The Gospel of John: John 14.1-14

Read and meditate on John 14.1-14.
Jesus’ work on earth was all but finished. So He began pointing His disciples to the future, teaching them to look to Him and His Word for all their hope and help.

                                                                         ¹“Therefore I
say, be not troubled in your heart. As you
believe in God, believe in Me, and do
not be afraid. ²For where my Father dwells
are many mansions – I would surely tell
you if it were not so. I go before
you to prepare a special dwelling for
you. ³If I go, and there prepare a place
for you, then I will come again, embrace
you and receive you to Myself, that where
I am, you shall be with Me always there.
And you know where I’m going, and the way..”
⁵But Thomas, one of them, began to say,
“Lord, we do not know where You go; how can
we know the way?” ⁶Then Jesus said, “I am
the way, the truth, the life. No one can to
the Father come except by Me. ⁷If you
had known Me, you would know the Father, too.
And from now on you know the Father; you
have seen Him, too.” ⁸Then Philip said, “Lord, show
the Father to us; grant that we might know
Him. That will be sufficient.” ⁹Jesus said,
“Have I been so long with you, Philip, yet
you have not known Me? He who has seen Me
has seen the Father. Do you say to Me,
‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe
that I am in the Father, and that He
is in Me also? For the words I speak
I do not on My own authority
proclaim; the Father Who dwells in Me, He
it is Who does the works. ¹¹Believe in Me
that I am in the Father, and that He
is in Me also, or believe in Me
because you see the works. ¹²Assuredly,
I say to you, he who believes in Me,
that works that I do he will also do,
and greater works than these works will he do,
for I am going to My Father. ¹³And
what you request in My Name, understand
that I will do it, that the Father may
be glorified in me. ¹⁴Again I say,
if you ask anything in My Name, I
will do it.”

- John 14.1-14

Reflect
1. Jesus explained to His disciples that He is the way we must travel, the truth to keep us from lies and error, and the life we most earnestly desire. Jesus made Himself central to everything we should hope for, trust in, desire, or seek. How should this focus on Jesus shape and inform our daily lives? How can maintaining this focus strengthen us in times of temptation or trial? Complete this prayer: Lord, I long for You to be more constantly present and central in my life, so that…

2.  Jesus came to reveal the Father to us (Jn. 1.18), because living with the Father, in His dwelling place and presence, is our ultimate destination. Jesus is as much of the Father as we can receive at this time (Heb. 1.3). By focusing on Jesus, we focus on the Father Who created us, keeps us, redeemed and saved us, and will one day receive us eternally into His presence as His children. Recall John 12.20, 21 and meditate on Psalm 16.8, 9 and Colossians 3.1-3. What are some practical ways to fulfill what these passages teach? Lord Jesus, help me to see You with the eye of my heart, and to keep You always before me, lest…

3.  Jesus had already told His disciples that they must love one another as He had loved them. This is the mark of discipleship (Jn. 13.35). In John 14.1-14, Jesus gave His disciples a focus to help them rise above mere self-interest, so that they could encourage and support one another in love – His return, their eternal dwelling with the Father, Himself as the temporal revelation of the Father. He also urged them to “think big” when it came to the works they would do as they awaited His return (v. 12). How would the kind of focus Jesus was building here have encouraged them in doing such works? Do the Christians you know, or the churches with which you are familiar, tend to think in terms of “greater works than these”? Explain. Give me a heart for those “greater works,” Lord. Today, show me…

4.  Along the way on our journey to the Father, as we take up good works of love, we will need to be sustained. We have now power for such endeavors in and of ourselves. True believers understand the importance of prayer, and they know to make their requests in line with what the Lord has commanded and promised (vv. 13, 14). Can we keep a proper focus for the life of discipleship, or do consistently the works Jesus commends, apart from prayer? Explain. What should a disciple’s prayer life look like? Call me to prayer throughout the day, Lord, by…

5. The most encouraging promise Jesus made in this passage was that He will be with us to do in, for, and through us whatever He has commanded or promised (v. 14). In the next section of this upper room discourse, He’ll explain how He will do that. How does knowing Jesus is with us encourage us to love like Jesus, do good works like Jesus, and resort often to prayer in Jesus’ Name? How can we cultivate and sustain the sense of Jesus being with us always (Matt. 28.20)? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you composed for questions 1-4.

Summary
“And as the disciples were afraid for themselves when Peter, the boldest and most zealous of them, had been told, ‘The rooster will not crow until you have denied me thrice, …’ Jesus adds, ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions,’ … by way of an assurance to them in their trouble that they might with confidence and certainty look forward, after all their trials, to dwelling together with Christ in the presence of God.” Augustine (354-430 AD)

The life of following Jesus is an eschatological life: It these last days (eschaton), it looks forward to the end of days and the new heavens and new earth, and endeavors to express that destination in lives of love and good works. What are the primary hindrances we as Christians must overcome to maintain this forward-looking aspect on our lives?

Closing Prayer
I have set the LORD always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16.8-11

Psalm 16.8-11 (All to Christ: Jesus Paid It All)
You are ever with me, Lord; in You I shall not fall.
But rejoicing in Your Word, I abide within Your call.
    Make me know life’s way! Pleasures fill Your hand;
    Fill my life with joy each day! Before Your face I stand.

Soon Your glory I shall see, for as Jesus rose again,
You will come to gather me to my home with You in heav’n.
    Make me know life’s way! Pleasures fill Your hand;
    Fill my life with joy each day! Before Your face I stand.

T. M. Moore
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.