John 14

John 14:3

Three hundred pence. Silver to the amount of $45, equivalent to about $300 now, owing to the change of values.

John 14:5

Against the day of my burying hath she kept this. Before a week he was to be in the tomb. It was customary to anoint dead bodies for burial.

John 14:7

Much people . . . came. From Jerusalem to Bethany.

John 14:8

The chief priests consulted. Lazarus was a living proof of the Divine power of Christ, and they wished him out of the way.

John 14:10

On the next day. Sunday. For notes on the entrance to Jerusalem, see Matthew 21:1-11. Compare Mr 11:1-11 Lu 19:29-44.

John 14:17

The world is gone after him. The Pharisees observed the vast crowds that attended him and were filled with alarm. The city was filled with commotion (Matthew 21:10,11).

John 14:18

And there were certain Greeks, etc. Among those who came to worship were Greeks, members of the Gentile division of the race which embraced all that were not Jews. These were not Jews who spoke the Grecian language and lived in Greek countries; those are called in the original Greek “Hellenistoi”. We find the latter in the Jerusalem church in large numbers. See Acts 6:1. These who sought to visit Jesus were “Hellenes”, a term only used of the Greek race. It is probable that they belonged to the large class of “devout Greeks”, met elsewhere by Paul (Acts 17:4), who were sick of heathenism and were attracted by the grand Hebrew revelation of the unity of God. On this great national occasion they had accompanied Jews settled abroad as they returned to worship in the city of David.

John 14:19

The same came therefore to Philip. The name Philip is Grecian (“Philippos”, “lover of horses”), as well as Andrew (“Andreas”, “manly”), and those of the seven deacons of (Acts 6:5). It is not unlikely that Philip was a Jew born among the Greeks, who spoke the Greek language. We would see Jesus. They wish to find out more about the great teacher from Galilee.

John 14:20

Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. Andrew was also of Bethsaida (John 1:44 12:21), and he and Philip seem to have been inseparable friends.

John 14:21

The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. The answer of Christ may have been to Philip and Andrew, and the Greeks may have heard and understood it. The substance is that the time of his glorification had come and that glorification would draw all men, Greek, Gentiles as well as Jews, to him.

John 14:22

Verily, verily. These prefatory words give solemn emphasis. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. This statement enforces a great truth. The grain of wheat may remain in the granary for a thousand years and be preserved, but it is useless there. It neither reproduces, nor is food. It is when it falls into the ground and undergoes dissolution, that it brings forth fruit. It is fruitful by “giving itself up”. So, too, Christ must give himself up. His death was needful in order that he might impart life to the nation. There is a lesson here for disciples who would “bear much fruit” (John 15:8).

John 14:23

He that loveth his life shall lose it. He announces a principle that underlies all exaltation. He gave his life and found eternal exaltation; the grain gives its life and lives a hundred-fold; those who consecrate their lives, give them up for others, dedicate them to their holy work, will live eternally.

John 14:24

If any man serve me, let him follow me. This is Christ’s direct answer to the Greeks. His service is to be rendered, not by secret interviews, but by obeying him, for so the word “follow” is to be understood.

John 14:25

Now is my soul troubled. It is the shadow of the cross and the tomb. The best comment on this verse is to compare it with the account of the agony in the garden. Here he exclaims: Father, save me from this hour. There, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). Here, he adds: But for this cause came I unto this hour. There, “Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done” (Lu 22:42). Here the perfect resignation that follows the struggle in his soul is in the prayer, “Father, glorify thy name” (John 12:28).

John 14:26

Then came a voice from heaven, [saying], I have both glorified it. At Gethsemane the angel came to strengthen him; here the Father’s voice speaks in approval. Three times the Father’s voice was heard from the sky: (1) when Christ was buried in Jordan, a type of his own burial (Matthew 3:17); (2) when Moses and Elijah talked with him on the holy mount about his death (Matthew 17:5); (3) when he had his struggle of soul in view of death portrayed here, and triumphed. Will glorify it again. God had glorified his name by the wonders wrought by Jesus; he would glorify it by his resurrection, his exaltation, the scenes of Pentecost, and the triumphs of the church.

John 14:27

An angel spake to him. All heard the sound of the divine voice, but it was not clear to all what it was.

John 14:28

This voice came not because of me. He had already won the victory before the voice came. It was rather to confirm the faith of his disciples, who still stumbled over the prospect of his death.

John 14:29

Now is the judgment of this world. “Now”, “this hour”, the “hour” referred to in John 12:23,27. This was the hour for which he had come into the world, the hour of the cross; that was to be the hour of judgment, the crisis, which should determine who should rule the world. The cross became a throne. It gave him the crown. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. The cross cast him out, dethroned him; he is now a usurper and shall finally be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).

John 14:30

If I shall be lifted up from the earth. Lifted up: (1) to the cross; (2) from the grave; (3) to heaven and the eternal throne.