John 14:11 Study Bible: Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me; or else believe because of the works themselves.

◄ John 14:11 ►

Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me--or at least believe on account of the works themselves.

Believe Me
The Greek word for "believe" is "pisteuō," which means to have faith or trust. In this context, Jesus is urging His disciples to have faith in His divine nature and unity with the Father. This call to belief is not just intellectual assent but a deep, personal trust in Jesus' identity and mission. Historically, this plea comes during the Last Supper, a time of intimate teaching and revelation, emphasizing the importance of faith in the face of impending trials.

that I am in the Father
The phrase "I am in the Father" speaks to the profound unity and relationship between Jesus and God the Father. The Greek preposition "en" (in) indicates a close, indwelling relationship. This concept is central to the doctrine of the Trinity, where Jesus is fully God, sharing the same essence as the Father. This unity is not merely functional but ontological, meaning it pertains to the very being and nature of Christ.

and the Father is in Me
This reciprocal indwelling highlights the mutual relationship between Jesus and the Father. The Father being "in" Jesus signifies that Jesus' actions, words, and works are direct manifestations of the Father's will and power. This mutual indwelling is a mystery that underscores the divine nature of Christ and His authority, as well as the perfect harmony within the Godhead.

or at least believe on account of the works themselves
Here, Jesus refers to His miracles and teachings as evidence of His divine authority and identity. The Greek word for "works" is "erga," which encompasses deeds, actions, and miracles. These works serve as tangible proof of Jesus' claims, providing a basis for belief even for those struggling to understand the deeper theological truths. Historically, Jesus' miracles were seen as signs pointing to His messianic identity, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies and demonstrating God's kingdom breaking into the world.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Jesus Christ
The central figure in this passage, Jesus is speaking to His disciples, affirming His divine unity with the Father.

2. The Father (God)
Refers to God the Father, with whom Jesus claims an intimate and unique relationship.

3. The Disciples
The immediate audience of Jesus' teaching, representing all believers who seek to understand His divine nature.

4. The Works
Refers to the miracles and teachings of Jesus, which serve as evidence of His divine authority and unity with the Father.

Teaching Points

Understanding Divine Unity
Jesus' statement emphasizes the profound unity between Him and the Father. Believers are called to deepen their understanding of this relationship, which is foundational to Christian faith.

Faith Based on Evidence
Jesus invites belief not only in His words but also in His works. This teaches us that faith can be supported by evidence of God's power and presence in our lives.

The Role of Miracles
The works of Jesus serve as a testament to His divine authority. Believers should recognize the purpose of miracles as signs pointing to the truth of Jesus' identity.

Trust in Jesus' Authority
By affirming His unity with the Father, Jesus assures us of His authority and reliability. This encourages believers to trust in His promises and teachings.

Living Out Faith
Understanding Jesus' divine nature should inspire believers to live out their faith with confidence, knowing they are following the true and living God.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does understanding the unity between Jesus and the Father impact your personal faith journey?

2. In what ways can you see the "works" of Jesus in your own life or the lives of others around you?

3. How do the miracles of Jesus serve as evidence of His divine nature, and how can this strengthen your faith?

4. What are some practical ways you can demonstrate trust in Jesus' authority in your daily life?

5. How can the understanding of Jesus as the exact representation of God influence your relationship with Him and others?

Connections to Other Scriptures

John 10:30
Jesus declares, "I and the Father are one," reinforcing the unity between Jesus and the Father.

Hebrews 1:3
Describes Jesus as the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, emphasizing His divine nature.

Colossians 1:15-20
Paul speaks of Christ as the image of the invisible God, further illustrating the concept of Jesus' divine identity and His role in creation and reconciliation.

John 5:36
Jesus refers to His works as a testimony to His divine mission, similar to the emphasis in John 14:11.

Sermons

The Miracles	E. N. Kirk, D. D.	John 14:11
The Reasonableness of the Evidence of Miracles	F. W. Robertson, M. A.	John 14:11
A Sight of God in Jesus Christ		John 14:8-11
God in Christ	D. Thomas, D. D.	John 14:8-11
Man's Cry and Christ's Response	D. Thomas, D. D.	John 14:8-11
Man's Deep Cry for the Paternal in Religion	J. S. Exell, M. A.	John 14:8-11
Show Us the Father	T. M. Eddy, D. D.	John 14:8-11
The Effect of Christ's Manifestation of the Father on History	Lord Macaulay., D. Thomas, D. D.	John 14:8-11
The Effect of Christ's Manifestation of the Father on Individuals		John 14:8-11
The Father Manifested in the Son	J. Benson.	John 14:8-11
The Heart Longs to Know God	Christian Union.	John 14:8-11
The Patient Master and the Slow Scholars	A. Maclaren, D. D.	John 14:8-11
The Revelation of the Fatherhood of God in Christ	J. C. Jones, D. D.	John 14:8-11
The Sufficiency of Christ's Revelation of the Father	J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.	John 14:8-11
The True Vision of the Father	A. Maclaren, D. D.	John 14:8-11
The Vision of God	H. Allon, D. D.	John 14:8-11

People

Jesus, Judas, Philip, Thomas

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Believe, Evidence, Faith, Least, Miracles, Otherwise, Rate, Sake, Themselves, Works

Dictionary of Bible Themes

John 14:11

     1416   miracles, nature of
     2078   Christ, sonship of
     2351   Christ, miracles
     5624   witnesses, to Christ
     8025   faith, origins of
     8105   assurance, basis of
     8402   claims
     8724   doubt, dealing with
     8837   unbelief, and life of faith

John 14:6-11

5030 knowledge, of Christ
8112 certainty

John 14:6-14

2363 Christ, preaching and teaching

John 14:8-11

2425 gospel, requirements
8023 faith, necessity

John 14:9-11

     1035   God, faithfulness
     1511   Trinity, relationships in
     2018   Christ, divinity
     2218   Christ, Son of God
     5037   mind, of Christ

John 14:10-11

2054 Christ, mind of
5895 intimacy

John 14:10-24

5627 word

Library

Paul a Pattern of Prayer
TEXT: "If ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it."--John 14:14. Jesus testified in no uncertain way concerning prayer, for not alone in this chapter does he speak but in all his messages to his disciples he is seeking to lead them into the place where they may know how to pray. In this fourteenth chapter of John, where he is coming into the shadow of the cross and is speaking to his disciples concerning those things which ought to have the greatest weight with them, the heart of his message …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

May 22 Evening
The Spirit helpeth our infirmities.--ROM. 8:26. The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.--What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?--It is God which worketh in you. We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which can not be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 7 Morning
The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name.--JOHN 14:26. If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.--If ye . . . being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?--Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 22 Morning
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.--JOHN 14:27. The world passeth away, and the lust thereof.--Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches. and knoweth not who shall gather them.--What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. Martha, Martha, thou are careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 14 Morning
My Father is greater than I.--JOHN 14:28. When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven.--My Father, and your Father; . . . my God and your God. As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.--The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.--Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Lord, shew us …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 13 Morning
He hath prepared for them a city.--HEB. 11:16. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.--An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.--Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.--Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 26 Evening
He is able . . . to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.--HEB. 7:25. I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.--Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.--He which hath begun a good work …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 23 Morning
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth.--JOHN 14:16,17. It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if l depart, I will send him unto you. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.--Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.--The Spirit . . . helpeth our infirmities; …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 21 Evening
The communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.--II COR. 13:14. I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.--He shall not speak of himself. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 29. "He Dwelleth with You and Shall be in You" (John xiv. 17).
"He dwelleth with you and shall be in you" (John xiv. 17). Do not fail to mark these two stages in Christian life. The one is the Spirit's work in us, the other is the Spirit's personal coming to abide within us. All true Christians know the first, but few, it is to be feared, understand and receive the second. There is a great difference between my building a house and my going to reside in that house and make it my home. And there is a great difference between the Holy Spirit's work in regenerating …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

November 9. "Because I Live Ye Shall Live Also" (John xiv. 19).
"Because I live ye shall live also" (John xiv. 19). After having become adjusted to our Living Head and the source of our life, now our business is to abide, absorb and grow, leaning on His strength, drinking in His life, feeding on Him as the Living Bread, and drawing all of our resources from Him in continual dependence and communion. The Holy Spirit will be the great Teacher and Minister in this blessed process. He will take of the things of Christ and show them unto us, and He will impart them …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

May 21. "We Will Come unto Him and Make Our Abode with Him" (John xiv. 23).
"We will come unto Him and make our abode with Him" (John xiv. 23). The Bible has always held out two great promises respecting Christ. First, I will come to you; and, second, I will come into you. For four thousand years the world looked forward to the fulfilment of the first. The other is the secret which Paul says has been hid from ages and generations, but is now made manifest to His saints, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is just as great a revelation of God as the incarnation …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

November 1. "We Will Come unto Him and Make Our Abode with Him" (John xiv. 23).
"We will come unto him and make our abode with him" (John xiv. 23). This idea of trying to get a holiness of your own, and then have Christ reward you for it, is not His teaching. Oh, no; Christ is the holiness; He will bring the holiness, and come and dwell in the heart forever. When one of our millionaires purchases a lot, with an old shanty on it, he does not fix up the old shanty, but he gets a second-hand man, if he will have it, to tear it down, and he puts a mansion in its place. It is not …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

May 3. "My Peace I Give unto You" (John xiv. 27).
"My peace I give unto you" (John xiv. 27). Here lies the secret of abiding peace--God's peace. We give ourselves to God and the Holy Spirit takes possession of our breast. It is indeed "Peace, Peace." But it is just then that the devil begins to turn us away, and he does it through our thoughts, diverting or distracting them as occasion requires. This is the time to prove the sincerity of our consecration and the singleness of our heart. If we truly desire His Presence more than all else, we will …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Faith in God and Christ
'Let not your heart be troubled ... believe in God, believe also in Me.'--JOHN xiv. 1. The twelve were sitting in the upper chamber, stupefied with the dreary, half-understood prospect of Christ's departure. He, forgetting His own burden, turns to comfort and encourage them. These sweet and great words most singularly blend gentleness and dignity. Who can reproduce the cadence of soothing tenderness, soft as a mother's hand, in that 'Let not your heart be troubled'? And who can fail to feel the tone …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Many Mansions'
'In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.'--JOHN xiv. 2. Sorrow needs simple words for its consolation; and simple words are the best clothing for the largest truths. These eleven poor men were crushed and desolate at the thought of Christ's going; they fancied that if He left them they lost Him. And so, in simple, childlike words, which the weakest could grasp, and in which the most troubled could find peace, He said to them, after having encouraged their …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Peace
'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.'--JOHN xiv. 27. 'Peace be unto you!' was, and is, the common Eastern salutation, both in meeting and in parting. It carries us back to a state of society in which every stranger might be an enemy. It is a confession of the deep unrest of the human heart. Christ was about closing His discourse, and the common word of leave-taking came naturally to His …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Love and Obedience
'If ye love Me, keep My commandments.'--JOHN xiv, 15. As we have seen in former sermons, the keyword of the preceding context is 'Believe!' and that word passes now into 'Love.' The order here is the order of experience. There is first the believing gaze upon the Christ as He is revealed--the image of the invisible God. That kindles love, and prompts to obedience. There is another very beautiful and subtle link of connection between these words and the preceding. Our Lord has just been saying, 'Whatsoever …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Works and Ours
'Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father. 13. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14. If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it.'--JOHN xiv. 12-14. I have already pointed out in a previous sermon that the key-word of this context is 'Believe!' In three successive verses we find it, each time widening …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Comforter Given
And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.'--JOHN xiv. 16,17. The 'and' at the beginning of these words shows us that they are continuous with and the consequence of what precedes. 'If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments, and I will pray ... and He will …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Absent Present Christ
'I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also.'--JOHN xiv. 18,19. The sweet and gracious comfortings with which Christ had been soothing the disciples' fears went very deep, but hitherto they had not gone deep enough. It was much that they should know the purpose of His going, whither He went, and that they had an interest in His departure. It was much that they should have before them the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Forerunner
'... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.'--JOHN xiv. 2, 3. What divine simplicity and depth are in these words! They carry us up into the unseen world, and beyond time; and yet a little child can lay hold on them, and mourning hearts and dying men find peace and sweetness in them. A very familiar image underlies them. It was customary for travellers in those old days to send …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gifts of the Present Christ
'At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.'--JOHN xiv. 20, 21. We have heard our Lord in the previous verse unveiling His deepest and strongest encouragements to His downcast followers. These were: His presence with them, their true sight of Him, and their participation in His life. The …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Who Bring Christ
'Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not, keepeth not My sayings: and the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me.'--JOHN xiv. 22-24. This Judas held but a low place amongst the Apostles. In all the lists he is one of the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

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