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The Farewell Discourse

John 14 · Passion week in Jerusalem

Scripture

John 14:1–17

et not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In 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. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. 12Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 15If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

King James Version · public domain

Joani 14:1–17

etë mos trumbullonetë zëmëra juaj; besoni Perëndisë, besoni edhe mua. 2Ndë shtëpi të t’im Eti ka shumë të-ndënjura; ndë mos, dot’u thoshnjam juve, Vete t’u bënj juve gati vënt. 3Edhe si të vete e t’u bënj juve gati vënt, dotë vinj përsëri, edhe dot’u marr juve përanë vetëhesë s’ime, që të jeni edhe ju atje ku jam unë. 4Edhe ku vete unë e dini edhe udhën’ e dini. 5Thomaj i thotë, Zot, nuk’ e dimë se ku vete; edhe si munt t’a dimë udhënë? 6Jisuj i thotë, Unë jam udha edhe e-vërteta edhe jeta; asndonjë s’vjen tek Ati, veç me anë t’ime. 7Ndë qoftë se më njihnitë mua, dotë njihnitë edhe t’im Atë: edhe që ndashti e njihni, edhe e kini parë. 8Filippi i thotë, Zot, dëfte-na Atinë, edhe na është mjaft. 9Jisuj i thotë, Kaqë kohë jam bashkë me ju, edhe s’më ke njohurë, Filipp? ay që më ka parë mua, ka parë Atinë; edhe qysh thua ti, Dëfte-na Atinë? 10Nukë beson se unë jam tek Ati, edhe Ati është tek unë? fjalëtë që u flas unë juve, nuk’ janë prej vetiu; po Ati që rri tek unë, ay bën punëratë. 11Beso-më-ni se unë jam tek Ati, edhe Ati është tek unë; ndë mos, beso-më-ni për vetë punëratë. 12Me të vërtetë, me të vërtetë po u them juve, Ay që më beson mua, dotë bënjë edhe ay punëratë që bënj unë, edhe dotë bënjë edhe më të mëdha se këto; sepse unë vete tek im Atë. 13Edhe ç’të lypni mb’emërit t’im, dot’a bënj, që të lavduronetë Ati te Biri. 14Ndë lypçi gjë mb’emërit t’im, unë dot’a bënj. 15Ndë më doni, ruani porosit’ e mia. 16Edhe unë dot’i lutem Atit, edhe dot’u apë juve një tjatër Ngushullimtar, që të mbetetë bashkë me ju për gjithë jetënë, 17Frymën’ e së-vërtetësë, të-cilënë bota s’munt t’a marrë, sepse nuk’ e sheh, as nuk’ e njeh; po ju e njihni, sepse mbetetë bashkë me ju, edhe dotë jetë ndër ju.

Kristoforidhi, Dhiata e Re Toskërisht 1879 · zotërim publik

In their own words

For He who is the way doth not lead us into devious courses out of the way; nor does He who is the truth deceive us by falsehoods; nor does He who is the life leave us in the darkness of death.

St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity (on John 14:6) (Catena Aurea)

The Farewell Discourse (John 14:1–17)

The texts below are quoted verbatim from public-domain English translations; nothing is paraphrased.

St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407)

Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homilies 73–75 (on John 14:1–17) Source: trans. in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 14. Public domain. Full text: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf114.iv.lxxv.html

On why "Let not your heart be troubled" was needed just then:

This He saith, because it was probable that when they heard they would be troubled. For if the leader of their band, one so entirely fervent, was told that before the cock crew he should thrice deny his Master, it was likely that they would expect to have to undergo some great reverse, sufficient to bend even souls of adamant.

On "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me":

"I am the Way." This is the proof of the, "No man cometh to the Father but by Me"; ... and, "the Truth, and the Life," of this, "that these things shall surely be."

On the promise of "another Comforter," and how the one word strikes down opposite heresies:

"I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter," that is, "Another like unto Me." ... For the marvel of this discourse is this, that it hath stricken down contradictory heresies with the same blow. For by saying "another," He showeth the difference of Person, and by "Paraclete," the connection of Substance.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book IX (on John 14:1–11) Source: trans. T. Randell, Library of Fathers, 1885. Public domain. Full text: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cyril_on_john_09_book9.htm

On the three names Christ chooses, the Way, and the Truth, and the Life:

He says, therefore: I am the Way, I the Truth, I the Life. ... There are then three means whereby we shall reach the Divine courts that are above and enter the Church of the firstborn; namely, by practice in virtue of every kind, by faith in rightness of doctrine, and by hope of life to come.

On passing from the Image to the Archetype, since "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father":

He Who shewed Himself to us so mighty by the evidence of His works, says expressly: I and the Father are One, and: He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. We must therefore, in reliance on what we have just quoted, pass onward from the Likeness to the Archetype, and from the Very Image to the full realisation of Him Whom the Very Image represents.

Theophylact of Ohrid (c. 1055–1107)

Explanation of the Gospel of John (on John 14:2–6) As preserved in the Catena Aurea on John. Public domain. Full text: https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/CAJohn.htm

On "In my Father's house are many mansions ... I go to prepare a place for you":

And if not, I would have told you: I go to prepare, &c. As if He said; Either way ye should not be troubled, whether places are prepared for you, or not. For, if they are not prepared, I will very quickly prepare them.

On how Christ becomes for us the Way, the Truth, and the Life:

When thou art engaged in the practical, He is made thy way; when in the contemplative, He is made thy truth. And to the active and the contemplative is joined life: for we should both act and contemplate with reference to the world to come.

Blessed Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractates 67–70 (on John 14:1–9) Source: trans. in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 7. Public domain. Full text: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf107.iii.lxviii.html

On the comfort of the "many mansions" prepared for the troubled disciples:

when they now hear, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you," they are revived from their trouble, made certain and confident that after all the perils of temptations they shall dwell with Christ in the presence of God. For, albeit one is stronger than another, one wiser than another, one more righteous than another, "in the Father's house there are many mansions;" none of them shall remain outside that house, where every one, according to his deserts, is to receive a mansion.

On the disciples already knowing the Way, because they knew Him who is the Way:

Accordingly, if they knew Him, and He Himself is the way, they knew the way; if they knew Him who is Himself the truth, they knew the truth; if they knew Him who is also the life, they knew the life.

On "He that seeth me, seeth the Father also":

If thou hast seen me, who am His perfect likeness, thou hast seen Him to whom I am like.

St. Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310–367)

On the Trinity (on John 14:6–11) As preserved in the Catena Aurea on John. Public domain. Full text: https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/CAJohn.htm

On the Way that does not mislead, the Truth that does not deceive, the Life that does not fail:

For He who is the way doth not lead us into devious courses out of the way; nor does He who is the truth deceive us by falsehoods; nor does He who is the life leave us in the darkness of death.

On "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me":

But the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, not by a conjunction of two harmonizing essences, nor by a nature grafted into a more capacious substance as in material bodies, in which it is impossible that what is within can be made external to that which contains it; but by the birth of a nature which is life from life; forasmuch as from God nothing but God can be born.

Patristic sources

Read the sources: Chrysostom on John, Homily 73 (CCEL) · Cyril of Alexandria on John, Book IX (tertullian.org) · Augustine, Tractates on John, Tractate 67 (CCEL) · Catena Aurea on John (isidore.co)