John 14:28
Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
Spoken to the eleven alone in the upper chamber just before his death to comfort their troubled hearts, Jesus told them he was going away to his home with the Father in heaven and would come again to them, and that if they loved him they would rejoice at his going to the Father because the Father is greater than he in that going and return. He told it beforehand so that when his going and return came to pass through death and resurrection they would believe and be prepared rather than left in ignorance and hopeless discouragement. His departure was not defeat or loss to be mourned, but greater good to be rejoiced in, because by it he answered the claims of the law as a perfect offering and secured salvation, and ascended he continues the work of atonement as Advocate and Intercessor with the Father. By going away he secured the sending of another Comforter, the Holy Spirit to represent him and remain forever, so that believers are not left orphans or unaided but have him in their hearts and the Father beside them as a friend. It belongs to his gift of his own peace to keep hearts from trouble and fear, calling for cheerful, grateful faith in his promises that brings courage, unity, and strength to stand fast to the end.
Words and Setting
Jesus spoke these words in the upper chamber to the eleven alone after Judas had left, while still present with them just before a cruel death lay before him. They open his farewell teaching in John 13 through 17, beginning with comfort for troubled hearts, and belong to his teaching connected with his ascension. He told beforehand of his going to the Father and his return so that when it came to pass they would believe.
He spoke knowing the terrible ordeal awaiting him and the trials that would come to his church through unconverted believers. He knew his followers would soon no longer have him visibly guiding them, so their future ministry would have to depend on divine power and be built upon Christ. Yet his thoughts were not of himself but to comfort the disciples and strengthen their faith and courage to endure without failing. His words were so simple that all, even children, may understand them, yet they were contrary to the wishes and desires of the disciples, who could not comprehend a beloved Teacher betrayed, scourged, and delivered up to death.
He said he goes away to the Father in heaven, to his home in the heavenly courts, and will come again to his followers. They should rejoice because he was going to the Father, and not mourn, for he had told them he would come again. The Father is greater than he is in the relation described here as he returns to the Father, and Father and Son work in partnership.
He told what would happen before it happened so that its fulfillment would strengthen belief, sustaining faith through his death and resurrection. Remembering his promises of peace, his return, and a place for them would bring hope and light instead of hopeless discouragement and despair. His words are to be read, kept in mind, and impressed upon the heart, assuring the disciples they would not be left in ignorance of his purposes and plans and preparing and strengthening them for the trials and temptations ahead.
His call to rejoice at going to the Father came when the time had come for Satan's last attempt to overcome him. What looked like a victory for the prince of this world was in fact the way he opened to God's throne by carrying out the Father's plan, and he could rejoice because his suffering carried out that plan. His declaration that the prince of this world has nothing in him means he has no sin bringing him into Satan's power and nothing responding to Satan's suggestions, which no one else offering his life as a sinless sacrifice for a sinful race could say. His doing as the Father commanded shows his love for the Father.
Though by a word he could have mastered Satan, he lived the law of God through childhood, youth, and manhood under the same temptations that afflict humanity, enduring every test and provocation possible for man to bear without yielding in word, spirit, or action, without provocation, passion, or retaliation, bearing the fierce temptations in the test Adam failed to endure. This flawless character with no guile qualifies him as the living spotless sacrifice symbolized by the red heifer without blemish, the Bright and Morning Star, the light and life of the world. His joy was that all his humiliation and suffering would glorify the Father's name, first pointing the disciples' thoughts to the great object of his mission.
Promise and Application
If love for him were perfect, his going to the Father would be cause for rejoicing rather than for grieving, mourning or despair. That departure is not defeat or disappointment, and losing his visible presence is not joyful in itself but is outweighed by greater good, since he had said beforehand that he would come again. The Father would stand beside his followers as a friend while he himself would speak to the Father on their behalf. He would remain in the hearts of his followers so they would not be left unaided, and their relation to him would continue as that of children to a parent, pointing to eternal life for those who believe in him.
His going away secures the sending of another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who represents him and abides with believers forever. That gift makes up for the loss of his visible presence and is the equivalent for it, so that he himself remains present and his followers are not left orphans. This assurance was given to the disciples to be given to all who would believe in him through the end of earth's history to the close of this earth's history. The disciples could rejoice because his departure meant salvation had been secured, having answered the claims of the law and become a perfect offering for humanity. Ascended to heaven he continues there the work of atonement begun on earth as humanity's Advocate and Intercessor with the Father.
The verse belongs to his gift of his own peace, not as the world gives, to keep hearts from trouble, heaviness and fear. Together with his promises of peace, his return and a place for them, it was spoken beforehand so that when it came to pass they might believe, strengthening their faith through his death and resurrection and bringing hope and light instead of hopeless discouragement and despair. It is among his words of courage and hope near the end of his earthly ministry when a cruel death lay just before him, intended to comfort hearts and to give encouragement and hope that imparts strength, assurance and courage to stand fast in the most trying hour for the true believer as long as time lasts. The verse is one of the promises of God in John 14 that calls for faith, and that faith is to be exercised with cheerfulness and gratitude. It requires the right kind of faith that believes God's promises which are yea and Amen in Christ under every circumstance, brings faith into practical life, pleases God, and believes Christ is the only Saviour.
With John 13 through 17 and with John 6 it needs careful study and earnest practice by all who honor God, holding duties specified by the Substitute and Surety that must not be neglected and that bear witness that God gave his Son for everlasting life. That plainly expressed will, lived out in practical life, cures dissension and seeking the highest place, brings unity with one another and with Christ and love that withstands Satan's assaults, heals spiritual sickness, and enables standing the test in the shaking time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken. His words about going to the Father express God's love for fallen humanity and help reveal its depth. They provide a measure by which people can examine and recognize the sincerity of their love for Christ, for contemplating his suffering makes the effects of sin clearer and God's love more impressive, and the cross displays that love with compelling power.