John 13:36 - 14:14 | Food for Thought
Notes
v.13:26: Peter’s asking Jesus where he’s going, because Jesus said in the previous paragraph that he’s going to a place they can’t go. (Read last week’s focal passage for more context!)
v.13:38: “…the rooster will not crow…” | This literally happens in John 18!
v.14:1-4: Jesus isn’t leaving to separate himself from us, but to one day bring us back to him and the Father forever, living together in a restored creation. This is the end goal of God reconciling all things to himself in Jesus!
v.14:5-6: This isn’t merely a doctrinal statement about the Trinity or some instructions to heaven. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life that will one day bring us into the literal presence of the Father.
v.14:7: Tricky Greek (variants in old manuscripts), but it’s better translated by the CSB as, “If you know me (or “have come to know me”), you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (See the Carson commentary.)
v.14:11: Jesus basically tells Philip that if he can’t take Jesus at his words, then he should surely believe that Father is seen through the Son in Jesus’ actions.
v.14:12-14: What makes the works we’ll do “greater” than the works Jesus did is the fact that Jesus is “going to the Father.” There’s a greater clarity about the plan and power of Jesus once he resurrects and ascends, and Jesus himself is in a better position to serve the church at large. I’m just going to quote Carson’s commentary here:
"The reason why the "greater things" are done consequent upon Jesus' going to the Father is now clarified further: the disciples' fruitful confuct is the product of their prayers , prayers offered in Jesus' name. Whether this prayer is directed to the Father or to Jesus, it is offered in Jesus' name, and he is the one who grants the request. This demonstrates that the contrast in v.12 is not finally between Jesus' works and his disciples' works, but between the works of Jesus that he himself performed during the days of his flesh, and the works that he performs through his disciples after this death and exaltation. Glorified with the glory he had with the Father before the world began, the Son is no longer limited by the pre-death humanness that characterized his ministry. At that point, redemption is won, the kingdom of God is triumphantly invading the nations with saving and transforming power, the locus of the covenant community stretches outward from its Jewish confines to embrace the world, and the disciples themselves are empowered and equipped to engage in far-reaching ministry."
Questions
Peter’s noble ambitions and good intentions once again get in the way of Jesus’ plans and the plain truth. Jesus will lay his life down for Peter, not the other way around. And despite saying he’ll stick with Jesus to the end, Jesus says Peter will pretend like he doesn’t know Jesus three times in the coming hours. How do our noble ambitions and good intentions sometimes turn the gospel on its head?
What does Jesus follow up with to the whole group in 14:1? How is this a wildly comforting and compassionate way to address a group of people who “suddenly” have a betrayer and a denier (…and a doubter and a sign-seeker if we keep reading this passage!) in their midst?
Do you identify with Peter, Thomas, or Philip in this passage?
Jesus says he’s leaving, but not to simply “get away” from the world. Where is he going and why is he going there? Will he ever come back?
Note that Jesus isn’t bringing us to heaven, but to the Father. How does this challenge some assumptions about the way we and others think about the “goal” of the gospel?
How does the exclusivity of Jesus’ claims to be the one and only truth, life, and way to the Father make you feel? What does it make you think about?
Can it be good news that these things belong exclusively to Jesus?
What does it actually mean that Jesus is the way? …the truth? …the life? How can each of those tangibly shape your normal life?
I’m sure all of us at some point in our lives have wished we could “see God” or have been desperate for him to “show up.” How can Jesus say to Philip (who wanted to see the Father, too) that his own words and actions already have shown him the Father?
Does that feel like a cop out? Is that unsatisfactory in some way to you?
How is Jesus’ promise that he’ll come back to bring us to the Father good news for that?
What does it require of us today to let Jesus own words and actions be enough? How are they enough to say we’ve seen the Father / know that he and the Father are one?
Jesus says that whoever believes in him will do greater works than what he’s done, because Jesus is going to the Father. What about Jesus’ presence with the Father could make the works we do now greater than what Jesus could do when he was still on earth?
What can we learn about prayer here? What questions does this passage spark about prayer?
Clearly, asking “anything in [Jesus’] name” isn’t a formula to get God to do whatever we want. So what’s it getting after? Is Jesus lying here? Is there something we’re missing?