John 14:1

John 14:1. Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. No separation ought to be made between this chapter and the last section of chap, 13, for the place, the circumstances, and the object of the discourse here entered on are the same as there. The dominating thought of all is that of chap. John 13:31, that the time is come when a full revelation is to be made of the ‘glory' of the Son of man in the Father, and of the Father in Him; when it shall be seen that the ‘going away' of Jesus to the Father not only contains in it what swallows up all the humiliation of His earthly lot, but is the great proof and illustration of that union of Himself with the Father in love, the manifestation of which ‘glorifies' both the Father and the Son. To such a manifestation, then, it is evident that the ‘going away' of Jesus was necessary: He must in His earthly form be separated from His disciples, that His glory may be revealed not only to those who had the spiritual eye, but to the world (chaps. John 16:10; John 17:21). While however separation must thus take place, it is, on the other hand, the object of our Lord to show that it was really no separation, that He does not ‘go away' in the carnal sense understood by Peter in chap. John 13:36, but will ever be with His disciples in an abiding union and communion of spirit (comp. the interesting parallel in chap. John 20:17).

The ‘trouble' spoken of in the words now before us is not that of mere sorrow; it is rather that which Jesus had Himself experienced (see chap. John 12:27) when the prospect of His sufferings rose immediately before Him. It is ‘trouble' from the opposition of the world while they carry on their work of love; but ‘trouble' which at the same time passes into the heart, and leads to the conflict of all those feelings of anxiety, perplexity, fear, and sorrow, which make the heart like a ‘troubled sea' that the Divine voice ‘Peace, be still!' alone can calm. The work of the disciples, committed to them as it had been to their Master (chap. John 17:18), will bring with it this ‘trouble;' yet they have enough to keep them calm with His own calmness (John 14:27), enough to lead them to say with Him, ‘But for this cause came I unto this hour' (chap. John 12:27). The foundation of all peace comes first, and the word ‘believe' must be taken in the same way in both clauses of the statement. To understand it differently in the two would give, either to faith in God or to faith in Jesus, an independent existence inconsistent with the general teaching of this Gospel. We must, therefore, either translate, ‘Ye believe in God, ye believe also in me,' or, ‘Believe in God, believe also in me;' the hortatory form of ‘Let not your heart be troubled' and of the whole discourse makes the latter probable. Yet, as the disciples already believed, the exhortation must have reference not to the formation, but to the deepening and constant exercise of that faith, the object of which is really one God in Jesus. Thus also we may understand why faith in God is mentioned first, and not second, as in chap. John 12:44. It is the highest act of faith that is referred to, faith, no doubt, in God through Jesus, but faith in Him as the ultimate Guide of all that happens. It is the evolution of the Divine plan that they have to do with; therefore let them believe in ‘God.' In addition to this, we may call to mind that God Himself was the Fountain of that Messianic hope of which, by the departure of Jesus, the disciples would think themselves deprived. At the same time, it is to be observed that the order of the words in the two clauses is different, ‘God' following, but' me' preceding, its verb. The effect is to bring ‘in God' and ‘in me' into the closest possible connection.