John Calvin Commentary John 14

Let not your heart be troubled. Not without good reason does Christ confirm His disciples with so many words, since such an arduous and terrible contest awaited them. It was no ordinary temptation that soon afterward they would see Him hanging on the cross—a spectacle in which nothing was to be seen but cause for the deepest despair.

With the time of such great distress being near, He points out the remedy, so that they might not be vanquished and overwhelmed. For He does not simply exhort and encourage them to be steadfast, but also informs them where they must go to obtain courage: that is, by faith, when He is acknowledged to be the Son of God, who has in Himself sufficient strength to maintain the safety of His followers.

We should always pay attention to the time when these words were spoken: that Christ wished His disciples to remain brave and courageous when they might think that everything was in the greatest confusion. Therefore, we should use the same shield to ward off such assaults. Indeed, it is impossible for us to avoid feeling various emotions, but though we are shaken, we must not fall down. Thus it is said of believers that they are not troubled, because, relying on the word of God, though very great difficulties press heavily upon them, still they remain steadfast and upright.

You believe in God. It might also be read in the imperative mood, Believe in God, and believe in me; but the former reading fits better and has been more generally received. Here He points out the method of remaining steadfast, as I have already said: that is, if our faith rests on Christ and views Him in no other way than as being present and stretching out His hand to assist us.

But it is remarkable that faith in the Father is here placed first in order. For He should rather have told His disciples that they should believe in God, since they had believed in Christ. Because, as Christ is the living image of the Father, so we should first cast our eyes on Him; and for this reason, too, He descends to us, so that our faith, beginning with Him, may rise to God.

But Christ had a different objective in view. For all acknowledge that we should believe in God—and this is an admitted principle to which all agree without contradiction—and yet there is scarcely one in a hundred who actually believes it. This is not only because the bare majesty of God is too distant from us, but also because Satan interposes clouds of every kind to hinder us from contemplating God.

The consequence is that our faith, seeking God in His heavenly glory and inaccessible light, vanishes away; and even the flesh, of its own accord, suggests a thousand imaginations to turn our eyes away from beholding God in a proper manner.

The Son of God, then, who is Jesus Christ, presents Himself as the object to which our faith should be directed, and through Him, our faith will easily find that on which it can rest. For He is the true Immanuel, who answers us within as soon as we seek Him by faith.

It is one of the leading articles of our faith that our faith should be directed to Christ alone, so that it does not wander through long and complex ways, and that it should be fixed on Him, so that it may not waver in the midst of temptations. And this is the true test of faith: when we never allow ourselves to be torn away from Christ and from the promises made to us in Him.

When Popish divines dispute—or, I should rather say, chatter—about the object of faith, they mention God only and pay no attention to Christ. Those who derive their instruction from the ideas of such men must be shaken by the slightest gust of wind that blows.

Proud men are ashamed of Christ’s humiliation and, therefore, they flee to God’s incomprehensible Divinity. But faith will never reach heaven unless it submits to Christ—who appears to be a low and contemptible God—and it will never be firm if it does not seek a foundation in the weakness of Christ.

In my Father’s house are many dwellings. Since the absence of Christ was a cause of grief, he declares that he does not go away in such a manner as to remain separate from them, since there is also room for them in the heavenly kingdom. For it was fitting that he should remove the suspicion from their minds that, when Christ ascended to the Father, he left his disciples on earth without taking any further notice of them. This passage has been erroneously interpreted in another sense, as if Christ taught that there are various degrees of honor in the heavenly kingdom. For he says that the mansions are many, not that they are different or unlike, but that there are enough of them for a great number of persons; as if he had said that there is room not only for himself, but also for all his disciples.

And if it were not so, I would have told you. Here commentators differ. Some read these words as closely connected with what comes before: “If the dwellings had not been already prepared, I would have said that I go before you to prepare them.” But I rather agree with those who render it as follows: “If the heavenly glory had awaited me only, I would not have deceived you. I would have told you that there was no room for anyone but myself in my Father’s house. But the case is widely different; for I go before, to prepare a place for you.” The context, in my opinion, demands that we read it in this manner; for it follows immediately afterwards, If I go to prepare a place for you. By these words Christ indicates that the design of his departure is to prepare a place for his disciples. In short, Christ did not ascend to heaven in a private capacity, to dwell there alone, but rather that it might be the common inheritance of all the godly, and that in this way the Head might be united to his members.

But a question arises: What was the condition of the fathers after death, before Christ ascended to heaven? For the conclusion usually drawn is that believing souls were confined in an intermediate state or prison, because Christ says that, by his ascension into heaven, the place will be prepared.

But the answer is easy. This place is said to be prepared for the day of the resurrection. For by nature mankind is banished from the kingdom of God, but the Son, who is the only heir of heaven, took possession of it in their name, that through him we may be permitted to enter. For in his person we already possess heaven by hope, as Paul informs us (Ephesians 1:3). Still, we will not enjoy this great blessing until he comes from heaven the second time.

The condition of the fathers after death, therefore, is not here distinguished from ours, because Christ has prepared both for them and for us a place, into which he will receive us all at the last day. Before reconciliation had been made, believing souls were, as it were, placed on a watchtower, looking for the promised redemption, and now they enjoy a blessed rest until the redemption is finished.

And if I go away. The conditional term, if, should be interpreted as an adverb of time; as if it had been said, “After I have gone away, I will return to you again.” This return must not be understood as referring to the Holy Spirit, as if Christ had manifested to the disciples some new presence of himself by the Spirit. It is unquestionably true, that Christ dwells with us and in us by his Spirit; but here he speaks of the last day of judgment, when he will, eventually, come to assemble his followers. And, indeed, if we consider the whole body of the Church, he every day prepares a place for us, from which it follows, that the proper time for our entrance into heaven has not yet come.

And whither I go you know. Since we need no ordinary fortitude to patiently endure being separated from Christ for so long, He adds another confirmation: that the disciples know His death is not a destruction but a passage to the Father; and next, that they know the way which they must follow, so that they may come to share in the same glory.

Both these points should be carefully observed. First, we must see Christ through the eyes of faith in the heavenly glory and a blessed immortality; and, secondly, we should know that He is the first-fruits of our life, and that the way which was closed against us has been opened by Him.

Thomas says to him. Though, at first sight, the reply of Thomas appears to contradict what Christ had said, yet he did not intend to accuse his Master of falsehood. But it may be asked, in what sense does he deny what Christ asserted? I reply, the knowledge possessed by the saints is sometimes confused, because they do not understand the manner or the reason of those things which are certain, and which have been explained to them.

For example, the Prophets foretold the calling of the Gentiles with a true perception of faith, and yet Paul declares that it was a mystery hidden from them (Ephesians 3:2, 4). In like manner, when the Apostles believed that Christ was departing to the Father, and yet did not know in what way he would obtain the kingdom, Thomas justly replies, that they do not know where he is going. Hence he concludes that they know still less about the way, for before we enter into a road, we must know where we intend to go.