John 14:17
Who is Jesus speaking to?
- The setting is the end of last Passover meal that Jesus shared with His 12 Apostles
- NKJ Mark 14:16-18 So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. 17 In the evening He came with the twelve. 18 Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."
- NKJ Matthew 26:19-21 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. 20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."
- NKJ Luke 22:13-15 So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. 14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
- NKJ John 13:1-2 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him,
- This is the setting from John 13:2 through the end of John 14.
- Jesus is speaking to the 12 Apostles including Judas.
NKJ John 14:15-21 [are my additions]
15 "If you love Me, [then] keep My commandments.
- "you" is plural - Jesus is addressing the 12 Apostles
- "if" here is what's called a 3rd class condition - broadly speaking it expresses some contingency - some simply explain it as saying, 'maybe you do, and maybe you don't.' For now, this is how I'll explain it in brief.
- "keep":
- in some manuscripts is a future indicative verb - i.e. you will keep My commandments
- If you love Me - maybe you do & maybe you don't - then you will keep My commandments.
- in some manuscripts is an aorist imperative verb - i.e. keep (command) My commandments
- If you love Me - maybe you do & maybe you don't - then keep My commandments (do what I command - obey Me).
- The way I see this:
- Jesus uses this grammar because there is contingency in men obeying Him, which means there is contingency in loving Him, but love for Him and obedience to Him are inextricably united.
- Whether Jesus commands them or says what they will do if they love Him, doesn't seem all that much different in the end. Love for Jesus is obeying Jesus' commandments.
- Some take this language to mean love precedes obedience. Maybe this works to some degree, but it's not the main thrust of what Jesus is saying. Love for Him is not really about how we feel, but what we do. John clarifies this later:
- NKJ 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
- NKJ 2 John 1:6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
- Not only is there some essential contingency here, but Jesus is also speaking to Judas, who will not love Him - will not obey Him - but will betray Him instead
16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
- This is tied to v.15 - love Me, obey Me, and I will ask the Father, and He will give to you (pl)...
- The point being, who received the other Helper/Mediator/Advocate/Intercessor who would remain with then into the age? Did this apply to Judas?
- Another point, is Jesus also describing in a sense what He is?
- Another point, the Apostles do not yet have this other Helper
17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
- This Helper is the Spirit of Truth
- The world is not able to receive the Helper/Spirit of Truth because
- It does not see it/Him - or is not seeing it/Him (the Helper is a masculine noun - the Spirt is a neuter noun)
- It does not know it/Him - or is not knowing it/HIM
- The world is being used mainly to contrast with the Apostles - the world is not able, and does not - but you Apostles do.
- You Apostles know this other Helper, the Spirit of Truth
- You know it/Him because:
- it/He remains/stays (present) - or is remaining/staying with you (pl)
- But Jesus has not yet asked the Father to give the other Helper/the Spirit of Truth - so how is it/He staying (literally and most basically) alongside the Apostles?
- it/He will be (future) in you (pl).
18 "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
- I'm going to breeze through a bit from here.
- When will Jesus come to them?
19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
- The world sees Jesus at that time yet a short time does not any longer see Him.
- The world sees Jesus but does not see the Helper/the Spirit of Truth who remains/stays or is remaining/staying alongside the Apostles, but has not yet been given by the Father
The Apostles do see Jesus because Jesus lives and they will live
- Albeit there are some temporal markers here, the way these tenses are structured in some sense it's as if time is irrelevant.
- Where is the sense of His death?
20 "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
- When the Apostles will have the other Helper/the Spirit of Truth in them, and they will see Jesus when the world no longer sees Him, and they will live because Jesus lives - they will know the union of the Son and His Father and the union of the Son and themselves - and thus the interrelation with the Father.
21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
- Bookended lesson concerning love and obedience
- To love Jesus Christ men must be in obedience to Jesus Christ - the man who both HAS Jesus Christ's Commandments and KEEPS Jesus Christ's commandments it is this man who loves Jesus Christ.
- This is not about how we feel.
- This is about having and keeping the commandments of Jesus Christ - this is love for Jesus Christ.
- The man who obeys Jesus Christ - is the man who loves Jesus Christ - is the man who God the Father and Jesus Christ will love - is the man who Jesus Christ will reveal/explain Himself to.
- Please note that this is relational in context. It is not the beginning of the relationship. It is within the context of a union and relationship already in process.
What the purpose of all this?
- I've been told in an open forum and thus others have been told that John 14:17 tells us the the Jews, OT saints - had or were influenced by the Holy Spirit.
- John 14:17 does not tell us this.
- John 14:17 is not speaking about OT saints - Jews - Israel. John 14:17 is speaking about the Apostles of Jesus Christ who were in the room with Jesus Christ at the last Passover meal before He was crucified.
- Jesus said the Helper/the Spirit of Truth stays/is staying with the Apostles and will be in them
- Jesus referred to those outside that room as "the world" that is not able to receive this Helper/Spirit of Truth because it does not see or know it/Him.
- To apply this to anyone outside the room requires different or more Scripture.
- At best I'd consider the application to other believers at the time.
- There are a few ways to classify these present tense verbs re: the world not seeing or knowing this Helper/Spirit of Truth who Jesus has not yet asked for but who may well in a sense be already staying alongside the Apostles and will be in them in the future.
- For me, FWIW, I'm continually wrestling with how time is at times seemingly irrelevant to Jesus and how there really is no ultimate distinction between the members of the Godhead. Jesus may very well be saying the other Helper/Spirit of Truth is was staying alongside the Apostles at that time because He - Jesus - the Helper/the Spirit of Truth - or He with the Spirit was staying alongside the Apostles at that time.
- John's writings are well known to leave us with these types of considerations
Apologies for any typos as I'm not proofreading for them.