Kathleen Rushton writes about significant aspects of Jesus's last discourse for a troubled community.

Neil Darragh highlighted how the two themes of becoming “Pilgrims of Hope” (Holy Year) and “walking together” (synodality) challenge our way of being disciples at this time in our history (TM March 2025). He said the themes “lead us down deeper into the currents of society and church” and might be just what we need to focus our discipleship in the world. I think that John 14:23-29 will also focus us on deeper currents as we journey through this Easter Season to Pentecost.

Farewell Discourse

After Judas left the supper, a new atmosphere fell among those gathered as Jesus began his discourse (Jn 13:31–16:33). Early Christians would have recognised the genre as a farewell address by a well-known leader about to die, in which he expressed concern for the well-being of the group and for individuals after his death. In his farewell address, Jesus followed this pattern. He stressed that relationships were to continue, and that although good things would happen there would also be hard times ahead. And he encouraged his followers to practise all he had taught them.

A Dangerous World for Believers

The evangelist is not just recording what happened at the supper in Jerusalem in the month of Nisan in the early 30s CE. He is telling the story of the life and death-resurrection of Jesus and its significance for a community in another time and place — most likely the community in the Roman city of Ephesus in the early 90s. That community lived in troubled times. Many Palestinian Jews, displaced and exiled when the Romans destroyed their temple in Jerusalem and the city in 70 CE, were living in poverty. Their identity and religion had been bound closely to the Temple and its cult at a deep level, and they were adapting to their new reality.

The social context of the Mediterranean, ruled by Rome, was more complex than the tensions between Jews and Christians. Many Christians suffered for their belief in Jesus. As Sjef van Tilborg wrote: “readers of the Johannine story enter into a dangerous world” where they needed to confront city life daily committed to Jewish-Christian values within their multicultural and cosmopolitan world.

Troubled

John 14 begins and ends the discourse with: “Let not your hearts be troubled (tarassō)” (Jn 14:1; 14:27). In between this advice is a familiar Johannine textual pattern. Jesus makes a statement which provokes misunderstanding, then someone asks him a question or makes a statement and Jesus elucidates further. In this section three disciples, Thomas (Jn 14:5), Philip (Jn 14:8) and Judas (not Iscariot) (Jn 14:22), ask Jesus a question and he responds to each question in Jn 14:23-31.

The word tarassō is used in John to refer to the state of trouble because of the approach of death. The man waits to enter the pool when “the water is stirred up” (Jn 5:7). Jesus “was greatly troubled in spirit and deeply moved” by the death of his friend Lazarus (Jn 11:33). When speaking about his own death, Jesus said “my soul is troubled” (Jn 12:27). After foretelling his betrayal, Jesus “was troubled in spirit” (Jn 13:21). Jesus, in his humanity, experienced what he knows his disciples are feeling about the hard times ahead.

Network of Relationships

John’s Gospel portrays a web of close relationships: God to Jesus and Jesus to God; Jesus and the Holy Spirit; God to the world; Jesus to disciples and disciples to Jesus; Jesus and disciples to the world; disciples among themselves; and the relationships between groups in God’s new family. These relationships are expressed in many ways which include “abiding”, “believing” and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

“Abide”

Jesus assures his discples that if they love him and keep his word, “we [Jesus and the Father] will come to them and make our home (mone) with them” (Jn 14:23). Jesus uses the word mone “home” earlier when he declares: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places (mone)” (Jn 14:2). This noun comes from the verb “to abide” (menein) which is found 40 times in John and is translated as stay, continue, remain, endure, live or dwell. But those translations obscure the power of the poetic image of “abiding”.

“Abiding” suggests a community interrelated, mutual and indwelling. Jesus speaks of “the Father who dwells (menein) in me” (Jn 14:10). Later, he assures his disciples that the Spirit of Truth “abides (menein) with you” (Jn 14:18). Jesus stresses that he is saying “these things to you while I am still (menein) with you” and he speaks of the coming of the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:25).

Here we find Jesus speaking of his relationship not only with the Father but also with the Advocate to come. That Jesus knows hard times are ahead reminds the disciples they will always have the community of God with them. Throughout John we find references to the relationship of God within Godself. Later in 325 CE at the Council of Nicaea, the Church proclaimed the concept of the Trinity — a single God manifested in three co-eternal persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This year we celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of that Council.

“You may believe”

Jesus warned of hard times to come so that “when it does occur, you may believe (pisteuein)” (Jn 14:26). Although faith and belief permeate John’s Gospel, those nouns themselves do not occur in the text because Johannine faith is about action. In the Middle East at the time, the words faith, belief, fidelity and faithfulness named relationships which bound one person to another. They were expressed in action and revealed the authenticity of the sentiments in a person’s heart.

Holy Spirit

Several times in his discourse, Jesus refers to going away and leaving the disciples. But he assures the disciples that they will not be alone because he will ask the Father to give them another Advocate, the Holy Spirit of Truth (Jn 14:16–17, 25–26). After his leaving, people will come into his new family, his home, because the works of God will continue both “through the Holy Spirit” and “through the work of the disciples”.

Our Work as Pilgrims

As we work as pilgrims of hope, actively bound to one another in these times of world chaos, we might take Jesus’s words to heart: “Let not your heart be troubled.” We can walk together in the faith legacy of the teachings of 1,700 years of the Council of Nicaea; 60 years of Vatican Council II and 10 years of Laudato Si’, conscious of the “not yet” and of our contribution for co-creating God’s home among us in the world.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 303 May 2025: 24-25