CHAPTER FIVE

THE TRUTH OF THE MYSTERY 
IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
(2)

THE COINHERENCE OF 
THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE SPIRIT

On the surface John 14:16-20, 23, and 26 seem to be easy to understand, but actually these verses contain a very critical truth. These few verses give us a clear revelation concerning the three of the Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, showing that the three coinhere and are inseparable.

In John 14:10 the Lord said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me,” indicating that He and the Father coinhere. However, in verse 16a He said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter,” seeming to imply that He was one person and the Father was another person. This is difficult to understand. First He said that He was in the Father and the Father was in Him, and then He said that He would “ask the Father.” What did He mean? How would He ask the Father? Is it that He as the Son who is in the Father would ask the Father? Or is it that He as the Son would ask the Father who is in the Son? This is really difficult to explain and not so easy to understand. How can the Son ask someone a question if that One is in Him and He is in that One? Since the two—the Son and the Father—were already mingled as one, how could the Son ask the Father a question? From this we see that the Son and the Father are two yet one, one yet two.

“Another Comforter”

In verse 16b the Lord went on to say, “And He will give you another Comforter.” Since there would be another Comforter, this means that the Lord Himself, who was with the disciples at that time, was the first Comforter. Are there then two Comforters? Verse 17 says that the other Comforter is “the Spirit of reality, whom the [376] world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.” The “Him” referred to in this verse was “another Comforter,” while the Lord who spoke this word was the first Comforter, and the One who would abide with the disciples and would be in them was referred to as “Him”—another Comforter. But verse 18 then says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” Here I would ask, When the Lord said that He was coming to His disciples, what did He mean by “coming”? Was He referring to His second coming? If this was the case, then He would be leaving them as orphans. But if so, how could He say that He would not leave them as orphans and that He was coming to them? What does this “coming” refer to?

In the beginning of chapter 14 the Lord Jesus told the disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you” (v. 2b). This going refers to the Lord’s going through death. This is why the disciples were sorrowful when they heard this. Due to their sorrow, the Lord spoke a word to comfort them. In verse 18 the Lord seemed to be saying, “Do not be sorrowful, because soon after I go, I will come back. If I went and did not come back, I would be leaving you as orphans. However, I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” Many teachers in Christianity think that the “coming” in verse 18 refers to the second coming of the Lord. This would mean that at least two thousand years after His going away, He has still not come back, and we are still waiting. According to this interpretation, the Lord Jesus has in fact left those who have believed into Him as orphans. This understanding does not match what the Lord meant in these verses.

The World Beholding Him No Longer, 
but Those Who Believe into Him Beholding Him

In verse 19a the Lord explained, saying, “Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer.” A little while indicates that the Lord’s coming mentioned in verse 18 could not be two thousand years later and therefore does not refer to His second coming. The world beholds Me no longer implies that He would become invisible, that He would be transfigured. When He was on earth, He was visible to people; regardless of whether they believed in Him or not, whether they approved of Him or opposed Him, all could behold Him. Yet in a little while He would be transfigured and would become invisible to the world. However, verse 19b says, “But you behold Me; because [377] I live, you also shall live.” This is very wonderful. Why is it that the world could behold Him no longer, but those who believe into Him could behold Him? It is because He lives, and therefore all those who believe into Him also will live.

The phrase because I live, you also shall live means that the Lord lives with us and we with Him. We can see from the New Testament revelation that I live refers to the Lord’s living in us, and you also shall live refers to our living in the Lord. This matches what Paul said: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Today Christ is living in us, and we are living in Him. The world beholds Him no longer, but we behold Him, because He lives with us; not only so, He lives in us, and we live in Him. Although people cannot see Him without, we can see Him within.

His Coming in Resurrection

John 14:19 implies that the Lord’s coming would be in resurrection. If He did not come in resurrection, how could He live in us? Moreover, the Lord’s going was His going through death. Since He had gone and had died, how could He still live? This proves that verse 19 implies resurrection. It is true that He went and died, but He was resurrected and could therefore come and live. For that reason we know that His “coming” refers to His coming in resurrection.

According to this, “a little while” was actually less than three days. After He spoke this word, He was betrayed, arrested, and judged. On the same day He was crucified, and six hours later He expired. That was almost the end of the day, so it is also counted as one day. He stayed in the tomb for a little over twenty-four hours and was resurrected early in the morning of the third day. So if we add the few hours before and after, He went away for probably only a little over thirty hours. Then in the evening of the day of resurrection He came back. This may be likened to a mother who is about to leave home; in order to make her children feel at peace, she tells them that she will not leave them as orphans but will only be gone for a little while and will come back right away. In the same way the Lord came back after being gone for only “a little while,” for only around thirty hours.

According to the calendar of the Jews, a day began at six o’clock in the evening and lasted until six o’clock in the evening of the next day. The Lord spoke the words in John 14 through 16 to His disciples [378] during the evening of the Feast of the Passover. Afterward, deep in the night He went to the Garden of Gethsemane. There He was betrayed, arrested, and brought to be judged by the high priest through the night. After being judged, He was sent to Pilate; at that time it was already early morning (18:28). When Pilate heard that the Lord Jesus was a Galilean and was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time. However, because the Lord would not answer anything under Herod’s questioning, He was sent back to Pilate (Luke 23:6-12). Pilate questioned the Lord Jesus; then he sent Him to be crucified starting at nine o’clock in the morning (Mark 15:25). The Lord suffered on the cross for six hours and expired at three o’clock in the afternoon. When evening fell, Joseph, who was from Arimathea, came to bury Him. It was then nightfall, and this was the first day.