Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of John
Chapter 14: He That Hath Seen Me Hath Seen the Father
John 14 is the comfort of the upper room and the clearest window into the mystery of the Godhead. Jesus stills the disciples' fear, 'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me,' and promises, 'I go to prepare a place for you... I will come again, and receive you unto myself.' To Thomas He declares the only way of salvation: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.' To Philip's request, 'shew us the Father,' He answers with words that unveil His deity: 'he that hath seen me hath seen the Father... Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?' He promises 'another Comforter... even the Spirit of truth,' who 'dwelleth with you, and shall be in you,' and adds, 'I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you,' for the Comforter is His own indwelling presence. He promises that the Father and He will 'make our abode' with those who love Him, gives His peace, 'my peace I give unto you,' and goes willingly to the cross. The chapter shows us the Father made visible in the Son, the one God who comes to dwell within us by His Spirit, and the peace that stills every troubled heart.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of John chapter 14. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Jesus comforts His disciples, declares Himself the only way to the Father, reveals the Father in Himself, and promises the Comforter. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
No Man Cometh but by Me
Christ is the only way, truth, and life to the Father.
Seen Me, Seen the Father
The Father is manifest in the Son; one God in flesh.
I Will Come to You
The Spirit of truth is Christ's own indwelling presence.
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
He gives a peace the world can neither give nor take.
I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:1-14)
Jesus comforts the disciples, declares Himself the only way to the Father, and reveals that to see Him is to see the Father.
He That Hath Seen Me Hath Seen the Father
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 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; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 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. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. 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. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
Word Study
"way," Greek hodos (ὁδός). The word means a road, a path, a way of travel, and by extension the way one must go to reach a goal. "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jesus does not merely show a way or teach a way; He is the way, the one road to God, and the only one. He is also "the truth," the reality of God embodied, and "the life," the very source of eternal life. The exclusivity is absolute: "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." There is no salvation, no access to God, apart from Jesus Christ; and this is not narrowness but mercy, for God has opened one sure and living way to Himself in His Son. To come to God is to come through Jesus, for He is the way, and He is Himself the God to whom we come.
Explanation
Jesus comforts His troubled disciples with the promise of the Father's house and His return -- "I will come again, and receive you unto myself" -- and then answers Thomas with the sixth great "I am": "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." There is one road to God, and it is a Person. When Philip asks to be shown the Father, Jesus gives the Gospel's clearest word on His deity: "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father... I am in the Father, and the Father in me." To see Jesus is to see God, for the invisible Father is fully manifest in the Son; they are not two Gods but one, the Father dwelling in the Son and doing His works.
Gospel Focus
With the cross before Him and the disciples reeling, Jesus speaks the tenderest comfort: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." Notice the seamless joining of faith in God and faith in Himself, He places trust in Himself on the same level as trust in God, for He is God. He promises to prepare "many mansions" in "my Father's house," and to "come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also", the sure hope of being with Him forever. When Thomas confesses ignorance of the way, Jesus gives the sixth great "I am": "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." He is the sole and sufficient way to God. Then Philip voices the deepest longing of the human heart: "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." To see God would be enough, and Jesus' answer is one of the mightiest revelations in Scripture: "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." To see Jesus is to see the Father, for the Father is not another divine person visible apart from the Son; He is the one invisible God made visible in Christ. The longing to see God is answered fully and finally in Jesus. He presses it: "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." Here is the mystery of the incarnation in Jesus' own words. The Son and the Father are not two separate persons standing side by side, but the one God: the Father, the eternal Spirit and deity, dwells fully in the Son, the man Christ Jesus; and it is that indwelling Father who speaks and works through Him. "I am in the Father, and the Father in me" is the language not of two Gods nor of two persons of a Trinity, but of the one God manifest in flesh, the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in Christ. And He points to the works as proof, "or else believe me for the very works' sake." Then He promises that believers, empowered after His ascension, would do His works and "greater works," for the gospel would spread through the whole world, and that whatever they ask "in my name" He will do, "that the Father may be glorified in the Son." To know Christ is to know the Father; to see Christ is to see the Father; for in Him the one God has come.
I Will Not Leave You Comfortless: I Will Come to You (John 14:15-21)
Jesus promises the Spirit of truth to dwell in His people, and reveals that the Comforter is His own returning presence.
He Dwelleth With You, and Shall Be in You
"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 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."
Word Study
"Comforter," Greek parakletos (παράκλητος). The word means one called alongside to help, an advocate, a helper, a comforter. Jesus promises "another Comforter... even the Spirit of truth." The word "another" (allos) means another of the same kind, for the Spirit is Christ's own presence come in a new way; Jesus had been their Comforter beside them, and now the Spirit would be their Comforter within them. And Jesus makes plain that this is no third divine person separate from Himself, for in the very same breath He says, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." The coming of the Comforter is the coming of Christ Himself by the Spirit; the Spirit of truth is the Spirit of Jesus, the one God who was with them now to be in them. The Comforter is not another beside the Father and the Son but the same one God, the Holy Ghost, dwelling in His people.
Explanation
Jesus promises "another Comforter... the Spirit of truth" who "dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" -- the indwelling presence the disciples will receive at Pentecost. Strikingly, He does not say the Spirit is a third who will come in His absence; He says, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." The coming of the Comforter is the coming of Christ Himself by the Spirit, for the Spirit of truth is the Spirit of Jesus. "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" -- the same one God who is the Father and dwelt in the Son will now dwell in the believer. Love proved by obedience is the mark of those in whom He abides.
Gospel Focus
Jesus joins love and obedience: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Love for Christ is proven not by feeling only but by keeping His word. Then He gives the great promise of the age to come: "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth." The disciples were losing His visible presence beside them, but they would gain His presence within them, and forever. This Spirit "the world cannot receive," for it does not know Him, "but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." Note the movement: the Spirit who had been with them in the person of Jesus would soon be in them. And lest anyone imagine the Comforter to be someone other than Jesus, He says at once, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." The sending of the Spirit is the coming of Christ Himself; the Comforter is the indwelling presence of the same Lord who stood before them. This is the Apostolic understanding of the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are not three persons but the one God in His self-revelation, the one God who was manifest in the flesh as the Son now dwelling in His people as the Spirit. "Because I live, ye shall live also", His resurrection life would be theirs. And then a verse that gathers the whole mystery: "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." The same indwelling by which the Father is in the Son becomes the indwelling by which Christ is in the believer, one God, one Spirit, drawing His people into union with Himself. This is not the language of separate persons but of the one God who fills all in all. Finally He binds love, obedience, and revelation together: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me... and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." Christ reveals Himself in ever fuller measure to the loving, obedient heart. The departing Lord does not abandon His own; He comes to them, and abides in them, by the Comforter who is His own Spirit.
We Will Come Unto Him, and Make Our Abode With Him (John 14:22-31)
Jesus promises His abiding presence to those who love Him, names the Comforter as the Holy Ghost, and gives His peace.
My Peace I Give Unto You
"Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 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. 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. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 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. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence."
Word Study
"abode," Greek mone (μονή). The word means a dwelling place, an abiding, a staying; it is the same word rendered "mansions" in verse 2, "In my Father's house are many mansions" (monai). Here Jesus says, "we will come unto him, and make our abode (mone) with him." There is a beautiful reversal: Christ goes to prepare a dwelling for us in the Father's house, and He also comes to make His dwelling within us. The believer is both destined for God's home and made God's home now. "We will come," the Father and the Son, that is, the one God, taking up permanent residence in the heart that loves and obeys Christ. This is fulfilled by the Holy Ghost, "the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost," for the coming of the Father and the Son to abide in us is the indwelling of the one God as the Spirit.
Explanation
Jesus explains that His self-revelation is to the loving and obedient, not the world: "we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" -- the Father and the Son indwelling the believer, which the next breath calls the coming of "the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost." Father, Son, and Spirit are not three tenants but the one God making His home in His people. When Jesus says "my Father is greater than I," He speaks from within His true humanity and His mission -- the Son sent, in the lowliness of flesh, is "less" than the Father in the deity that sent Him, yet He and the Father are one God. He gives His peace, not the world's, and goes willingly to the cross to show His love for the Father.
Gospel Focus
When Judas (not Iscariot) asks why Jesus would reveal Himself to the disciples and not to the world, Jesus answers that the difference is love and obedience: "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." The loving, obedient heart becomes the dwelling place of God; the Father and the Son, the one God, take up permanent residence within. Then Jesus names the Comforter plainly: "the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name." The Holy Ghost is not a third person separate from the Father and the Son but the Spirit of the one God, sent "in my name," in the name of Jesus, and He would "teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance", the promise by which the apostles were enabled to give us the New Testament. Then the Lord gives His parting gift: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you." His is a peace the world cannot manufacture and cannot take away, the settled peace of reconciliation with God. So again, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." He tells them to rejoice that He goes to the Father, and adds a much-discussed word: "my Father is greater than I." This is no denial of His deity, for He has just declared "I am in the Father, and the Father in me" and "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Rather, He speaks in His true humanity, in the state of His humiliation as the incarnate Son. In becoming man, the eternal God took the lowly place of a servant, and in that role of the Son sent into the world, the Father, the deity in its heavenly glory, was "greater" than the Son in His earthly humiliation. It is a comparison not of two persons of unequal rank but of the one God as He is in the fullness of His majesty and the same God as He had veiled Himself in flesh. The very One who says the Father is greater also says He and the Father are one and that He is in the Father; there is no contradiction, only the mystery of God manifest in flesh. Finally, resolute before the cross, Jesus declares His love for the Father and His perfect obedience, and says, "Arise, let us go hence", moving willingly toward Gethsemane and Calvary. He leaves His people the abiding presence of God, the teaching Spirit, and a peace that stills every fear.
Chapter 14 in Review
John 14 is comfort and revelation on the eve of the cross. Jesus calms His disciples, "Let not your heart be troubled," promises to prepare a place and come again, and declares Himself the only way: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." To Philip's longing to see the Father, He answers, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father... I am in the Father, and the Father in me." He promises "another Comforter... even the Spirit of truth," who "shall be in you," and adds, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." He promises that the Father and He will "make our abode" with those who love Him, names the Comforter "the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name," gives "my peace," and goes willingly to the cross.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is a treasury of the truth of the one God and the way of salvation. Christ is the one and only way to God, the truth and the life; there is no coming to the Father but through Him. And to see Him is to see the Father, for the Father, the invisible God, dwells fully in the Son; "I am in the Father, and the Father in me" is not two persons but the one God manifest in flesh, the Father dwelling in the man Christ Jesus, speaking and working through Him. The promise of the Comforter is the promise of that same God to dwell in His people: the Spirit of truth is the Spirit of Christ, so that His coming is Jesus' own coming, "I will come to you." The Holy Ghost, sent in the name of Jesus, is not a third person but the one God as He indwells us. Even the word "my Father is greater than I" is no denial of His deity but the confession of the incarnate Son, who in His humiliation took the lowly place, while remaining one with the Father in the Godhead. So let not your heart be troubled: the one God has made a way to Himself in Christ, has shown you the Father in the face of Jesus, has come to abide in you by His Spirit, and has left you His own peace. Love Him, keep His words, and be the dwelling place of God.
- Christ is the only way to the Father: "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (14:6).
- To see Jesus is to see the Father: the one God manifest in flesh (14:9).
- "I am in the Father, and the Father in me": the Father dwells in the Son (14:10-11).
- The Comforter is Christ's own indwelling presence: "I will come to you" (14:16-18).
- The Holy Ghost is sent in the name of Jesus to teach and remind (14:26).
- He gives a peace the world cannot give or take away (14:27).
Questions for Reflection
- Have you come to the Father the only way, through Jesus Christ?
- Do you see the one God, the Father, in the face of Jesus?
- Have you received the indwelling of God by His Spirit, the Comforter?
- Does the peace of Christ still your troubled and fearful heart?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Christ the only way to God: Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 10:19-20. The Father seen in the Son: John 1:18; 12:45; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:6. The one God manifest in flesh: 1 Timothy 3:16; Colossians 2:9; Isaiah 9:6. The Comforter as Christ's indwelling Spirit: Romans 8:9-11; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 4:6; Acts 2:38. The Holy Ghost sent in Jesus' name to teach: John 16:13-14; 1 John 2:27. The peace of Christ: Philippians 4:7; Romans 5:1; Isaiah 26:3. The incarnate Son and "my Father is greater than I": Philippians 2:5-8; John 10:30; Hebrews 2:9. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The way to the Father and the Father in the Son: John 14:1-14; John 1:18; Colossians 2:9.
- The promise of the Comforter: John 14:15-21; Romans 8:9-11; Acts 2:38.
- The indwelling, the Holy Ghost, and His peace: John 14:22-31; Philippians 2:5-8; Philippians 4:7.