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John 14-17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 14

Last Supper Discourses. 1 [a]“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith[b] in God; have faith also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 [c]And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.(A) 4 Where [I] am going you know the way.”[d] 5 Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth[e] and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.(B) 7 If you know me, then you will also know my Father.[f] From now on you do know him and have seen him.”(C) 8 Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father,[g] and that will be enough for us.”(D) 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?(E) 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.(F) 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.(G) 12 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.(H) 13 And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.(I) 14 If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.

The Advocate. 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.(J) 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate[h] to be with you always,(K) 17 the Spirit of truth,[i] which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.(L) 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.[j] 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live.(M) 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.(N) 21 Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”(O) 22 Judas, not the Iscariot,[k] said to him, “Master, [then] what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”(P) 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.(Q) 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.

25 “I have told you this while I am with you. 26 The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you.(R) 27 Peace[l] I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.(S) 28 [m]You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’(T) If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.(U) 30 I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world[n] is coming. He has no power over me, 31 but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go.(V)

Chapter 15

The Vine and the Branches. 1 [o]“I am the true vine,[p] and my Father is the vine grower.(W) 2 He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes[q] so that it bears more fruit. 3 You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.(X) 4 Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. 6 [r](Y)Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.(Z) 8 By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.(AA) 9 As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.(AB) 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.(AC)

11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.(AD) 12 This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.(AE) 13 [s]No one has greater love than this,(AF) to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends,[t] because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.(AG) 16 It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.(AH) 17 This I command you: love one another.(AI)

The World’s Hatred.[u] 18 “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.(AJ) 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.(AK) 20 Remember the word I spoke to you,[v] ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.(AL) 21 And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,[w] because they do not know the one who sent me.(AM) 22 If I had not come and spoken[x] to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin.(AN) 23 Whoever hates me also hates my Father.(AO) 24 If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father.(AP) 25 But in order that the word written in their law[y] might be fulfilled, ‘They hated me without cause.’(AQ)

26 “When the Advocate comes whom I will send[z] you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.(AR) 27 And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.(AS)

Chapter 16

1 “I have told you this so that you may not fall away. 2 They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour[aa] is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.(AT) 3 They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.(AU) 4 I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.(AV)

Jesus’ Departure; Coming of the Advocate.[ab] “I did not tell you this from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me,[ac] ‘Where are you going?’(AW) 6 But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.(AX) But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 [ad]And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: 9 sin, because they do not believe in me;(AY) 10 righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.(AZ)

12 “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. 13 [ae]But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.(BA) He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

16 “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.”(BB) 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ [of which he speaks]? We do not know what he means.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.(BC) 21 When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.(BD) 22 So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.(BE) 23 On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.(BF) 24 Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

25 [af](BG)“I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.(BH) 27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”(BI) 29 His disciples said, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. 30 Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.”[ag] 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now? 32 Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered[ah] to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.(BJ) 33 I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”(BK)

Chapter 17

The Prayer of Jesus.[ai] 1 When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven[aj] and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,(BL) 2 [ak]just as you gave him authority over all people,(BM) so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. 3 [al]Now this is eternal life,(BN) that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. 4 I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.(BO)

6 “I revealed your name[am] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, 8 because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours,(BP) 10 and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them.(BQ) 11 And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. 12 When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.(BR) 13 But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.(BS) 14 I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.(BT) 15 [an]I do not ask that you take them out of the world(BU) but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. 17 Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.(BV) 18 As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.(BW) 19 And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.

20 “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.(BX) 22 And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am[ao] they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.(BY) 25 Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me.(BZ) 26 I made known to them your name and I will make it known,[ap] that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

Footnotes

  1. 14:1–31 Jesus’ departure and return. This section is a dialogue marked off by a literary inclusion in Jn 14:1, 27: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”
  2. 14:1 You have faith: could also be imperative: “Have faith.”
  3. 14:3 Come back again: a rare Johannine reference to the parousia; cf. 1 Jn 2:28.
  4. 14:4 The way: here, of Jesus himself; also a designation of Christianity in Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22.
  5. 14:6 The truth: in John, the divinely revealed reality of the Father manifested in the person and works of Jesus. The possession of truth confers knowledge and liberation from sin (Jn 8:32).
  6. 14:7 An alternative reading, “If you knew me, then you would have known my Father also,” would be a rebuke, as in Jn 8:19.
  7. 14:8 Show us the Father: Philip is pictured asking for a theophany like Ex 24:9–10; 33:18.
  8. 14:16 Another Advocate: Jesus is the first advocate (paraclete); see 1 Jn 2:1, where Jesus is an advocate in the sense of intercessor in heaven. The Greek term derives from legal terminology for an advocate or defense attorney, and can mean spokesman, mediator, intercessor, comforter, consoler, although no one of these terms encompasses the meaning in John. The Paraclete in John is a teacher, a witness to Jesus, and a prosecutor of the world, who represents the continued presence on earth of the Jesus who has returned to the Father.
  9. 14:17 The Spirit of truth: this term is also used at Qumran, where it is a moral force put into a person by God, as opposed to the spirit of perversity. It is more personal in John; it will teach the realities of the new order (Jn 14:26), and testify to the truth (Jn 14:6). While it has been customary to use masculine personal pronouns in English for the Advocate, the Greek word for “spirit” is neuter, and the Greek text and manuscript variants fluctuate between masculine and neuter pronouns.
  10. 14:18 I will come to you: indwelling, not parousia.
  11. 14:22 Judas, not the Iscariot: probably not the brother of Jesus in Mk 6:3 // Mt 13:55 or the apostle named Jude in Lk 6:16, but Thomas (see note on Jn 11:16), although other readings have “Judas the Cananean.”
  12. 14:27 Peace: the traditional Hebrew salutation šālôm; but Jesus’ “Shalom” is a gift of salvation, connoting the bounty of messianic blessing.
  13. 14:28 The Father is greater than I: because he sent, gave, etc., and Jesus is “a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God” (Jn 8:40).
  14. 14:30 The ruler of the world: Satan; cf. Jn 12:31; 16:11.
  15. 15:1–16:4 Discourse on the union of Jesus with his disciples. His words become a monologue and go beyond the immediate crisis of the departure of Jesus.
  16. 15:1–17 Like Jn 10:1–5, this passage resembles a parable. Israel is spoken of as a vineyard at Is 5:1–7; Mt 21:33–46 and as a vine at Ps 80:9–17; Jer 2:21; Ez 15:2; 17:5–10; 19:10; Hos 10:1. The identification of the vine as the Son of Man in Ps 80:15 and Wisdom’s description of herself as a vine in Sir 24:17 are further background for portrayal of Jesus by this figure. There may be secondary eucharistic symbolism here; cf. Mk 14:25, “the fruit of the vine.”
  17. 15:2 Takes away…prunes: in Greek there is a play on two related verbs.
  18. 15:6 Branches were cut off and dried on the wall of the vineyard for later use as fuel.
  19. 15:13 For one’s friends: or: “those whom one loves.” In Jn 15:9–13a, the words for love are related to the Greek agapaō. In Jn 15:13b–15, the words for love are related to the Greek phileō. For John, the two roots seem synonymous and mean “to love”; cf. also Jn 21:15–17. The word philos is used here.
  20. 15:15 Slaves…friends: in the Old Testament, Moses (Dt 34:5), Joshua (Jos 24:29), and David (Ps 89:21) were called “servants” or “slaves of Yahweh”; only Abraham (Is 41:8; 2 Chr 20:7; cf. Jas 2:23) was called a “friend of God.”
  21. 15:18–16:4 The hostile reaction of the world. There are synoptic parallels, predicting persecution, especially at Mt 10:17–25; 24:9–10.
  22. 15:20 The word I spoke to you: a reference to Jn 13:16.
  23. 15:21 On account of my name: the idea of persecution for Jesus’ name is frequent in the New Testament (Mt 10:22; 24:9; Acts 9:14). For John, association with Jesus’ name implies union with Jesus.
  24. 15:22, 24 Jesus’ words (spoken) and deeds (works) are the great motives of credibility. They have seen and hated: probably means that they have seen his works and still have hated; but the Greek can be read: “have seen both me and my Father and still have hated both me and my Father.” Works…that no one else ever did: so Yahweh in Dt 4:32–33.
  25. 15:25 In their law: law is here used as a larger concept than the Pentateuch, for the reference is to Ps 35:19 or Ps 69:5. See notes on Jn 10:34; 12:34. Their law reflects the argument of the church with the synagogue.
  26. 15:26 Whom I will send: in Jn 14:16, 26, the Paraclete is to be sent by the Father, at the request of Jesus. Here the Spirit comes from both Jesus and the Father in mission; there is no reference here to the eternal procession of the Spirit.
  27. 16:2 Hour: of persecution, not Jesus’ “hour” (see note on Jn 2:4).
  28. 16:4b–33 A duplicate of Jn 14:1–31 on departure and return.
  29. 16:5 Not one of you asks me: the difficulty of reconciling this with Simon Peter’s question in Jn 13:36 and Thomas’ words in Jn 14:5 strengthens the supposition that the last discourse has been made up of several collections of Johannine material.
  30. 16:8–11 These verses illustrate the forensic character of the Paraclete’s role: in the forum of the disciples’ conscience he prosecutes the world. He leads believers to see (a) that the basic sin was and is refusal to believe in Jesus; (b) that, although Jesus was found guilty and apparently died in disgrace, in reality righteousness has triumphed, for Jesus has returned to his Father; (c) finally, that it is the ruler of this world, Satan, who has been condemned through Jesus’ death (Jn 12:32).
  31. 16:13 Declare to you the things that are coming: not a reference to new predictions about the future, but interpretation of what has already occurred or been said.
  32. 16:25 See note on Jn 10:6. Here, possibly a reference to Jn 15:1–16 or Jn 16:21.
  33. 16:30 The reference is seemingly to the fact that Jesus could anticipate their question in Jn 16:19. The disciples naively think they have the full understanding that is the climax of “the hour” of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension (Jn 16:25), but the only part of the hour that is at hand for them is their share in the passion (Jn 16:32).
  34. 16:32 You will be scattered: cf. Mk 14:27 and Mt 26:31, where both cite Zec 13:7 about the sheep being dispersed.
  35. 17:1–26 Climax of the last discourse(s). Since the sixteenth century, this chapter has been called the “high priestly prayer” of Jesus. He speaks as intercessor, with words addressed directly to the Father and not to the disciples, who supposedly only overhear. Yet the prayer is one of petition, for immediate (Jn 17:6–19) and future (Jn 17:20–21) disciples. Many phrases reminiscent of the Lord’s Prayer occur. Although still in the world (Jn 17:13), Jesus looks on his earthly ministry as a thing of the past (Jn 17:4, 12). Whereas Jesus has up to this time stated that the disciples could follow him (Jn 13:33, 36), now he wishes them to be with him in union with the Father (Jn 17:12–14).
  36. 17:1 The action of looking up to heaven and the address Father are typical of Jesus at prayer; cf. Jn 11:41 and Lk 11:2.
  37. 17:2 Another possible interpretation is to treat the first line of the verse as parenthetical and the second as an appositive to the clause that ends v 1: so that your son may glorify you (just as…all people), so that he may give eternal life….
  38. 17:3 This verse was clearly added in the editing of the gospel as a reflection on the preceding verse; Jesus nowhere else refers to himself as Jesus Christ.
  39. 17:6 I revealed your name: perhaps the name I AM; cf. Jn 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19.
  40. 17:15 Note the resemblance to the petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from the evil one.” Both probably refer to the devil rather than to abstract evil.
  41. 17:24 Where I am: Jesus prays for the believers ultimately to join him in heaven. Then they will not see his glory as in a mirror but clearly (2 Cor 3:18; 1 Jn 3:2).
  42. 17:26 I will make it known: through the Advocate.
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Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.