Bible Study John 14
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John 14 · WEB

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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"Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
2In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
3If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.
4You know where I go, and you know the way."
5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?"
6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
7If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him."
8Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
9Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, 'Show us the Father?'
10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.
11Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works' sake.
12Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.
13Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.
15"If you love me, keep my commandments.
16I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever:
17the Spirit of truth, whom the world can't receive; for it doesn't see him and doesn't know him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.
18I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.
19Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.
20In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
21One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him."
22Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?"
23Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
24He who doesn't love me doesn't keep my words. The word which you hear isn't mine, but the Father's who sent me.
25I have said these things to you while still living with you.
26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.
27Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
28You heard how I told you, 'I go away, and I come back to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said 'I am going to my Father;' for the Father is greater than I.
29Now I have told you before it happens so that when it happens, you may believe.
30I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.
31But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here."
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Summary

Jesus comforts his troubled disciples by promising he is going to prepare a place for them in the Father's house, and declares himself to be the one and only way to the Father — "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He promises that the Father will send another Counselor, the Holy Spirit, who will live with them and in them, teaching them and reminding them of all he has said. He leaves them with a unique peace that the world cannot give and prepares them to face his departure with faith rather than fear.

Themes

  • Jesus as the exclusive way to the Father
  • The unity of the Father and the Son
  • The promise of the Holy Spirit as Counselor (Paraclete)
  • Love expressed through obedience
  • Peace in the midst of trouble

Key verses

  • John 14:1-3 — “Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many homes... I am going to prepare a place for you.”
  • John 14:27 — “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you.”
  • John 14:6 — “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.”
  • John 14:9 — “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Context & background

John 14 continues the Farewell Discourse begun in chapter 13, spoken in the upper room in Jerusalem (modern Israel) on the night before Jesus' crucifixion. The Greek word translated "Counselor" or "Helper" is parakletos, meaning one called alongside to help — a legal advocate, comforter, and encourager. The "Father's house with many rooms" likely draws on the image of a Jewish bridegroom adding rooms onto his father's home for his bride, a familiar cultural picture. John wrote his Gospel c. AD 85-95, likely from Ephesus (modern western Turkey), at a time when believers across the Roman Empire faced increasing pressure and needed the assurance of Christ's presence through the Spirit.

Cross-references

  • 1 John 2:1 — Jesus is called our "Counselor" (parakletos) with the Father, mirroring the language used here of the Spirit.
  • Acts 2:1-4 — The promise of the Holy Spirit in John 14:16-17 is fulfilled at Pentecost.
  • Acts 4:12 — "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven... by which we must be saved" — echoes John 14:6.
  • Colossians 1:15 — "He is the image of the invisible God" — parallels Jesus' "He who has seen me has seen the Father."
  • Philippians 4:7 — "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding" — connects to the peace Jesus gives in 14:27.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What three titles does Jesus claim for himself in John 14:6?

  2. Observe

    What does Jesus say the Father will send in his name, and what will that Helper do?

  3. Interpret

    What does Jesus mean when he says believers will do "greater works than these" because he is going to the Father?

  4. Interpret

    How does the peace Jesus gives differ from the peace the world gives (v. 27)?

  5. Apply

    Jesus says "Don't let your heart be troubled" twice in this chapter. What does repeating this command reveal about how Jesus wants his followers to handle anxiety?

  6. Apply

    Jesus connects love for him with keeping his commandments (vv. 15, 21, 23). What does this connection say about the relationship between feelings and obedience in following Jesus?

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