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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_14:1-7
1"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4And you know the way where I am going." 5Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" 6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."
Joh_14:1 "Do not let" This is a present passive imperative with negative particle which usually means to stop an act already in process. "Stop letting your hearts be troubled." Jesus' comments about leaving had caused great anxiety.
▣ "your heart" Notice the plural. Jesus was speaking to all eleven. The Hebraic usage of "heart" implies the entire person: mind, will, and emotions (cf. Deu_6:5; Mat_22:37). See Special Topic at Joh_12:40.
▣ "believe in God; believe also in Me" These are either two present active imperatives (NASB, REB) or two present active indicatives or a combination of both (NKJV, NJB and NET Bible say the first is indicative and the second imperative). Belief is ongoing and habitual. The grammatically balanced structure of this verse shows that Jesus is claiming equality with God. Also remember that these were Jews who were committed to monotheism (cf. Deu_6:4-6) and yet recognized the implications of Jesus' statement (see Special Topic: Trinity at Joh_14:26). It is one thing to believe in a Supreme Being and it is quite another to be a Christian. This phrase focuses not on a doctrinal creed, but on the person of Jesus Christ.
Joh_14:2 "In my Father's house" "House" is used in the OT of the Tabernacle or the Temple (cf. 2 Samuel 7), however, in this context it obviously implies the family quarters of God in heaven or dwelling with Him in His temple (cf. Psa_23:6; Psa_27:4-6).
NASB, NRSV "dwelling places"
NKJV "mansions"
TEV "rooms"
NJB "many places"
The KJV translation, "mansions," is deceiving. The Greek term meant "permanent dwelling places" (cf. Joh_14:23) without the idea of lavishness. The imagery is that believers shall all have their own rooms in the Father's home (cf. TEV, NJB), much like a boarding house where all eat together daily.
It is also interesting that this is from the same Greek root as "abide," which is such a key concept (cf. chap. 15) in John. Our abode with the Father consummates with our abiding in the Son.
▣ "if" This is a partial second class conditional sentence which is called "contrary to fact." There are many rooms available. This phrase is difficult to translate.
NASB, REB,
NIV"if it were not so, I would have told you"
NKJV "if it were not so, I would have told you"
TEV "I would not tell you this if it were not so"
NJB, NET"otherwise I would have told you"
Young's literal
translation"and if not, I would have told you"
New Berkley
Version"If this were not so, I would have told you"
Williams
Translation"if there were not, I would have told you"
▣ "I go to prepare a place for you" This does not mean to imply that heaven, in a physical sense, was not prepared before this, but that Jesus' life, teachings, and death allows sinful mankind to approach and dwell with a holy God. Jesus goes before believers as their guide and forerunner (cf. Heb_6:20).
Joh_14:3 "If" This is a third class conditional sentence which means potential action. Jesus has told them He is returning to the Father soon (i.e., Joh_7:33; Joh_16:5; Joh_16:10; Joh_16:17; Joh_16:28) and He will prepare a place for them.
The Help for Translators from United Bible Societies on John by Newman and Wider says that this clause should be understood in a temporal sense of "after I go" or "when I go" or "since I go" (p. 456).
▣ "I will come again and receive you to Myself" This refers to the Second Coming or death (cf. 2Co_5:8; 1Th_4:13-18). This face-to-face fellowship with Jesus reflects Jesus' and the Father's fellowship (cf. Joh_1:1-2). Christians will participate in the intimacy between Jesus and the Father (Joh_14:23; Joh_17:1 ff).
The verb used here, receive (paralambanô), implies "welcome a person." Heaven is personal fellowship with God. This is different from Joh_1:12 (lambanô). It is difficult to ascertain the exact semantic overlapping of these two terms; often they are synonymous.
▣ "where I am, there you may be also" Heaven is where Jesus is (cf. Joh_17:24)! Heaven is really face-to-face fellowship with the Triune God! The NT is unclear exactly when the full fellowship occurs.
1. at death, 2Co_5:8
2. at the Second Coming, 1Th_4:13-18
The Bible is surprisingly silent about afterlife. A good brief book is William Hendriksen's, The Bible On the Life Hereafter.
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Joh_14:4 "you know the way" Jesus' statement causes Thomas to express his doubt about knowing the way. Jesus' answer is expressed in three terms often used in the OT.
Joh_14:6 "I am the way" In the OT, biblical faith was spoken of as a lifestyle path (cf. Deu_5:32-33; Deu_31:29; Psa_27:11; Isa_35:8). The title of the early church was "the Way" (cf. Act_9:2; Act_19:9; Act_19:23; Act_24:14; Act_24:22). Jesus was emphasizing that He was and is the only way to God. This is the theological essence of John's Gospel! Lifestyle good works are an evidence of personal faith (cf. Eph_2:8-10), not a means of righteousness. See note at Joh_8:12.
▣ "the truth" The term "truth" in Greek philosophy had the connotation of "truth" versus "falsehood" or "reality" versus "illusion." However, these are Aramaic-speaking disciples who would have understood Jesus to be speaking in the OT sense of truth which was "faithfulness" or "loyalty" (cf. Psa_26:3; Psa_86:11; Psa_119:30). Both "truth" and "life" characterize "the way." The term "truth" is often used in John to describe divine activity (cf. Joh_1:14; Joh_4:23-24; Joh_8:32; Joh_14:17; Joh_15:26; Joh_16:13; Joh_17:17; Joh_17:19). See Special Topics on Truth at Joh_6:55; Joh_17:3.
▣ "the life" The "life" is zoâ, used by John to describe the life of the new age. In the OT, a believer's lifestyle faith is spoken of as a path unto the life (cf. Psa_16:11; Pro_6:23; Pro_10:17). All three of these terms are related to lifestyle faith which is found only in personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
▣ "no one comes to the Father but through Me" What a shocking claim! It is very restrictive but also very obvious that Jesus believed that only through a personal relationship with Himself can one know God (cf. 1Jn_5:10-12). This has often been called the exclusivistic scandal of Christianity. There is no middle ground here. This statement is true or Christianity is false! In several ways this is similar to John 10.
Joh_14:7 "If" There is a manuscript variant connected to the type of conditional sentence. The United Bible Societies Greek text supports the first class conditional sentence, as do the ancient Greek manuscripts P66, à , and D. This would then be translated "if you had known Me and you do, then you would have known My Father, which you do."
It may be a second class conditional sentence which is often called "contrary to fact." The translation would then be "if you had known Me, which you have not, then you would have known My Father, which you do not." This is supported by manuscripts, A, B, C, Db, K, L, and X. This is a difficult statement because we assume that the Apostles had already believed unto salvation in Jesus as the Messiah sent by YHWH. This new and ultimately exclusive truth must have been very difficult for them to grasp. John's Gospel seems to speak of levels of belief. The context seems to support the second class conditional. Also notice the same condition in Joh_14:2; Joh_14:28.
▣ "you had known Me" Jesus is addressing the entire Apostolic group again (cf. Joh_14:9). The term "know" is used in the OT sense, which speaks of intimate personal relationship, not just cognitive knowledge (cf. Gen_4:1; Jer_1:5).
▣ "you would have known my Father also" To see Jesus is to see God (cf. Joh_1:14-18; Joh_5:24; Joh_12:44-45; 2Co_4:4; Col_1:15; Heb_1:3)! Jesus is the perfect revelation of the invisible God. No one who rejects Jesus can claim to know God (cf. 1Jn_5:9-12).