John 14:23 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

NIV: Jesus replied, 'Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

NASB: Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.

CSB: Jesus answered, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

NLT: Jesus replied, 'All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.

KJV: Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

NKJV: Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

One of the disciples has asked Jesus what it means that He will "manifest" to them, and not to the world (John 14:22). Prior to this, Jesus had mentioned how the world would no longer see Him (John 14:19–21). In that statement, Jesus tied together the ideas of love and obedience. His essential statement was that those who love Christ obey Christ (John 14:15).

Here, Jesus repeats that idea, specifically as an answer to the question asked in the prior verse. Believers love Christ, and have the Holy Spirit, therefore they follow His commands (John 14:16–18). This is what allows them to "see" God, and to know Christ (John 14:19–21). Deeper love for Christ opens us to deeper understanding of Him and His will (John 14:28).

This verse deepens the idea of the Holy Spirit "living inside" someone. It also reiterates the idea of the Trinity: that God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are equally God and identical in nature. This follows earlier statements where Jesus claimed to be "the" truth (John 14:6), and referred to the Holy Spirit as the "Spirit of truth" (John 14:17). He also claimed that to see Him was to see God (John 14:9) and that He and the Father were united (John 14:11). In this statement, Jesus explicitly says "we will come…make our home" within a believer. This also echoes the idea of God as three persons in a single being.

Jesus includes a word translated as "home," which is the same word used in John 14:2, referring to "dwelling places" or "rooms."

John 14:15–31 contains a prediction about the Holy Spirit. Jesus refers to this as the Spirit of Truth, and promises that the Spirit will arrive to help the disciples carry on after Jesus is ascended to heaven. Throughout this section, a person's love for Christ, their obedience to His teachings, and the indwelling of the Spirit are intertwined. As in prior statements, Jesus is focused on comfort and encouragement. He will continue to highlight the need to maintain faith, based on all He has said and done so far. Later, after advance warnings about what Christians will face, Jesus will return to describing the work and purpose of the Holy Spirit under the new covenant.

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.