Chapters fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen of John are a section. At the beginning of this section the Lord Jesus indicated, in 14:1, that He intended to speak something to help us to believe into Him. We should not think that believing into Christ is a simple matter. If He had not died on the cross to take away our sins, to crucify our flesh, and to terminate our old man, and if He had not resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit, there would be no way for Him to come into us and to bring us into Him.

If we had been there when the Lord Jesus spoke about believing into God and into Him, we might have said, “Lord, I want to enter into You. Tell me how to believe into You.” As the following verses reveal, for us to enter into Him He had to die and be resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit, that we may receive Him by believing into Him and calling, “O Lord Jesus.”

Between 14:1 and 16:33 we have the Lord’s teaching concerning how to believe into Him. John 14:2a says, “In My Father’s house are many abodes.” In 14:1 the Lord Jesus spoke about believing into God and into Him, but here He suddenly spoke about His Father’s house. The Father’s house is surely not a heavenly mansion, but something mystical. According to the interpretation in 2:16, 21, “My Father’s house” refers to the temple, the increase of Christ in His resurrection to be the church, His Body, as God’s dwelling place (1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 2:21-22). At first the body of Christ was only His individual body. But through His death and resurrection, the body of Christ was increased to be His corporate Body, which is the church, the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), the temple of God (Eph. 2:21). Have you ever realized that when you believed into God and into the Son, you entered into the church?

John 14:2 tells us that in the Father’s house are “many abodes.” These abodes are the believers, the members of the Body of Christ. Every believer is an abode, as affirmed in verse 23.

In the latter part of verse 2 the Lord Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” The words I go mean “I die.” By saying “I go” He was speaking about His death in a mystical way.

At this point I would remind you that the Gospel of John is a mystical book and that the entire record in John is a mystical record. To speak of the incarnation by saying “the Word became flesh” (1:14) is to speak in a mystical way. Likewise, to speak of living water becoming in us a spring of water gushing up into eternal life (4:10, 14) is also to speak in a mystical way. Because John is a mystical book, when we read it we need to understand it mystically.

In John 14:3 the Lord Jesus continued, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will receive you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be.” Here He spoke of both His going and His coming. “I am coming” is a present continual, indicating that when the Lord Jesus spoke these words He was already coming. While He was speaking, He was preparing to enter into resurrection. “I go” is to die and “I am coming” is to be resurrected. Before He died He knew that He would come back. Here His going and His coming, His death and resurrection, are referred to in a mystical way.

In this verse the Lord Jesus said, “I...will receive you to Myself.” If we had been there, we might have said, “Lord, will You not receive me into the Father’s house? Why do You say that You will receive me to Yourself?” The answer to such a question is that the Father’s house is just Christ Himself.

Verse 3 ends with the words where I am you also may be. He is in the Father. Thus, for us to be where He is means that we also will be in the Father. This is related to our believing into the Father, the divine and mystical realm.

The Lord Jesus went on to say, “And where I am going you know the way” (v. 4). Then Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?” (v. 5). According to verse 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” Here the Lord did not say, “No one comes to the Father’s house”; He said, “No one comes to the Father.” To come to the Father is to come to the Father’s house, for the Father is the house. The phrase except through Me reveals that we can come to the Father as the house only through Christ as the way.

In the next verse the Lord Jesus said, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and henceforth you know Him and have seen Him.” When Philip heard this he said, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us” (v. 8). Verses 9 and 10 continue, “Jesus said to him, Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how is it that you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works.” Here we see that the Son’s speaking was actually the Father’s speaking, the Father’s working by abiding in Him. This is altogether mystical.
Home | First | Prev | Next