FAREWELL DISCOURSE TO DISCIPLES
(Jerusalem. Evening before the crucifixion.)
JOHN 14―16
Context: Jesus is about to leave his disciples physically, headed to the cross. He has just openly acknowledged that one of them, Judas, will betray him. He's told Peter he will betray him three times before morning. What began as a celebratory occasion (the Last Supper) was headed toward uncertainty and chaos. It was the "bad news" phone call no one wishes to receive. Jesus' words in light of it all "trust in God,and trust also in me." John 14:1 NLT
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me." John 14:1 ESV
"How Christ took notice of it. Perhaps it was apparent in their looks; it was said (Joh_13:22), They looked one upon another with anxiety and concern, and Christ looked upon them all, and observed it; at least, it was intelligible to the Lord Jesus, who is acquainted with all our secret undiscovered sorrows, with the wound that bleeds inwardly; he knows not only how we are afflicted, but how we stand affected under our afflictions, and how near they lie to our hearts; he takes cognizance of all the trouble which his people are at any time in danger of being overwhelmed with; he knows our souls in adversity. Many things concurred to trouble the disciples now." -Matthew Henry
"Here in John 14, in the midst of His Upper Room discourse, Jesus knew the hour of great difficulty was upon Him. Yet notice how He ministers to those around Him…
Even in the hour of His own temptation and struggle, Jesus looked at His disciples with compassion. What a model for you and me. What an example for what we deal with daily. What a comfort to know that Jesus looks on me—dirty feet and all—and His heart is full of compassion toward me.
Belief being the singular key to a trouble-free heart, Jesus goes on to give the disciples five reasons why they shouldn't be troubled—and why we shouldn't be troubled when things seem to be falling down around us…" -Jon Courson
"What is before the Lord’s mind here, then, is not how he himself would cope with the cross, but how his confused and bewildered disciples would cope. It is the trouble in their minds that troubles him, and he addresses it not only with soothing words, but with powerful arguments — arguments they must remember when they see him hanging on the cross, and which we, too, must remember when God leads us where we cannot cope and cannot understand.
They had to trust God even when they couldn’t see his reasons; and we can be sure that the arguments Jesus presented to the disciples were the very arguments he presented to himself. He, too, “the man, Christ Jesus,” had to trust God, laying down his life (to all human appearance an unfinished life), risking all on the “sure and certain hope of the resurrection.” -Donald Macleod, Desiring God.org
My thoughts: I like the way all three commentators flesh out the context and broader picture here. His concern was his audience. Jesus was a master at reading his audience; omniscient, he had access to all the thoughts of men's minds. His thoughts are laser focused on his disciples here, on what they must soon endure, on preparing them for this shift in focus and fulfillment.
"The thought seems to be: “I am going away, and you will not be able to see Me. But let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, and yet you do not see Him. Now believe in Me in the same way.” Here is another important claim to equality with God." -Believer's Bible
The "let not your hearts be troubled" intrigues me. What are the original nuances of this phrase?
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From Strong's:
heart = καρδία = kardia
kar-dee'-ah
Prolonged from a primary κάρ kar (Latin cor, “heart”); the heart, that is, (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind); also (by analogy) the middle: - (+ broken-) heart (-ed). Total KJV occurrences: 160
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From Vincent's Word Studies:
Heart (καρδία)
Never used in the New Testament, as in the Septuagint, of the mere physical organ, though sometimes of the vigor and sense of physical life (Act_14:17; Jas_5:5; Luk_21:34). Generally, the center of our complex being - physical, moral, spiritual, and intellectual. See on Mar_12:30. The immediate organ by which man lives his personal life, and where that entire personal life concentrates itself. It is thus used sometimes as parallel to ψυχή, the individual life, and to πνεῦμα the principle of life, which manifests itself in the ψυχή. Strictly, καρδία is the immediate organ of ψυχή, occupying a mediating position between it and πνεῦμα. In the heart (καρδία) the spirit (πνεῦμα), which is the distinctive principle of the life or soul (ψυχή), has the seat of its activity.
Emotions of joy or sorrow are thus ascribed both to the heart and to the soul. Compare Joh_14:27, “Let not your heart (καρδιά) be troubled;” and Joh_12:27, “Now is my soul (ψυχή) troubled.” The heart is the focus of the religious life (Mat_22:37; Luk_6:45; 2Ti_2:22). It is the sphere of the operation of grace (Mat_13:19; Luk_8:15; Luk_24:32; Act_2:37; Rom_10:9, Rom_10:10). Also of the opposite principle (Joh_13:2; Act_5:3). Used also as the seat of the understanding; the faculty of intelligence as applied to divine things (Mat_13:15; Rom_1:21; Mar_8:17).
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My reflections: Thinking through the definitions above
1) The heart is the center of our spirit, Vincent's Word Studies boils this down to "the focus of the religious life."
2) The heart is where our will and choice reside for better or worse? Is this ethos? Not in our intellect/mind--is that pathos? What and where exactly is our intellect/mind/reasoning in the process? What is the relationship between the spirit/soul and the mind/intellect and the moral will?
Rhetorically speaking: Is the heart pathos? From above:
"Emotions of joy or sorrow are thus ascribed both to the heart and to the soul." -VWS
3) The heart and soul have pathos.
4) Vincent's describes the heart as "the sphere of the operation of grace."
5) And Vincent's says it is "the seat of understanding, the faculty of intelligence."
All of this and I still can't fathom precisely what constitutes the heart primarily and secondarily. It seems a catch all for all three: logos (intellect), ethos (soul), and feelings (pathos).
Used in the same or different sense here?
Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Jesus warned repeatedly not to let anxiety weigh our hearts down....cares, worries...
Be troubled = ταράσσω = tarassō
tar-as'-so
Of uncertain affinity; to stir or agitate (roil water): - trouble. Total KJV occurrences: 17
Another translation:
"Don't let yourselves be disturbed. Trust in God and trust in me." John 14:1 CJB
And later in this chapter:
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid." John 14:27 NLT
On "trouble"
"The "trouble" from which that one heart of theirs is breaking is not the mere sentimental sorrow of parting with a friend, but the perplexity arising from distracting cares and conflicting passions. The work of love and sacrifice means trouble that nothing but supernatural aid and Divine strength can touch. The heartache of those who are wakened up to any due sense of the eternal is one that nothing but the hand that moves all things can soothe or remedy. Faith in the absolute goodness of God can alone sustain the mind in these deep places of fear, and under the shadow of death." -Pulpit Commentary
gift" of peace.
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