2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES

Wednesday in the Word

Second Baptist Church

January 21, 2026

John 14:1-31

1. Verses 1-3. The disciples are told what will give their troubled hearts relief: faith–faith in God. The relationship which Jesus sustained for a few years with His disciples was temporary and exceptional. In the light of His imminent death, burial, resurrection, and return to the Father in heaven, they must now relate to Him in a very different manner–the same way they relate to God the Father. It is their faith in what they cannot see that is important now. The bad news for the disciples (so far as they perceived it) was that Jesus was going away without them. The good news puts all this into perspective. He is going to His Father’s house; He is going back to heaven. He is going there to prepare a place for His disciples, so that they can be with Him for all eternity. His Father’s house has plenty of “dwelling places.” The word “mansions” is not really accurate, as both Leon Morris and D. A. Carson point out to us:The Greek word translated in the King James Version as 'mansions’ is found only here and in verse 23 in the New Testament. It relates to the verb that means 'to abide, dwell,’ which is used quite often in chapter 15. It points to places to stay. The translation 'mansions’ is because the scholar Jerome translated the New Testament into Latin he used the word mansiones at this point, and the King James translators used the English word that came closest to that. But the Latin word means ' lodging-places’; it refers to places to stay and not to elaborate houses. Jesus had just given his disciples the good news and the bad news. The bad news was that he was going away; the good news was that he would return one day. Our Lord is presently preparing–a holy temple, a congregation of believers in whom, and among whom, He will dwell for all eternity. When (much later) the disciples comprehend what Jesus is saying here, they looked on His “absence” in an entirely different light. It is better for them that He leave them, for a time, so that they may dwell with Him for all eternity.

2. Verses 4-7. Jesus has just told His disciples that He is going to “His Father’s house” so that they can be with Him there. He then tells them that “they know the way where He is going” (verse 4). Thomas says, we don’t know your destination, so how can we possibly know the way to get there?” But Thomas was wrong. Repeatedly Jesus had told them that He had come from the Father in heaven, and that He was going to return there: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me” (Jn 6:38). Jesus is not merely One who has shown men the way; He is the way. It is His death, resurrection, and ascension that has made a way for men to spend eternity with God in heaven. He is not merely a way; He is the way. He is the one and only way that God has provided for men to obtain the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of eternal life. To know Jesus is to know the way to the Father, for He is the way. Jesus is also the truth. He does, of course, teach the truth. His words are truth. But beyond this, He is the truth. All truth has its source in Him, as in (Colossians 2:2-3). Finally, Jesus is the life. We know that He has raised the dead to life. In John’s Gospel, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, after he had been in the tomb four days! Jesus gives life, but this is because He is the source of life. He is the One who called heaven and earth (and the church) into existence (John 1:1-12).

3. Verses 8-11. Philip questioned Jesus by asking Jesus to show them the father. Philip is basing his request on the premise that “seeing is believing.” If they could but see the Father, then they would believe all that Jesus has told them about the Father, and then they could have peace of mind. Jesus is going to turn this reasoning inside-out. He is going to say that it is not “seeing that leads to believing,” but rather it is “believing the leads to seeing.” Believing is seeing. Jesus responds to Philips by questioning Philip. Jesus asks Philip has he not been with Jesus from the beginning. Has he not heard the words that have brought life? Did he not see the miracles? Did he not see the lame walk and the blind see? How could all of that be done if it was not done by the hand of the father? They should have known that to see and know Jesus is to know the Father. He and the Father are intimately connected. The Father dwells in Him, as He dwells in the Father. To know one is to know the other. To reject one is to reject the other. For the last three years Jesus had shown them the father because he has shown them himself Jesus is the word of God the will of God and the plan of God. To see Jesus was to see the will, plan and purpose of God the Father. Philip gets rebuked primarily because he did not have to have the same measure of faith that future disciples would need because he had walked with Christ. The disciples believed because they saw Jesus, but Jesus would later tell them in chapter 20 that blessed are those that believe who have not seen.

4. Verses 12-14. Jesus moves from gently rebuking Philip to encouraging the disciples that faith in Jesus would lead them to do the same as Jesus had done. For the disciples then and for us now faith in Christ will lead us to accomplish the will, plan and purpose of God. Jesus performed miracles according to the will of the Father. Jesus lets his disciples know that they would also be able to do miracles according to the will, plan and purpose of God. Jesus encourages his disciples that they will be able to do even greater works. Jesus tells the disciples that if they ask in Jesus name (meaning according to his will, for his glory, and in line with his plan) we could have what we asks for in prayer. Asking in Jesus’ name is not about tagging Jesus on the end of your prayer. It is about asking God for things in line with the purpose and plan that Jesus showed us. In the name of Jesus means for us to approach the throne of Grace asking our request as Jesus would ask for the request. This means that we cannot expect God to answer selfish prayers that are for our own selfish wishes.

5. Verses 16-18. Jesus begins to tell the disciples how God will be present with them after he is gone. The presence of God would be with believers in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus tells his disciples that he has requested the Holy Spirit presence to be with his disCiples forever. Jesus begins to give us insight on the role of the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls him first a counselor, advocate, helper. He is not an counselor, helper advocate of a different kind, but of the same kind, like Jesus. The difference is that this the Holy Spirit will be with them forever. When He comes, He will not leave them. He will not only dwell among them, He will indwell them. He is called the “Spirit of truth.” “It is He who will call our Lord’s teaching to their remembrance. It is He who will cause all that once confuses them to become clear. It is He who will transform them into bold witnesses who proclaim the gospel in the face of great opposition.” (Bob Diffenbaugh). The Lord is leaving this world, and He is leaving His disciples behind, at least for a time. But Jesus is not abandoning His disciples as though they were orphans. Jesus is leaving his believers in good hands with the Holy Spirit until he returns. The Holy Spirit will take care of us just as Jesus would have. The Holy Spirit is able to do the work of Christ from the inside out.

6. Verses 19-21. Jesus tells his disciples that in a short time the world will not see him, but his believers would. Jesus is sharing that faith in him would allow believers to still see his handiwork on their lives, but those who did not believe would not be able to see the work of Christ. This “seeing” is not with one’s physical eyes, but with the eyes of faith. They will “see” Him by faith. It is then that they will grasp the unity of the Father, the Son, and the sons of God. It is those who love God and who keep His commandments that God will love, and to whom the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself. When we fail to believe we lose our ability to see God. We are only able to see the work of the Lord through faith. We as believers walk by faith as our guide as opposed to our faith. Faith trust God, but sight worries that God is not in control.

7. Verses 22-26. Another disciple named Judas (not the one that betrayed Jesus) questioned Jesus about what he was saying. Judas was confused and assumed that Jesus would only reveal himself to the twelve disciples. Jesus means that He will no longer reveal Himself physically and visibly to the world, just as He will no longer be (literally) seen by His disciples. Jesus will continue to reveal Himself to the world in the same way He reveals Himself to His disciples–through His Word. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ words to His disciples will be remembered and recorded in the Gospels. This gospel will be proclaimed throughout the world. Anyone who loves Jesus and keeps His commandments will enjoy the Lord’s dwelling among and within them through His Spirit, just as His disciples will. Those who reject His Word do not love Him, nor do they keep His commandments. In rejecting the words of our Lord, they reject the words of the Father. In so doing they reject both the Father and the Son. These words have been spoken by our Lord to the disciples, but they have not been understood. When Jesus leaves this earth and returns to His Father in heaven, the Holy Spirit will be sent by the Father in the name of the Son. He will teach the disciples what they are to proclaim to the world and by means of this teaching, some will believe, obey, and “see” Jesus.

8. Verses 27-31. Jesus shifts gears. The final verses of this chapter return to the peace which our Lord gives, which will keep their hearts and minds so that they need not be distressed by His absence. He gives them peace, but it is not peace like the world offers. It is not peace rooted in what is seen. It is peace based upon what is unseen. Jesus speaks prophetically to his disciples about his imminent death burial and resurrection. He tells them that Satan will try to destroy him, but the will be victorious by being obedient to death. His submission the will of the father will garner the greatest victory known to humanity. Victory over death hell and the grave. Satan gained a foothold with mankind by disobedience. Jesus will redeem man through complete and selfless obedience.

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