Church Fathers Commentary John 14:27-31

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe. I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me; but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence." — John 14:27-31 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: After saying, Peace I leave with you, which was like a farewell, He consoles them: Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The two feelings of love and fear were now the uppermost in them.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Although He was only going away for a time, their hearts would be troubled and afraid of what might happen before He returned, for fear that in the absence of the Shepherd, the wolf might attack the flock. You have heard how I said to you, I go away, and come again to you. In that He was man, He went away; in that He was God, He remained. Why then be troubled and afraid, when He left your sight only, but not your heart?

To make them understand that He said, I go away, and come again to you as a man, He adds, If you loved Me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father; for My Father is greater than I. It is because the Son is unequal with the Father in His humanity that He went to the Father, from whom He will come again to judge the quick and the dead. But in that He is equal to the Father, He never leaves the Father, but is always and everywhere with Him in that Godhead, which is not confined to any place.

Indeed, the Son Himself—because, being equal to the Father in the form of God, He emptied Himself, not by losing the form of God but by taking the form of a servant—is even greater than Himself. The form of God, which He did not lose, is greater than the form of a servant, which He put on. In this form of a servant, the Son of God is inferior not only to the Father but also to the Holy Spirit; in this form, the child Christ was even inferior to His parents, of whom we read, He was subject. Let us, then, acknowledge the twofold substance of Christ: the divine, which is equal to the Father, and the human, which is inferior. But Christ is both together—not two, but one Christ—otherwise the Godhead would be a quaternity, not a Trinity.

Therefore, He says, If you loved Me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father. For human nature should exult at being taken up by the Only Begotten Word and made immortal in heaven; at earth being raised to heaven, and dust sitting incorruptible at the right hand of the Father. Who that loves Christ will not rejoice at this, seeing his own nature made immortal in Christ and hoping that he himself will be made so through Christ?

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, to put it another way: If the Father is greater by virtue of giving, is the Son lesser for acknowledging the gift? The giver is the greater, but He to whom unity with that giver is given is not the lesser.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, to put it another way: The Apostles did not yet know what the resurrection was of which He spoke when He said, I go, and come again to you, or what they ought to think of it. They only knew the great power of the Father. So He tells them that even though they might fear He would not be able to save Himself, and might not trust in His appearing again after the crucifixion, they should still rejoice when they hear that I go to My Father, because He is going to one who is greater and able to dissolve and change all things. All this is said in accommodation to their weakness, as we see from the next words: And now I have told you before it come to pass; that when it does come to pass, you may believe.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But is not the time for belief before something takes place? Is it not the very praise of faith that it believes what it does not see? This is according to what is said later to Thomas: Because you have seen, you has believed. He saw one thing and believed another: what he saw was a man, but what he believed was God. And while belief can be spoken of in reference to things seen—as when we say we believe our own eyes—this is not a mature faith, but merely preparatory for believing what we do not see.

He says that they will believe when it has come to pass because after His death they would see Him alive again and ascending to His Father. This sight would convince them that He was the Christ, the Son of God, since He was able to do such a great thing and also to foretell it. This faith, however, would not be an entirely new one, but only an enlarged faith—or a faith that had failed at His death and been renewed by His resurrection.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: He next alludes to the approaching time when He would resume His glory: Hereafter I will not talk much with you.

The Venerable Bede: He says this because the time was now approaching for Him to be taken and given up to death: For the prince of this world comes.

St. Augustine of Hippo: That is, the devil, the prince of sinners, not of creation. As the Apostle said, it is against the rulers of this world, or, as he immediately adds for explanation, of this darkness, meaning the ungodly. And then Christ says, and has nothing in Me.

As God, He had no sin, nor had His flesh contracted sin through a sinful birth, being born of the Virgin. One might then ask how He could die if He had no sin. He answers, But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do.

Arise, let us go from here. He had been sitting at the table with them this whole time. By this, He meant they should go to the place where He, who had done nothing to deserve death, was to be delivered over to death. For He had a commandment from His Father to die.

The Son’s obedience to the will and commandment of the Father does not show a difference between them any more than it would between a human father and son. Furthermore, we must consider that Christ is not only God, and as such equal to the Father, but also man, and as such inferior to the Father.

St. John Chrysostom: Arise, let us go from here is the beginning of the sentence that follows. The time and the place (they were in the middle of a town, and it was nighttime) had stirred up the disciples’ fears to such a degree that they could not pay attention to anything being said. Instead, they were looking all around, expecting people to enter and assault them, especially when they heard our Lord say, Yet a little while I am with you, and, The prince of this world comes. To quiet their alarm, He takes them to another place where they would feel safer and be able to listen to the great doctrines He was about to set before them.