. [ and the Savior and Satan are nothing alike. ]
31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; [ And what is the example that he uses to prove to us that Jesus loves the Father? that he will do exactly what the Father commanded him to do. So should it be any different for us than for him? ] and as the Father gave me commandment, [ I do it because I was asked to do it by the Father. ] even so I do. [ So therfore I will suffer death and pain of spirit. ] Arise, let us go hence. [Jesus tells the disciples let us ajourn and be on our way - the Passover Seder is completed, so Jesus takes the disciples and departs for the Mount of Olives where the sermons of ch. 15-17 are delivered (cf. 14:31, Matt. 26:30, Luke 22:39). ]