Verses 10 through 17 say, “The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; but if not, believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, He who believes into Me, the works which I do he shall do also; and greater than these he shall do because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.” This section tells us that the Holy Spirit will be with us.
Verse 18 says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” Amazingly, at this point the Lord’s speaking took a turn. Verses 16 and 17 say that the Holy Spirit would come, and verse 18 says that the Lord Himself would come. Please keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is the Lord Himself. The “I” in verse 18 is the “He” in verse 17. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the Lord’s transfiguration, the Lord’s changing into another form. This may be compared to vapor turning into water at a certain temperature, changing into another form, so that we may say that water is the transfiguration of vapor. If the temperature lowers to the freezing point, the water freezes into ice, which is the transfiguration of water, since it is in another form. Therefore, whether it is vapor, water, or ice, it is the same thing. This is a fitting illustration for explaining the God who is three yet one. The Son is the embodiment of the Father, and the Spirit is the transfiguration of the Son. On the one hand, there are the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; on the other hand, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one.
Please keep in mind that even though the Lord Jesus was God becoming flesh, He could be only among men; He could not get into man. He needed to be transfigured into the Holy Spirit in order to get into man. Once He was transfigured into the Holy Spirit, not only could He be among men to be with them, but He could also enter into them to dwell in them. This is why in chapter fifteen the Lord said several times that He would be in them and they in Him. When He was still in the flesh, He could only say, “I am in the midst of you,” not “I am in you.” Only after He was raised from the dead and transfigured into the Holy Spirit could He enter into man. This transfiguration of His is the “another Comforter” sent by God. This is like water melted from ice yet still being ice. We can say that ice and water are two things, but once the ice is melted, it is water. Likewise, although we can say that the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit are two, actually They are one.
To be transfigured, transformed, is to be changed from one form to another. Previously the Lord was in the flesh, but through death and resurrection He was transfigured into the Spirit. Therefore, in actuality the “another Comforter” is not another person but the same person transfigured into another form. Therefore, the “He” in verses 16 and 17 is the “I” in verse 18: “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.”
“I am coming” here is hard to translate accurately. When the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible, His utterance was very particular in such places. The meaning in the original language is, “I will not leave you as orphans; My going is My coming.” Therefore, this verse may be properly translated as, “I am coming to you” because the Lord’s going was not His leaving them; His going was His coming. Furthermore, He was not coming to the place where they were, but coming into them. This also is not a matter of place but altogether a matter of person.
Verse 19 says, “Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me.” I would like to ask you, brothers and sisters, exactly how long is “a little while” mentioned here? Is it two thousand years? Is it until the time of the Lord’s second coming? If it will be at that time, then the Lord could not say “the world beholds Me no longer” because at His second coming the whole world will behold Him. Therefore, here the Lord was obviously referring to His appearing to the disciples and His coming into their midst after His resurrection. How long would that little while be? It would be only three days! Therefore, the Lord said, “Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me.” Moreover, their beholding the Lord was first an outward beholding, and later it became an inward beholding, because after His resurrection the Lord not only appeared to them, coming into their midst, but He also entered into them, dwelling in them. The Lord’s intention in appearing to them after His resurrection was to teach them to turn from knowing Him outwardly to knowing Him inwardly. It was only in this way that they could be mingled with the Lord.
The Lord went on to say, “Because I live, you also shall live.” He was saying, “At the time of My resurrection, you will be regenerated because of Me; hence, because I live, you also shall live.”
“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (v. 20). We need to stress “in that day.” “In that day” means in the day of the Lord’s resurrection. What would happen in that day? Did the Lord say, “In that day you will know that I have gone up to heaven”? Did He say, “In that day because I am in heaven, so I will save you also into heaven”? I believe by now, brothers and sisters, you are clear that it is not so. The Lord said, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me.” Since the Lord is in the Father and we are in the Lord, we are also in the Father. This fulfills the Lord’s word: “Where I am you also may be” (v. 3). Verse 20 has three ins, proving that all the mentions of where in chapter fourteen that seem to be referring to a place are altogether a matter of person.
Therefore, we can say boldly that in chapter fourteen there is not the matter of space or the matter of place but only the matter of person. The place in chapter fourteen is a person. The Lord seemed to be saying, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you, so you and I are in the Father together.” This is the fulfillment of, “Where I am you also may be.” At this point God and man have a complete union.
I have repeatedly said that this union is the mingling of God and man—God is in man, and man is in God. This is also the building that God is building. This building is the mutual abode of God and man—God dwelling in man and man dwelling in God.
The Lord said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (2:19). This means that in His resurrection the Lord would build up the temple, which is the union of God and man. Therefore, the Lord seemed to say, “In that day, that is, in the day of My resurrection, because I live, you also shall live. Moreover, you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” With these three ins, with the mingling and mutual indwelling of God and man, the Lord accomplished the building of the temple. This is what the Lord meant when He said that He was going to prepare a place for us, and when it was prepared, He would come and receive us to Himself. Previously, the disciples were outside of the Lord, but in that day they would be in the Lord; just as the Lord was in the Father, the Lord also would be in them.