John 14:1-14.
And he said to his disciples, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. If you believe in God, you also believe in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would say unto you, I go to prepare a place for you. And though I go to prepare a place for you, yet will I come again, and receive you unto myself, that ye may be where I am. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know also. 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, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye knew me, ye knew my Father also. And from henceforth ye have known him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it shall be sufficient for us. Jesus saith unto him, How long am I with you, and thou knowest me not? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father. How sayest thou then: Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself. But the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; if not, believe me because of the works. 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: for I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be honored in the Son. Whatever you ask in my name, that I will do.
(1) In the beginning of this gospel Christ again shows what he came for and what his office is (which is really a gospel sermon), namely, that he is the one who prepares the dwellings with the Father, and that when he comes again he will take us to himself. Likewise, he also says that he is the way, the truth, and the life; which he then interprets more clearly, saying, "No one comes to the Father except through me"; item, saying, "If you know me, you know my Father also." Hence it is also that he says to Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." This is the most noble and principal thing in this Gospel, whither all things are to be drawn. From this we are to learn that we are not justified by our own strength, nor saved by our own merit; but that we are sanctified by the Spirit of Christ and saved by grace, and that this is the way to salvation which Christ has gone before, namely, death, and that we also must become like this example.
We want to act this gospel a little bit from word to word, as much as God will give grace. These words the Lord spoke to his disciples after the Lord's Supper,
Now that he was to depart from them. When he had told them many things about his departure and suffering, the disciples were almost shocked and frightened; therefore the Lord came to them and comforted them kindly, saying:
Do not frighten your heart.
(3) As if to say, I perceive that my going away grieves you, and I grieve you; well, it cannot be otherwise, be not dismayed, there is no need, I will come again. But you must first see many things about me that will offend you. They will crucify me and deal miserably with me; do not be displeased, do not be afraid, it will soon be better, it is the Father's will. But the flesh cannot refrain when it sees Christ crucified, it is angered by it, it does not believe in him, falls away from him, does not consider him to be the Beatificator. Just as it does when it sees the holy people being persecuted, martyred and tormented, it also does not believe that God loves them; against this anger Christ fortifies His disciples here and says:
If you believe in God, believe also in me.
4. that is, if you believe that God will transfigure you, that God loves you; believe that he will transfigure you in the form in which you see me transfigured; and believe that this death of mine is the way to the transfiguration of me and all my body, that is, of all Christians, and that this death is enough for the sin of the world; as the apostles subsequently speak of it in their writings. Thus John says: "Christ is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours alone, but also for the sins of the whole world," 1 John 2:2. Therefore you stand here, that Christ wills that hearts be strengthened by faith, and by no other outward thing. And further says:
In my father's house find many apartments.
005 The dwellings are prepared from everlasting, and he shall not prepare them: why then saith he that he goeth to prepare them? This is no other thing, because he goeth and is made ruler over all things, that he may prepare us for such mansions: for as long as we are not prepared, neither are the mansions prepared for us, though they are prepared in themselves. Therefore Christ wants to say: The dwelling and the place is there, but it is not yet ready, is not yet how it should be. But then it will be finished, when I will abolish the kingdom of death by my death, and now have gone to reign through the Holy Spirit, who in faith shall also make you ready and able for such dwellings. So that this is the simple mind: There are dwellings, namely, where the Father glorifies? but these dwellings are not yet prepared, because the kingdom of death has not yet been abolished. This is what Christ means when he says:
But if this were not so, I would say that I am going to prepare a place for you. And though I go to prepare the place for you, yet will I come again, and receive you unto myself, that ye may be where I am.
6 With these words the Lord indicates how these dwellings will be prepared, namely, through the death of Christ, as said, through
by which he comes to glory and reigns over all that is in heaven and on earth. By which death he has purchased for us the Holy Spirit, who, as we have heard, also prepares us for such dwellings, who makes alive in us the gospel preached, so that we believe it; by which faith we are sent to such dwellings. This could not happen if Christ did not go and die, and thus take the reign over everything. This then is the sum of this text: They are provided, whom the Father will glorify; but they cannot be glorified except by Christ, who takes away death and sin, or else nothing will come of them. There you see that it all goes to this, that Christ is the one who prepares the dwellings, and that we cannot be glorified except through Christ.
(7) So you see that this text even urges that we are not justified by human powers, nor by our merits, but by Christ; on which the whole epistle to the Romans goes, also that to the Galatians, and almost everything that only Paul deals with in his epistles. Follows on:
And where I am going you know, and the way you also know.
8 For ye believed in me, and wrought miracles in my name, that ye might know who I am, and what my business is, and whereunto I came: ye also heard the Father, and saw him testify of me, Matt. 17:5: wherefore ye know that the Father will glorify me, and believe that I am one with the Father: therefore it is needless for me to speak more. But there was still nothing with the dear apostles, even though they had been instructed by the Lord Himself and had seen His miraculous works, even though they had preached the gospel and done miraculous works themselves; still it did not help, they did not know what He was talking about and what kind of way it would be and where the Lord would go. Therefore Thomas also came out and openly confessed that he knew nothing about it, and so he spoke to the Lord:
Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?
9th Then hear ye, and see, that though faith was in the apostles, yet heard they not that Christ must be crucified, and that by Christ's death his kingdom should begin, that it should be a spiritual kingdom; even as after the resurrection of the Lord they said, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Apost. 1, 6. The good people were still under the delusion that it would be a physical, worldly kingdom. There are many such crude things in the gospel, which the apostles at times crudely started and warned about; all of which is written to comfort and strengthen us, so that we should not soon give up, if we lack faith at times, and cannot so soon send ourselves into God's work and word. If the great people, who were to be the future pillars of Christianity, lacked faith, no one should be surprised if we are not able to do it at times; indeed, no one should be frightened by this. It is God's work and cause, He can make it better if it pleases Him.
Now, of these words we must say a little more. Not long before, when Christ wanted to confirm his apostles in the faith, he promised them that they would be glorified. Here he adds how and in what way they should be glorified, saying that it should be by his departure, that is, by his death, and that he would thus receive the kingdom. This he has now often told them, that they should know and understand it; therefore he says, "Where I go ye know, and the way ye know also." But they do not yet understand, as St. Thomas' words show. Now it is certainly true that faith was in the apostles; this is testified by the words that Peter answered Christ on behalf of the others. When he asked them if they also wanted to leave him, Peter said: "Lord, where shall we go, you have the words of eternal life; and we have believed and known that you are Christ, the Son of the living God," John 6:68, 69.
11) This is also clear from the words of the Lord, which He said to them the other day in the Lord's Supper, "You are clean.
13:10, which he would not have said if they had not believed. Therefore they knew Christ, that he was the way to the Father; likewise they also knew the Father, that they saw the miraculous signs by which he bore witness to the Son, and heard the voice of the Father from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; obey him," Matt. 17:5. 17:5 All these things have greatly increased the faith of the apostles' hearts, but like all these things, they do not yet understand what is to be done to them and how it will end with Christ.
(12) Take Abraham as an example. Although he had received the son in faith, he did not yet know that the son was to be sacrificed; nor did faith manifest itself when the son was given to him. The same is true for the apostles: although faith was present, they lacked the proof of faith. But nothing proves faith so well as the cross and persecution. If Abraham had not sacrificed his son, he would not have known that he had faith. When the apostles were persecuted, they saw what kind of faith they had. Because we remain unchallenged, we have a strong faith; but when any challenge comes, we soon realize what kind of faith we have. That is why St. Paul says Rom. 5:3-5: "We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings patience; but patience brings experience; and experience brings hope; but hope does not put to shame." Thus also Solomon says in Proverbs Cap. 17, 3: "As the fire tests silver, and the furnace gold, so the Lord tests the hearts." Such testing is done through the cross and persecution, namely, that we are crucified after our old Adam. But this is to be crucified, that faith may be proved, and after the proving of faith the flesh may be put to death, and the spirit increased in the knowledge of Christ. This means to kill the flesh when we let God's will reign in us, when his will pleases us, whether it be sweet or sour, and completely renounce our own will.
Will. This is what St. Paul means when he says to the Romans Cap. 12, 1. 2. I exhort you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service: and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove which is the good, the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.
013 Thomas therefore confesseth that he knoweth not whither the Lord goeth, neither knoweth he the way: but the Lord is there, and leadeth him not horribly, neither soon casteth him away, nor thrusteth him from himself, neither calleth him a rude ass, or an ox, as we deal with the weak; but answereth him very kindly, saying:
I am the way, the truth and the life.
14. "I," saith the Lord, "am the way," by which one cometh unto the Father: though I be slain, I bear the faithful and my sheep on my back unto my Father; otherwise there is no other way to heaven: whosoever goeth not this way faileth the Father. So I am also "the truth"; for I am the light that enlightens the world, John 1:9, teaching righteous things and making true Christians. I am also "the life," for I make alive whoever believes in me will not die forever. This is, as said above, actually preaching the gospel, showing the right way to eternal life. For since the disciples did not know the way that leads to glory, the Lord goes to them and tells them that he is the way, as if to say: If ye would know the glory, and go the way to the transfiguration of God, seek not the strength, nor the light, nor the righteousness of creatures, but look unto me: for "I am the way, the truth, and the life:" I suffer as I will, I am to be regarded as lowly as I will; neither be ye displeased that mine are persecuted: in me is found the right way to the Father; be not ye displeased therefrom. Therefore he further says:
No one comes to the Father except through me.
(15) As if to say, No one may come to the Father by his own strength or merit. The law deters consciences from coming to the Father. The word of Christ, which justifies us through the righteousness of Christ, leads us to the Father. From this follows what he says hereafter:
If you know me, you also know my father.
(16) For as no man cometh unto the Father, but by the Son; neither knoweth any man the Father, but by Christ the Son. First, the will of the Father is not known, namely, that he will save, for we see him in Christ, who has revealed it to us, who is in the bosom of the Father. After this, the Father is not believed either, for reason does not perceive of itself that it receives anything from God: therefore the Son must proclaim His goodness to us. A distracted conscience flees from the Father, does not trust in Him; but those who are justified by the word of Christ do not despise the Father, do not flee from Him like the Israelites, but stand before Him like Moses, Exodus 20:21, and are enlightened by the divine light, so that they recognize the power of God and the mercy of the Father. Therefore they trust in him, realize that we receive all things from his hands, and hope for all spiritual and physical things from him.
(17) Faith accomplishes all this, but reason cannot do it, for it seeks to attain God by its own powers and merits, but lacks Him. Therefore, because it cannot come to the knowledge of God by its own powers, it denies God completely and says, "There is no God. Then, because she sees impurity in the works, she despairs, and misery and distress are with her. But if we are justified by the false preaching, we come to know God the Father, if we believe the word of Christ, and thus experience the power of the Father in tribulations and adversities, be they what they may. This is what was meant by the fact that the people
Israel could not hear the voice of God, but desired that Moses would speak with him, Exodus 20:9. Since Christ is also promised, who would intercede for us with the Father and be our mercy seat, Romans 3:25. For our nature is too stupid and weak to speak with God, therefore He has given us His Son as a mediator, in and through whom we are to deal with God.
18 Because the Lord gives such a friendly and clear answer to dear Thomas, and has now shown how one should come to the Father, namely, through the Son, and that the Father should be known in the Son, there is still a crude incident with dear Philip. He goes out and does not want to have enough faith, but wants to be sure of the matter, wants to feel and see, so he speaks to the Lord:
Lord, show us the Father, and it will be enough for us.
19 As if to say, If thou wilt yet give us the sign, we will believe. Philip is not satisfied with the word, but he is determined to inquire of the Father by other means than the word. For since reason cannot believe, it desires to be assured by other ways and means. Therefore in this question it is indicated that the conscience can be assured and made sure by nothing else than by faith, that one must cling to the mere word and wait for no other sign. But Philip thought that he would be much safer if he saw the Father than if he believed the bad word. Christ now punishes this unbelief a little harshly and says:
That's how long I've been with you, and you didn't recognize me.
20 As if he wanted to speak: I teach and preach, yet ye know me not. Do you not yet know that the Father wants to be known through me, that my word is the Father's word and his power, in which alone he wants to be known, and nothing else? For thus have ye heard from heaven the voice of the Father, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: obey him.
17:5 Do you not yet understand how to recognize the Father? One does not see the Father with bodily eyes. Thus also John Cap. 1, 18. says: "No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared it to us." Therefore the Lord says to Philip:
Philippe, he who has seen me has seen the Father.
21 This is the same as the previous discourse, when he said, "If you know me, you know my Father also," that is, since the Father wants to be known through me, do not seek another way to know him, but believe my word that I am the one who reveals the Father to you and makes him known to you through me; believe that you will come to the Father through me, and you will know the Father; through faith you will experience the power and mercy of the Father, and feel him as a comforter and life-giver. The Father wants my words to be believed, and that those who believe will be saved and have eternal life. But the flesh is crucified, because the world persecutes the word, and God allows the saints to be challenged; it is also crucified, so that in all trials one must stand by faith and not wait for comfort elsewhere. As the saints are comforted by faith alone; they are killed or martyred or die otherwise, so their comfort is in the Lord, as the sixteenth Psalm v. 8. says: "I have the Lord always before my eyes, for he is at my right hand; therefore I shall dwell." Since we cannot know the Father except in the Son, and if we know the Son, we know the Father also, the Lord says to Philip:
How then do you speak: Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
22 As if to say, Since there is no other way to know the Father than the way I have shown, why do you not believe my words? since I have taught that I am the way, and the truth, and the life. Do you not believe that I am in the va-.
1He be, and the Father in me? Do you not believe that there is One Godhead, the Father's and mine, and that the Father wants to be known through me? But why is the Father known through the knowledge of the Son? Because the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son; for the Word, from which the Son is known, is the power of the Son and of the Father; therefore, if the Son is known from His Word, it must follow that the Father also be known. Therefore the Lord says further:
The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father which dwelleth in me, the same doeth the works.
23 As if to say, In the words ye know me, and in the same ye know the Father. And he adds these very words, that he might teach the disciples what knowledge is, by which he is known. But it is nothing else than faith by which we grasp Christ in the word. Therefore he speaks: In word ye shall know me. And because this word is not the power of man, ye shall know the Father in it without doubt. And because ye know in my word that I am the life, ye shall surely know that I am in the Father. But that they might ever be sure of this, he further says to them:
Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: if not, believe me for the works.
24 Then he calls the works to witness to the word, as if he were saying, "If you do not believe the word, believe the signs that testify to the word, and that the Father has testified to me, for the works and signs are testimonies to the word. With these words Christ wants nothing else than to fortify the consciences of his disciples and of all of us against the fear of the cross; for the consciences want to know and not to believe, do not want to go into these darknesses, so that they badly command God on mere words; but always they doubt and say: How, if God would not have respect for you? and other such thoughts; now also the saints are abandoned,
like the most rejected and despised people, so that the world rages and rages with them according to its pleasure and will. Here they stand in fear and danger of faith, and desire to know God's will against them. Christ comforts them that they should seek no other comfort than in him and in his death: he is the life and has received the kingdom; he also makes alive again those who have died. But that they may not doubt, he makes them more certain, saying:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and shall do greater works than these.
025 As if to say, Doubt not that ye shall know the Father by me, and that my word is the power of God, and that ye shall be preserved by my word, though I be crucified now. You will experience this in yourselves. For if ye believe in me, ye shall not only do such works and miracles as I do, but greater works also. Which came to pass after the ascension of Christ, when the apostles wrought much greater signs both among the Jews and Gentiles, than Christ himself. But what is the cause? The Lord tells it himself and says:
Because I am going to the Father.
26 This is: I will begin the kingdom by fulfilling all things, for I am in the Father. Therefore all things are subject to Christ, because he is the Son. And here the Lord puts an end to all the previous questions and consolations. For the other day Christ taught that the Father was known by him, and that because he was in the Father, and therefore he was signified by the word, that the Father might be signified. But to confirm this, that his word is the Father's power, he added, "He who believes in me will also do the works that I do," that is, through faith in me you will also do the same works, and you will know that my word is God's power and authority.
(27) Why then saith he, I go unto the Father? Answer: Because Christ
is in the Father, he does the works of the Father; but not for this reason do we also do the same works, but that Christ, who is in the Father, is now in us. For "to go to the Father" is to fulfill all things and (as St. Paul interprets Eph. 1, 23. and Cap. 4, 8, according to the 68th Psalm v. 19) to give gifts to men, to enlighten them and to make them holy. For this is the kingdom of Christ, by which he reigns on earth in the hearts of the faithful, and sits on the throne of David his Father.
028 The Lord also saith these words, I go unto the Father, to comfort the disciples: for as he began to strengthen them above, that they should not be troubled, neither suffer any thing, though he die, but should cleave unto him, and believe on him: so he promised them here that they also should be glorified: for he goeth unto the Father, when he shall take all things into his hand, and shall reign mightily over all things that are in heaven and in earth: wherefore they should fear nothing. And comfort them still more, saying:
And if you ask anything of the Father in my name, I will do it.
29 As if to say, "If I come to the Father, there is no need for you, for whatever you want and ask for will be done for you, and I will do it for you, for I have the kingdom. And he adds especially, "in my name," so that he excludes all our merit; for through Christ we are heard, just as we are loved in Christ, through whom we also become priests, as St. Peter says in 1 Ep. 2:5, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. All these things, says Christ, I will do for this reason:
That the Father may be honored in the Son.
(30) The Father then is honored or praised, if the glory is given and preferred to him, not to us, that is, if we realize that we will not be saved by our own merits, not by our own wisdom or righteousness, but put our trust in his mercy; for he gave the Son for our sin, and whatever we want from him, that we should ask it through this Son, it will be given to us. Therefore he repeats these words one more time, saying:
If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
(31) All these words are to make us certain to believe his words and to cleave to him. This then is the sum of this decree: He calls the disciples and us to believe, because he is going to rule; and says beforehand that he will bear witness to his kingdom, and rule in such a way that we shall feel and know his rule, namely, that he will do as great works through us as he himself has done, even greater; item, that he will hear us if and what we shall ask of the Father in his name. . And with these promises the heart is to be strengthened and made brave against the gates of hell. For Christ reigns in the word: therefore it is necessary that we know the power of the word: for the kingdom of Christ is the power and authority of God. Let this be said of this gospel; let us call upon God for mercy, so that we may grasp it and strengthen our weak faith.