And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him; but ye know him, for he abides with you, and shall be in you.
Jesus has just promised another Helper, and here He gives Him a name: the Spirit of truth. Two questions follow — why can the world not receive Him, and what is the difference between the Spirit being with the disciples and in them?
The title links the Helper to what the Lord had just said about Himself — truth set before us in Christ, then truth put inside us:
The Comforter is also the Spirit of truth. Truth, together with grace, "came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17), and He is the truth, as we have just seen, set before us outside ourselves. The Spirit of truth is now to come, living in the saints, and so bringing truth inside them.
The Lord does not say the world will not receive Him. He says it cannot:
It is not that the world does not receive Him; it cannot receive Him. He is not put before the world as a testimony to accept or refuse. He brings the world the testimony of a heavenly Christ — the One they rejected, for all the Father's grace. The world has no capacity to receive Him. It only receives what it sees and knows, and it neither sees nor knows Him whom the Father has sent.
There is a plain reason behind that. The Son came in human flesh; the Spirit never did:
The Spirit of truth! Could I expect a world of falsehood to receive Him? No… The Holy Spirit never came in a human body. What the world sees it is prepared to believe. What it does not see it refuses to believe… He was not put before the world as an object for it to receive.
The Lord never says the disciples see the Spirit. He says they know Him:
Men of the world are not born of God, so they are bound entirely to the material world. It does not say that we see Him, but it does say we "know Him." Something is already in our souls that is the Spirit's own work, and as He makes His home in our hearts as the Comforter, we are conscious that He is there — we "know Him."
The verse ends with two promises, not one:
Here it is a special possession of the Spirit. His personal presence is something only the Christian has… It is the privilege of the believer here below, and of no one else: "for he dwells with you and will be in you." The Spirit does not just give them a passing taste of blessing; He dwells with them. And more than that: He does not only dwell with them — "He will be in them." There is this double truth: the dwelling with, and also the being in.
Both halves came true on one day — Pentecost, when the Spirit came — and each has its own line of teaching in the letters that follow:
This was fulfilled at Pentecost. In Acts 2:2 we first find that the Spirit "filled the entire house" — that is, He came to be with them. Then "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (v. 4). The first we find in 1 Cor. 3:16-17 and 2 Cor. 6:16: "you are God's temple" — one temple, not many. The second in 1 Cor. 6:19: "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you."
Commentators differ over "He dwells with you." A common reading takes it of Christ Himself, already with them as He spoke. One writer calls that a mistake:
I have not the least doubt that the interpretation of John 14:17, though very common, is a mere blunder. "Dwells" is the same word as "abide" in verse 16. Christ the Comforter would not "abide" with them as He then was, nor was He "with" them. The other Comforter would abide "with" them, and "be in" them.
The promise waited on two things: the work of redemption finished, and Christ glorified at God's right hand:
The Spirit could not come until Jesus was gone… Redemption had to be accomplished, and Christ had to be glorified as man at God's right hand, before God could give such a gift to the saints. The work is done, Jesus has gone, and the Comforter is here… How much real unbelief there is about the personal presence of the Divine Spirit! Many today pray for His outpouring, or for a fresh baptism, while others fear He will leave them because of their shortcomings and failures. But He is to be with us for ever, and the righteous basis for that is the sacrifice of Christ.
- Named — He is the Spirit of truth: Christ is the truth before us, and the Spirit brings that truth inside us.
- Refused — the world cannot receive Him. It has no capacity for Him, it lives by what it sees, and He never came as an object for it to look at.
- Known — believers are never said to see Him, only to know Him. His work in the soul makes us conscious that He is here.
- With — He filled the house at Pentecost: the saints together are God's temple.
- In — then He filled each one: your own body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and, resting on the sacrifice of Christ, He stays for ever.
I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you.
Jesus is about to leave His disciples. He knows how His going will feel to them — like children who lose the one person nobody can replace. His answer is a promise, not advice. He will not leave them desolate, because He Himself is coming to them.
The force of the verse lies in the picture Jesus chose. One writer starts with the disciples who first heard it, then draws out why kindness from others could never be enough:
The Lord spoke these words to His bewildered and sorrowful disciples, and they had a very special meaning for them: they were to see Him alive from the dead. They did see Him; they looked with wonder on His wounded hands and side. But they are also good and true words for us... Think about the words, "I will not leave you as orphans." This is what they mean: I will not leave you desolate, forlorn, lonely, and uncared for. It is all that and more. Others may care for an orphan, and care very tenderly, but the heart cries out for the love of relationship. "I want my mother" is the cry that breaks from the heart of the bereaved child. I will not leave you crying out like that for Me, said the Lord, I will come to you.
The same writer turns the word into a description of what we are in ourselves, apart from Christ:
An orphan is one who is without a protector or guide, without help or resource... we are orphans, defenceless and destitute, if we do not have the Lord. Well, to a company of nobodies such as we are, the Lord says, "I will come to you." And then we have everything, and we glory in the Lord.
Earlier in the chapter Jesus promised to come again and receive His own to Himself. Verse 18 sits in a different setting. He has just spoken of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Several writers read the two promises as distinct:
In John 14:3 we have the Lord coming again in person to take His own to be with Himself. In verse 18 we have His spiritual coming to us now. Before that second promise, and to prepare for it, He tells of the coming of the Holy Spirit (verse 16).
One writer names which coming is meant, and how far it stood from what the disciples were hoping for:
But the Lord said, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." He does not mean here His future coming, but the gift of the Spirit. So He would comfort them while He was away... Nothing could be further from what they thought and expected of the Messiah of Israel, seen by every eye.
This question is old, and writers have never all answered it the same way. Kelly lists them:
Tholuck, Meyer, Luthardt, Godet, Plummer and Charles also take this "coming" as the Holy Spirit. Zahn, following Augustine, understands it as the coming spoken of in verse 3. Ewald and Weiss take it here of the Lord's appearance to His disciples after His resurrection.
Another writer reads the promise as covering three stages:
He would not leave them as orphans, but would come to them: first in person after He rose, then in spirit, and at last in person from heaven. Their eternal life would depend on nothing but its flowing from Him. Could they be joined to Him any more closely?
Kelly ties the promise to the life the Lord Himself lives:
"I will not," He says with emphasis, "leave you as orphans" (that is, by leaving them); "I will come to you"... Community of nature is taught here... "Because I live, you also will live." Nothing can be more intimate than this.
One writer reads the promise as made to the gathered company, and names what opens the door to Him:
Christ comes to the company of those on earth who have shut the door on the first man — that is, on themselves. "I will not leave you [the company] as orphans; I will come to you." (John 14:18.) He comes to that company whenever He can, and whenever they make room for Him in this way.
Another writer sets that beside a later promise, made to the believer standing alone:
Earlier the Lord had promised His presence to His own together... now the promise is to the individual believer. So often down the centuries, and in these last days, devoted saints of God have found themselves isolated and alone because of their faithfulness to Christ. If others desert them, or if they cannot meet with other believers, they can still have the companionship of Christ.
- Orphaned. The word means desolate and unprotected. That is what we are in ourselves — no guide, no help, no resource.
- Not abandoned. Kindness from others cannot answer an orphan's cry. Only the One the heart cries for can, and He promises to come.
- How He comes. Most writers tie the promise to the gift of the Spirit. Others read it of His appearances after the resurrection, or of His return in verse 3. On this, commentators differ.
- What He brings. Not just comfort while He is away, but shared life: because He lives, His own live.
- Where He comes. To the gathered company that makes room for Him, and to the believer left standing alone.