John 14–16

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.^a Trust^b in God;^c trust also in me. My Father’s house has plenty of room; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there^d to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back^e and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.^f You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

Thomas^a said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am^b the way^c and the truth^d and the life.^e No one comes to the Father except through me.^f If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.^g From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip^h said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.ⁱ How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?^j The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.^k Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.^l Very truly I tell you, all who have faith^m in me will do the works I have been doing,ⁿ and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask^o in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

“If you love me, keep my commands.^a And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate^b to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.^c The world cannot accept him,^d because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans;^e I will come to you.^f Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.^g Because I live, you also will live.^h On that dayⁱ you will realize that I am in my Father,^j and you are in me, and I am in you.^k Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.^l Anyone who loves me will be loved by my Father,^m and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Then Judasⁿ (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”^o

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.^p My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.^q Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.^r

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate,^s the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,^t will teach you all things^u and will remind you of everything I have said to you.^v Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.^w I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled^x and do not be afraid.

“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’^y If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father,^z for the Father is greater than I.^a I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.^b I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world^c is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.^d

“Come now; let us leave.

The Vine and the Branches

“I am^a the true vine,^b and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,^c while every branch that does bear fruit^d he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.^e Remain in me, as I also remain in you.^f No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;^g apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.^h If you remain in meⁱ and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.^j This is to my Father’s glory,^k that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.^l

“As the Father has loved me,^m so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands,ⁿ you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.^o My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.^p Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.^q You are my friends^r if you do what I command.^s I no longer call you servants, because servants do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.^t You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you^u so that you might go and bear fruit^v—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.^w This is my command: Love each other.^x

The World Hates the Disciples

“If the world hates you,^a keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you^b out of the world. That is why the world hates you.^c Remember what I told you: ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’^d If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.^e If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name,^f for they do not know the one who sent me.^g If I had not come and spoken to them,^h they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.ⁱ Those who hate me hate my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did,^j they would not be guilty of sin.^k As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law:^l ‘They hated me without reason.’^m

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“When the Advocate^a comes, whom I will send to you from the Father^b—the Spirit of truth^c who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.^d And you also must testify,^e for you have been with me from the beginning.^f

“All this^g I have told you so that you will not fall away.^h They will put you out of the synagogue;ⁱ in fact, the hour is coming when those who kill you will think they are offering a service to God.^j They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.^k I have told you this, so that when their hour comes you will remember^l that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,^m but now I am going to him who sent me.ⁿ None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’^o Rather, you are filled with grief^p because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate^q will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.^r When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin,^s because people do not believe in me; about righteousness,^t because I am going to the Father,^u where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world^v now stands condemned.

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.^w But when he, the Spirit of truth,^x comes, he will guide you into all the truth.^y He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine.^z That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

Jesus went on to say, “In a little while^a you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”^b

At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’^c and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”^d They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn^e while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.^f A woman giving birth to a child has pain^g because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief,^h but I will see you againⁱ and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.^j In that day^k you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.^l Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive,^m and your joy will be complete.ⁿ

“Though I have been speaking figuratively,^o a time is coming^p when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name.^q I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me^r and have believed that I came from God.^s I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”^t

Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without…