John 14:31, commentary and pictures

Spoken alone with the eleven after Judas had left, Jesus declared that His obedience to the Father's command sprang from His love for the Father and was meant to show that love to the world. He did exactly what the Father directed, acting in partnership with Him with His eye single to the Father's glory and to the carrying out of the whole plan devised in heaven. He said this as the prince of this world was coming to tempt Him, yet finding nothing in Him that responded to evil, and His coming death would be the final evidence of that complete obedience. By laying aside His royal honor and offering Himself as a spotless sacrifice, He bridged the gulf sin had made and paid the ransom so that humanity might be united with divinity and receive life like the life of God. His perfect obedience is the model for believers, who are to keep God's commandments and abide in Christ's love as He kept the Father's commandments and abode in His love, working through love that purifies the soul.

Setting and Wording

John 14:31 was spoken as farewell words at the supper in the upper chamber, belonging with John 13:31-38 and John 14-17 whose opening comfort is Let not your heart be troubled. It was given after Judas had left, when Jesus was alone with the eleven and speaking of His approaching separation from them. He kept the great object of His mission ever before Him, and His joy was that all His humiliation and suffering would glorify the Father's name, and to this He first directed the thoughts of His disciples.

It belongs to Christ's words of comfort and encouragement to His disciples before the ordeal of His betrayal and death. It was spoken as words of courage and comfort near the close of His earthly ministry, when a cruel death was just before Him, and the chapter offers hope to believers. The lessons in John 14-17, including this verse, were part of His instruction before He left them, meant to keep His love before them and strengthen them to endure trials and temptations ahead without failing.

Jesus said it as the prince of this world was coming, who had nothing in Him. Nothing in Him responded to Satan's suggestions or gave Satan power over Him through the final, fierce temptation.

The closing command, Arise, let us go hence, ended His instruction in the upper chamber and called the disciples to arise and go with Him, words to be kept in mind and impressed on the heart. He then led them out through the city toward the Mount of Olives and on to Gethsemane. It was along a road He had often traveled in mercy and had recently taken amid the triumphal welcome of the crowds, and His command to arise and go marks the move toward His final sacrifice.

The verse belongs to His instruction as He prepared to leave the disciples, whose future work depended on divine power joined with human effort as they built their ministry on Christ and sought the power God provided.

Love Expressed in Obedience

Jesus obeyed the Father's commandment because He loved the Father, and He obeyed in order that the world might know that He loves the Father. His obedience makes that love known to the world. He spoke this as the prince of this world was coming, who had nothing in Him, and then called the disciples to arise and leave with Him. It belongs to teaching on faith and love and the competing claims of heaven and earth, standing against making the world all-absorbing, since love of the world displaces love for God.

He did exactly as the Father gave Him commandment. In every act He did as the Father would do, making God's ways known, and He acted in partnership with Him, so that their united work was made clear. All He did on earth was done with an eye single to the Father's glory, working out the Father's will in everything, so that His life was a manifestation of divine perfection. In everything He consulted the will of the eternal God and fulfilled His purposes, wishes, designs and whole plan devised in heaven. His words and acts carried out God's wishes and purposes.

When He finished one work of His mission He advanced to the next in obedience. The union of divinity with humanity in Him reveals God's purpose to bring man into the closest connection with Himself, without whom man cannot possibly be happy, and therefore He as Captain of salvation is to be looked to constantly. His divinity and humanity were united so He could reveal God's purpose and bring people into close union with God, and through faith in Him that union gives divine power to overcome the enemy. In carrying out the heavenly plan He paid the ransom for every son and daughter of Adam, laying aside His royal honor and clothing His divinity with humanity so that people might have life equal to the life of God and the mansions He went to prepare.

By that obedience He made known not only His own love but the Father's character, ways and will. His words and acts were the fulfillment of God's wishes and purposes, and by them He revealed the Father. That obedient life and work, given without reserve to reclaim the fallen race, was the manifestation of God's great love for human beings. It calls for heartfelt, earnest religion rather than formal religion, so that Christians may let their light shine to the world.

Mission Accomplished for Humanity

His death for the world was the final evidence of His complete obedience to the Father, done as the Father gave Him commandment because He loved the Father. Through the final, fierce conflict and temptation by Satan He had no sin and did not yield, retaliate, or depart from the Father's will. Nothing in Him responded to Satan's suggestions or gave Satan power over Him. In that obedience He offered Himself as a spotless, sinless sacrifice for fallen humanity and revealed God's love.

In doing so He paid the ransom for every son and daughter of Adam. He laid aside His royal honor and clothed His divinity with humanity so that people might have life equal to the life of God and the mansions He went to prepare. He came on the mission and command given Him by the Father to bridge the gulf that sin made between God and humanity. That mission made provision for reconciliation and for union of the human with the divine nature.

All He did on earth was done with an eye single to the Father's glory, doing exactly as the Father gave Him commandment and working out the Father's will in everything, so that His life was a manifestation of divine perfection. The union of divinity with humanity in Christ reveals God's purpose to bring man into the closest connection with Himself, without whom man cannot possibly be happy. Through faith in Christ that union sanctifies believers. In the gift of Christ God has provided every person divine power to overcome the enemy and evil.

Pattern for Believers

Christ's perfect obedience is the model set before believers, showing that living faith works through love and purifies the soul, and that to follow Christ means to obey God's Word and will. As learners in His school and guided by His Spirit, believers are to reflect His character because He obeyed the Father's commandment in every act, doing as the Father would do and making God's ways known. Following Jesus and receiving His Spirit enables them to represent Christ just as Christ represented the Father, acting as the Father directed Him.

Keeping the Father's commandments is how Christ abides in the Father's love, as explained by John 15:10, and believers are therefore to keep Christ's commandments and abide in His love. That keeping means implicit obedience to every requirement of the abiding law of God and of every requirement of God's Word and law. His obedience is likewise the pattern for faithful, obedient children and workers to persevere in the work God gives even when the field is difficult, unpromising and neglected. They are to work hard without failing or being discouraged, not to drop the hand from the plow, to be much in prayer, and to do the work successfully with Jesus, who will show how to work, advancing as He advanced from one finished work of His mission to the next in obedience after consulting the will of God and fulfilling His purpose and design. Those who have begun that work should not give it up.

Obedience to all of God's commandments is the Bible's test for those who have received the light of truth and the specialty of the teaching in John 14, whose keeping of the commandments Christ's obedience demonstrates. The chapter sets forth the conditions of acceptance with God, and compliance with the conditions of the Word brings acceptance with God that is to be believed whether feeling changes or not. Disregarding the convictions of the Holy Spirit that warn to obey is dangerous. The verse calls for heartfelt, earnest religion rather than formal religion so Christians can let their light shine to the world, since His obedience made the Father's character known to the world. It is part of the call to give oneself to God without reserve, for wholehearted service is pleasing to Him and He accepts those who give themselves to Him and is near to those who seek Him.

Study and Living Response

The verse plainly outlines God's will for those who minister in word and doctrine who are acquainted with present truth, showing the philosophy of genuine missionary work. God means just what He says in it. Ministers need to be converted in order to understand it, and it is their privilege to believe every verse in John 13-17 and to live them out before their fellow ministers.

John 13-17, together with John 6, is the plain statement of God's will for His people. It must be carefully studied and earnestly practiced by all who honor God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, and lived out in the practical life. The duties specified there by Christ as Substitute and Surety cannot be neglected, for doing them bears divine credentials to the world that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. That instruction is meant to cure dissension and seeking the highest place, and when lived out it produces unity with one another and with Christ, love, and strength to withstand Satan's assaults and to stand the test in the shaking time.

John 14-17 shows what God desires to do for the human race and the provision He has made. John 14 calls for renewed understanding through the Spirit of God. The chapter is of great consequence because it teaches the right kind of faith, faith that believes the promises of God are yea and Amen in Christ Jesus. That is the faith without which it is impossible to please God, to be cultivated under every circumstance and brought into practical life by believing that Christ is the only Saviour. The teaching stands against making the world all-absorbing, since love of the world displaces love for God, and it belongs to Jesus' teaching on faith and love and the competing claims of heaven and earth.

The verse belongs to Christ's teaching on the love of God which passes knowledge. It is joined to His promise that His going away is to prepare mansions and that He will come again and receive His people unto Himself that where He is they may be also. That promise gives ground to expect the soon coming of the Lord.