Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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John
Book: John
Chapter: 14
Overview:
Christ comforts his disciples.
(1-11) He further comforts his
disciples.
(12-17) He still further comforts his disciples.
(18-31)
1-11 Here are three words, upon any of which stress may be
laid. Upon the
Word troubled. Be not cast down and disquieted.
The
Word Heart. Let your
Heart be kept with full trust in
God.
The
Word your. However others are overwhelmed with the sorrows
of this present time, be not you
So.
Christ's disciples, more
than others, should keep their minds quiet, when everything else
is unquiet. Here is the remedy against this trouble of mind,
"Believe."
By believing in
Christ as the
Mediator between
God
and
Man, we gain comfort. The happiness of
Heaven is spoken of
as in a
Father's
House. There are many mansions, for there are
many sons to be brought to
Glory. Mansions are lasting
Dwellings.
Christ will be the Finisher of that of which he is
the Author or Beginner; if he has prepared the place for us, he
will prepare us for it.
Christ is the sinner's Way to the
Father
and to
Heaven, in his person as
God manifest in the
Flesh, in
his atoning
Sacrifice, and as our
Advocate. He is the
Truth, as
fulfilling all the prophecies of a
Saviour; believing which,
sinners come
By him the Way. He is the
Life,
By whose
Life-giving
Spirit the dead in
Sin are quickened. Nor can any
Man draw nigh
God as a
Father, who is not quickened
By Him as
the
Life, and taught
By Him as the
Truth, to come
By Him as the
Way.
By Christ, as the Way, our prayers go to
God, and his
blessings come to us; this is the Way that leads to
Rest, the
good old Way. He is the Resurrection and the
Life. All that saw
Christ By Faith, saw the
Father in Him. In the
Light of
Christ's
doctrine, they saw
God as the
Father of lights; and in
Christ's
miracles, they saw
God as the
God of power. The
Holiness of
God
shone in the spotless purity of
Christ's
Life. We are to believe
the
Revelation of
God to
Man in
Christ; for the
Works of the
Redeemer show forth his own
Glory, and
God in him.
12-17 Whatever we ask in
Christ's name, that shall be for our
good, and suitable to our state, he shall give it to us. To ask
in
Christ's name, is to plead his merit and intercession, and to
depend upon that plea. The
Gift of the
Spirit is a
Fruit of
Christ's mediation, bought
By his merit, and received
By his
intercession. The
Word used here, signifies an
Advocate,
Counsellor, monitor, and
Comforter. He would abide with the
disciples to the
End of time; his
Gifts and graces would
encourage their hearts. The expressions used here and elsewhere,
plainly denote a person, and the office itself includes all the
Divine perfections. The
Gift of the
Holy Ghost is bestowed upon
the disciples of
Christ, and not
On the world. This is the
favour
God bears to his
Chosen. As the source of
Holiness and
happiness, the Holy
Spirit will abide with every believer for
ever.
18-24 Christ promises that he would continue his care of his
disciples. I will not leave you
Orphans, or fatherless, for
though I leave you, yet I leave you this comfort, I will come to
you. I will come speedily to you at my resurrection. I will come
daily to you in my
Spirit; in the tokens of his
Love, and visits
of his
Grace. I will come certainly at the
End of time. Those
only that see
Christ with an
Eye of
Faith, shall see him for
ever: the world sees him
No more till his second coming; but his
disciples have
Communion with him in his absence. These
mysteries will be fully known in
Heaven. It is a further act of
Grace, that they should know it, and have the comfort of it.
Having
Christ's commands, we must keep them. And having them in
our heads, we must keep them in our hearts and lives. The surest
evidence of our
Love to
Christ is, obedience to the laws of
Christ. There are spiritual tokens of
Christ and his
Love given
to all believers. Where sincere
Love to
Christ is in the
Heart,
there will be obedience.
Love will be a commanding, constraining
principle; and where
Love is, duty follows from a principle of
gratitude.
God will not only
Love obedient believers, but he
will take pleasure in loving them, will
Rest in
Love to them. He
will be with them as his home. These privileges are confined to
those whose
Faith worketh
By Love, and whose
Love to
Jesus leads
them to keep his
Commandments. Such are partakers of the Holy
Spirit's new-creating
Grace.
25-27 Would we know these things for our good, we must pray
for, and depend
On the teaching of the
Holy Ghost; thus the
words of
Jesus will be brought to our remembrance, and many
difficulties be cleared up which are not
Plain to others. To all
the saints, the
Spirit of
Grace is given to be a remembrancer,
and to him,
By Faith and
Prayer, we should commit the keeping of
what we hear and know. Peace is
Put for all good, and
Christ has
left us all that is really and truly good, all the promised
good; peace of mind from our
Justification before
God. This
Christ calls his peace, for he is himself our Peace. The peace
of
God widely differs from that of
Pharisees or hypocrites, as
is shown
By its humbling and holy effects.
28-31 Christ raises the expectations of his disciples to
something
Beyond what they thought was their greatest happiness.
His time was now short, he therefore spake largely to them. When
we come to be sick, and to die, we may not be capable of talking
much to those about us; such good counsel as we have to give,
let us give while in health. Observe the prospect
Christ had of
an approaching conflict, not only with men, but with the powers
of
Darkness.
Satan has something in us to perplex us with, for
we have all sinned; but when he would disturb
Christ, he found
nothing sinful to help him. The best evidence of our
Love to the
Father is, our doing as he has commanded us. Let us rejoice in
the
Saviour's victories over
Satan the
Prince of this world. Let
us copy the
Example of his
Love and obedience.