John 14:1-31

§ 127. JESUS COMFORTS HIS DISCIPLES, John 14:1-31 .

If, as some commentators suppose, the institution of the Lord’s Supper took place between John 13:35 and John 13:36, then the opening of this discourse has a degree of dependence on the warning just given to Peter. But if the institution of the Supper takes place at the close of the last chapter, the present chapter, at any rate, is a post-communion discourse. Though the variations of thought are so great, that we may, perhaps, properly recognize in it what Vinet calls a “divine disorder,” yet there is a clear succession of topics. In the present chapter we have, 1-14, the impending departure of Jesus, and in 15-31, the sending of the Comforter to supply his place. How far the whole is a single discourse, or is uttered in a single place, we may discuss at John 14:31.