John 14:29 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.

NIV: I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.

NASB: And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.

CSB: I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe.

NLT: I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.

KJV: And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

NKJV: “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.

Teachers know that repetition is an important part of the learning process. Students don't always listen. The message must be repeated to make sure it's heard at least once. In other cases, repetition serves as emphasis; hearing a theme over and over demonstrates its importance. In this discourse, Jesus has frequently said His words are meant to prepare the disciples to maintain faith when tested (John 13:19; 14:25–26). It's a point He'll continue to stress in upcoming verses (John 15:11, 20; 16:1, 4, 33).

These statements will accomplish two things for the disciples, and for all believers. In the short term, the disciples will come to realize that everything happening was known, in advance, by Jesus. The fact that He accurately predicts these events is proof that His message is true. That, in turn, leads to confidence in His other predictions. We can trust that Christ's words are true because we've already seen Him verified. This is the essence of biblical faith: trust based on prior experience (Hebrews 11:1–2). Seeing God's promises fulfilled deepens our understanding (John 12:16) and gives us strength to endure hard times (John 16:33).

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.