John 14:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

NIV: Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

NASB: Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works.

CSB: Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works.

NLT: Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.

KJV: Believest 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.

NKJV: Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

These two verses echo remarks Jesus once made to His critics (John 5:30–40). There, Jesus pointed to human testimony, evidence of miracles, and the written Scripture as proof that His claims were true. In response to Philip's confusion about "seeing" God (John 14:8), Jesus remarked that to see Him is to see God. He now expands on that idea by listing reasons why others should accept the idea that Jesus is God (John 10:30).

First is the idea of God being "in" Jesus. In this context, the meaning is that of character—in other words, Jesus acts perfectly according to the will of God (John 8:18; Hebrews 1:3). Nothing Jesus says or does contradicts the idea that He is God (John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15), and His actions confirm that He is acting according to the Father's will (John 9:4). For the disciples, this ought to be an obvious point, which is why Jesus again poses a rhetorical question.

The second point Jesus makes is that of His words: what He says are the statements of God (John 7:16; 12:49–50). As with His actions, Jesus' speech only further supports that what He says is true (Mark 1:22).

The third piece of evidence are the "works" of God, by which Jesus partly means miracles (John 5:36). That idea will be expanded in the next verse. This reference to "works" also connects to the idea of other, more mundane actions. Supernatural or natural, everything Jesus does is consistent with the nature of God.

Another concept expanded in verse 11 is the scope of who ought to "believe" in Christ. In this verse, Jesus' question "Do you not believe" here is the Greek singular. His references to "believe" in the following verse are in the Greek plural, implying "you all" ought to believe.

John 14:1–14 continues Jesus' discourse with the disciples at the last supper. He has recently mentioned a traitor in their midst and predicted Peter's denials. That leads Jesus to reassure these men—reminding them that He has told them the truth and has all things in hand. In this passage, Christ famously refers to Himself as ''the way, and the truth, and the life.'' That is the sixth of seven such ''I Am'' statements included in John's gospel. This section includes Jesus' words, personal experience, and evidence of His miracles as reasons to maintain trust.

Christ reassures His followers that faith in Him is faith in God. To know Christ is to know ''the way, and the truth, and the life'' (John 14:6). The words, actions, and miracles of Jesus should give Christians confidence to trust that He will make good on His promises. Among those are His guarantee that He is preparing to come for us, so we can be where He is. Jesus also predicts the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is only available to believers, and this Helper acts to guide, teach, and remind us. Both for the disciples, and for future Christians, these words are meant to be comforting during hard times. Since Christ knew, in advance, what would happen, we can be even more confident to trust Him.

After completing His public ministry in Jerusalem (John 12:36–38), Jesus has washed the feet of the disciples (John 13:3–5), predicted His betrayal (John 13:21), and foreseen Peter's denial (John 13:37–38). Chapter 14 begins a series of remarks meant to encourage the disciples, in the face of dire warnings. Among these are reminders that Jesus is planning to bring them to be where He is, assurance that He is ''the way,'' and the first explicit promises of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Chapter 15 will continue this address, beginning with Jesus' claim to be ''the true vine.''

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.