TRIUMPHANT TRILOGIES – Examining JOHN 14 – Part 1 of 2

TRIUMPHANT TRILOGIES – Examining JOHN 12,13 & 14

Examining JOHN 14 – Part 1 of 2

Introduction: Last time from Ch. 13 we read the following verses:

JOHN 13:33
33 "Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you.

It was for this reason that the hearts of the disciples were troubled. Yet, the LORD – always the Encourager – addresses this here (remember, chapter breaks are not inspired, so you can read uninterrupted from Ch. 13 to Ch. 14 as this is the same scenario within the same time frame):

JOHN 14:1-3
1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

I’ve often said, “Heaven is simply being in the presence of JESUS! Take the streets of gold, the pearly gates, the angels, all of the WoW factors away, so that one is left with “just Jesus” – that is heaven enough!

Conversely, not having Jesus around, for the saint is the quintessential formula for sadness, discouragement; a disheartened life that becomes bland, gray and useless.

The disciples had to deal with the fact that the LORD was going away, but He encouraged them by talking about what He would be preparing for them! And they should believe Him (and eventually did), just as they believed in GOD (the Father, because Jesus is GOD – the Son).

Regarding “[the] Father’s House” – I used to think that this was talking about the New Jerusalem (the Father and the Son are the Temple thereof; REV 21:22), and this may be so! But I’ve been thinking of late that my scope might have been a bit on the myopic side.

In the Jewish way of thinking, everything “up there” or everything above that is not of the Earth, is “the Father’s House”. This would include the celestial as well as the heavenly domain – and what else? No one can tell because we weren’t around when GOD created all things seen and unseen (2 COR 4:18). What is the scope of the eternality of “things… unseen”?

Does this include higher (and lower) dimensions of reality which we currently can’t perceive due to our limited human nature, but will be revealed to us once we are in our glorified state?

Even Quantum Physicists talk about the ten dimensions of reality: four are knowable (the space/time continuum – three are special dimensions, one is temporal – that is time, which we can only travel unilaterally, moving forward, but not backward). But then there are six other dimensions that we can’t access but are known inferentially. These extra dimensions are “curled”, they are compacted so tightly together, that we can’t unravel them. These are the proverbial “acorns tough to crack”!

What if GOD "cracks" those hidden six dimensions once Christ returns and opens up a reality that's been here all along, just hidden, and then at that time, revealed?

Could then the “many mansions” be various dimensional realities that would include our individual holy habitations? Imagine for a moment that the New Jerusalem was actually a hyper-cube (an object possessing five physical dimensionalities so that the interior is larger than the exterior; any Doctor Who fans out there?). How much bigger? Say, the size of a galaxy maybe?

Or what about if we all had a “private line” dimension to the LORD (so as to avoid waiting lines for the opportunity to talk with our precious LORD Jesus) where we could carry on one on one conversations and interactions? Far-fetched, you might say?

We do this already in a sense, as millions of Christians worldwide engage in prayer and have that “one on one” time with the LORD Who hears all of us as though we were the only ones praying! The only difference is up There, we will be doing such fellowship face to Face!

Now please understand, this is pure conjecture on my part, but I don’t want to limit the possibilities of the extraordinary nature of the reality GOD is preparing for us (and ourselves for it!).

One thing is certain:

1 CORINTHIANS 2:9-10
9 But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

He is preparing a place for us – all of us saints that are called by His Most Holy Name! Some translate “mansions” as apartments, compartments, residence, abode; others see them as actual mansions. The Greek word implies both possibilities. No matter what they actually are, if the LORD Jesus is fashioning them, then they will be astoundingly awesome!

And just think – you can buy a residence that someone designed to be bought by a buyer, anyone would do… or even your Dad the architect might design you a place personally. But this is GOD made flesh, the Risen LORD and Savior Who has YOU in mind as He designs your holy, eternal habitation! AND no mortgage payments, property taxes or repair work required for aging structures – all expenses paid for by our Redeemer!

We will be where He is, for He shall receive us to Himself in heaven. Have you run into those types that say that Christians will never see heaven? That we will always be here on the Earth? I honestly don’t know how they get around these three verses!

“…I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Scripture inspired by the Spirit to apostle Paul gives us more information on this:

1 THESSALONIANS 4:16-17
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

When He comes again, He will descend from where? “Heaven”, and He told us that we will be with Him, “where I am”. The rapture will occur in two phases, collectively taking far less than a nano-second to complete, hence the “twinkle of an eye”. The dead in Christ shall rise and be translated first (resurrected from the dead), then those who are yet alive shall be translated (not resurrected, as we never died, but transformed while still alive).

I’m told that this “twinkle” is the time it takes for light to travel from the pupil (cornea) of the eye to the photoreceptors at the back of the eye (retina). The distance between these two parts of the eye on average is about 2.5 centimeters.

Considering that light travels at 186,000 miles per second, then the time for light to travel 2.5 centimeters is infinitesimal indeed! Like 0.0000000000834 seconds! If that is actually the case, then we’ll be raptured literally before we know it!

What I find particularly comforting about vs, 17 is: “…thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Once we are with the LORD we will NEVER, EVER be parted. He’ll never tell us, “You stay here, I have to go someplace, but I’ll be back before you know it, like 5,000 years or so!

So while the LORD is in heaven, so will we be! Once the LORD leaves heaven to go to Earth to rid the world of the beast and false prophet, and to (temporarily) consign Satan to the abyss – his prison with a 1,000 year sentence – then we’ll be with Him! As He governs the world from the capital of the globe, Jerusalem, as the Bride of Christ, we’ll be with Him!

To see Him, to look upon His Face – to see Him (and His smile) seeing us. To hear His voice, to be able for the first time in our lives to have a two-way conversation without the “dim mirror”.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:12
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

I can’t imagine this: that we will know the LORD just as well as He knows us!! That’s the abundance of treasure and wealth in store for us saints that makes those who boast of their wealth in the Word-Faith Movement look ridiculously absurd!!

JOHN 14:4-6
4 "And where I go you know, and the way you know." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

MATTHEW 26:39
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."

Of all the innumerable prayers the LORD prayed to the Father, and all were faithfully, fully answered, this is the one prayer that He didn’t answer. Why? Because it wasn’t possible. If the world was to be saved, then the justice of GOD would have to be satisfied; then the grace of GOD could be dispensed to the myriad of souls.

Religion, philosophy, science, education, political activism, self-improvement and self-esteem, essential pragmatism and existentialism… none of these things has what it takes to solve the root problem of mankind, and that is, our sin nature. It’s a wild, vicious, wicked thing that cannot be tamed, cannot be reformed to any lasting result, changed or done away with by our own efforts. Why is this?

Because any efforts and endeavors on our part to improve self comes from self, and self is where the problem lies. It’s like a kerosene fire burning out of control and you want to stop it by throwing more kerosene on it!

If we are going to be saved, then it must come from an external source, it must be wholly true and valid, it must come from an influence that has the power to transform us. This is available to us not by some power or philosophy or principle, but by the Person of Jesus Christ. Mr. Truth, as I sometimes call Him (with the deepest of respect, mind you!).

This is part of GOD’s Perfect Plan of the Gospel (note: this is an ongoing TTUF series I started several weeks ago – how many articles it will have, I have no idea! – that I’ve started, where I am examining all the aspects of preparation, presentation, purpose, power, and presence in what GOD is doing through this paramount plan of absolute genius (of course, since it’s GOD Who thought of it!).

GOD the Son would become a man (JOHN 1:1-3,14), One Who is actually related to us as a member of our human family. As a result, He is eligible to become our Kinsman Redeemer – someone Who could pay the penalties and debts of all of our sins, receiving the disastrous devastation and ruinous wreckage that sin brings, as well as the resulting judgment of the Holy GOD (the Father) that should have fallen upon us, and instead, came down upon Christ at Calvary’s Cross (ISA 53:6, 10-11).

In this transaction, Christ received our damnation, our death (eternal), our dark destiny, and we received His righteousness, His reigning indwelling Spirit, and the rule of GOD’s eternal kingdom, seated beside Christ (as His bride!) – the King of kings and Lord of lords!

2 CORINTHIANS 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

This is the only method, the only means of our salvation: through the Messiah, the Christ, the LORD Jesus Christ Who is the exclusive Way to the Father, the exclusive Truth that holds all Light, Grace and Wisdom that we desperately need! And He alone is the exclusive Life that can and will transform condemned sinners into commended saints!

None of the aforementioned things (religion, science, education, etc.) can have such a transformative effect.

Some are offended that Christ is the only way – but if you were drowning in the ocean and someone tossed you a lifesaver, would you be offended that they just threw you one – not more than one so that you could choose the one you preferred: the blue one, or the square one, or the one made from natural fibers, etc.? Hardly.

But what about those who never heard of Christ? To that question, I say what Abraham said, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The GOD of grace and truth will judge with absolute fairness all the souls of this world according to the measure of light (“revelatory truth” in the general revelation and, or special revelation) that they received, and all have received some measure of light (JOHN 1:9). ROMANS 1 elaborates on this point.

Some even question whether the Old Testament folks were really saved since they never heard of Jesus either – if they didn’t know about Him, were they saved by an alternate means? Not in the least! There is only One Way.

Just as we New Testament saints look back to the past and recognize the LORD Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, according to the Scriptures, those in the Old Testament looked forward to the future, written about in the prophetic Scripture that foretold the coming One Who would “crush the head of the serpent” and Who would bring redemption (See PSA 22 and ISA 53). Herbert Lockyer has done a phenomenal work in “All The Messianic Prophecies of the Bible” where Scriptures regarding Christ are examined.

JOHN 14:7-9
7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." 8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?.

After being with the LORD for three years is it possible that the apostles still didn’t “know” Christ?

From Hall’s Explication of Hard Tests we have the following:

If ye had so thoroughly observed, and informed yourselves of me, and noted my words and actions, as ye might have done, ye might have seen in me the lively image of my Father, and have acknowledged the fullness of his Godhead dwelling bodily in me; but herein you have hitherto been defective: now, from henceforth, see your own error, and amend it; and know, that in knowing, and believing in me, ye do know my Father, and do so believe in him, as if your eyes beheld him. So also verse 9.

And from Matthew Poole’s commentary:

Ver. 7. If ye had known me as you ought to have known me, as I am indeed the eternal Son of God, sent by my Father into the world, you should have known my Father, with whom I am equal, and one and the same God, so as in knowing one of us, you must have known both: but you stick in my outward form and appearance, while I appear to you in the form of a man; and you stick in your prejudices sucked in from the notion you have of the Messiah, expecting I know not what temporal prince: these things blind you as to my Divine nature, (personally united to my human nature), that you see nothing of my Godhead, which if you had clearly known and believed, you would not have been at a loss to know the Father, the brightness of whose glory, and the express image of whose person, I am…

Elsewhere the LORD Jesus declared that He and the Father are One (JOHN 10:30; that is, not a singular “one” as there are two Persons addressed, but a “united one” which has Three Persons united together in One Deity.

Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cults believe certain verses prove Christ’s inferior position before Jehovah GOD, such as this one:

JOHN 5:19
Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

I always like to ask such folk if truth can contradict itself. Obviously if two posits both claim to be truth, but contradict, either one or both of them are wrong. Truth by its nature is not self-contradictory.

Both the Father (DEUT 32:4) and the Son (JOHN 14:6) claim to be truth! They can’t contradict each other – not in thought, word or deed. Thus, if the Father does something, the Son cannot “do His own thing” that is independent of the Father’s will. The very fact that they are co-equal further reinforces the truth of their unity and non-contradictory relationship.

It's not until the apostles witnessed the resurrection of Christ (ACTS 1:21-22), received the indwelling Spirit of GOD (JOHN 20:22) that actually came into their hearts (Greek: en; this I believe led to their being born again; JOHN 3:3,5; 1 PET 1:23), and were subsequently baptized by the Holy Spirit Who came “upon” and anointed them (Greek word epi).

It was at this juncture that the apostles came into the fuller revelation of Christ and realized Who He is, and all that He accomplished. The LORD Jesus Himself said that He had a lot to teach them, but they wouldn’t be able to handle it all – so when the Holy Spirit came, He would pick up where the LORD Jesus left off and teach them all (remaining) truth required in order for them to fulfill their holy office, and for disciples throughout the ages to possess the complete special revelation necessary to live a godly life (JOHN 16:13-14; 2 TIM 3:16; 2 PET 1:3).

These blessings turned these cowering Jews who feared for their lives after they saw what the religious leaders did to their Lord into invincible, courageous heralders of the truth, proclaiming Christ to the very end – some while hanging on crosses!

Not a single one of them reneged and said that it was all a sham, just so that they could enjoy a place of prominence and power (which they never got – just peril and persecution, really!). Just one word would have saved them from the fates that they suffered.

JOHN 14:10-11
10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

Why didn’t the LORD Jesus speak on His own authority? For that matter, why didn’t He perform miracles by His own power?

As a dutiful, loyal, faithful Son Who willingly submitted to His Father (thus He becomes the greatest role model for children in relation to their own parents), He came into this world to do the Father’s will – not any will independent of that will, and to learn experientially the act of obedience (JOHN 8:29; MATT 26:42; HEB 5:8).

Being submitted to the Father assured Christ of His caring protection (not that Christ in His Deity needed any) because He had laid aside His own glory and power in that regard (PHIL 2:7), literally, He “emptied” Himself of His power, making Himself utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit’s power instead (LUKE 4:1,14). Then He also had the Father’s own power working in Him as well (vs. 10b)!

Why did He bother to do this? There are many reasons, but I think a primary purpose in this was so that He would be a proper example for us, His disciples.

We can’t live this Christian life or conduct ourselves in any ministry by our own power (like Christ could have had He not emptied Himself [and this was temporary of course during the length of time in His earthly ministry]). We are utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit to work through us as we work in the Kingdom of GOD. So, you see, Christ becomes our perfect role model in the life of the disciple!

The miracles that Christ did testify of miraculous power, which the naturalists and liberal theologians of the world dismiss and disbelieve because “it’s impossible due to the laws of nature”. Yet GOD is the Creator of nature and all of its various, fixed laws. Those laws are permanent and immutable – to a large extent.

The law of gravity keeps things earth-bound. But another law can be inserted to counteract that law – the law of aerodynamics, which aircraft take advantage of routinely.

Yet we’re not dealing with a natural law to counterbalance another natural law – we are talking about the Creator of natural law circumnavigating it by means of His supernatural abilities.

The LORD Jesus walking on water, multiplying the bread and fish, calming the storming sea, healing the incurable, the lame and the maimed, casting out demons. Raising people from the dead. It’s entirely in the prerogative of the One Who accomplished what happened in GENESIS 1:1, to do anything He likes. In fact “the works” that Christ did all testify of His authenticity as the Messiah, whose works were predicted hundreds, even thousands of years prior to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

Lastly, we have the doctrine of the Trinity referred to in these verses, where two Persons are mentioned: the Father and the Son.

We may not understand the nature, much less the essence of the Trinity, but Scripture does teach this wondrous reality – though there are others who argue the point, among them Oneness Pentecostals.

Yet to fully grasp the study of soteriology (salvation) one must understand that the Trinity is imperative in order to accomplish the Gospel with all of its parameters. If there are not Three Persons in the Triune nature of GOD, the Gospel would be impossible.

I’m not saying that we must understand the Trinity to be saved (none of us would be!) nor even that we must believe in it (at least on the outset of our seeking and finding salvation), but rather, the Trinity must be real and functional, otherwise salvation would be impossible.

How so, you might ask? Let’s visit the site STAND TO REASON and the article there entitled: The Trinity: A Solution, Not a Problem.

We shall end Part One of this study here and pick up next time to conclude Chapter 14. After we complete Chapter 15, we shall conclude this TRIUMPHANT TRIO, then move on to the next trio of JOHN 15, 16 and 17!