Arthur W. Pink wrote in his Exposition of the Gospel of John, "Arise, let us go hence," "the Lord must have got up from the supper-table and apparently was followed by His disciples into the outer room where they remained until they left for Gethsemane, cf. 18-1."

In the Life Application Bible Commentary- John, the writers offer a number of thoughts regarding this issue. First, "these words in chapters 15 -17 may have been spoken en route to the Garden of Gethsemane." Second, John14:31, "was spoken to signify the end of the upper room discourse." Finally, that this is spoken to call the disciples to action as the prince of this world is coming and "Let us rise and meet him." This conveys a more spiritual call to action versus a physical one.

Dr. Elmer Towns, in The Gospel of John: Believe and Live, believes that the closing verse of John Chapter 14 was used with a motivational objective; a call to action for His disciples, if you will.

In response to a few of the ideas above, I agree with Arthur Pink in that they got up and went to an outer room where Jesus continued to teach. Just as we might do today when entertaining guests, we get up after eating and retire to the family room for more casual and comfortable conversation. It is logical that the same might have happened with Jesus and His disciples.

Regarding the Life Application commentary, I do not believe that these teachings took place during their walk through Jerusalem to Gethsemane. In the old city of Jerusalem the streets are very narrow; only wide enough for a single compact car. There is hardly enough room for Jesus to teach these important lessons to the eleven disciples. I found these teachings to be very personal and not likely meant for a public place.

Regarding the verse 14:30 in which Jesus says, "Hereafter, I will not talk much with you," He knew His time was drawing near and He would be separated from them. In telling them this, I believe that it was intended to underscore the importance of everything He had just shared with them. I do not believe that He was ending His conversation with them. The verse said, "I will not talk much." How do we define much? According to deafmissions.com, there are 7958 verses in the New Testament with 879 of those being found in the book of John. The 86 verses are 1% of the New Testament and 9.7% on John. So how much is much? In the big picture, 86 verses are not very much at all.

Perhaps this questi

on is not as difficult as it seems. Is this not a question of the inspiration and inerrancy of the Word of God? Is the word inspired by the Holy Spirit? Is the Bible inerrant, meaning that what God has inspired and reveled is accurate, reliable, authoritative and without error? It is my fundamental belief that the answer to both of these questions is yes. Certainly the question that is posed is a valid one; however, if you believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Word, the question holds little relevance. Chapters 15-17 are where they are because that is where God wanted them.

In addition, John has been very meticulous in giving us a basic timeline for the book. From the beginning we know when and where Jesus is. An example of this is when he tells us in chapter 1 verse 1, "on the third day." Again in John 4:43, he is careful to tells us, "Now after two days, he departed thence and went to Galilee." For John, the use of time and places is important. If up to this point John was conscious of the importance of time, why then would he deviate now? I do not think that he has.

For me, the timeliness and location of the teachings of Jesus during the questioned chapters is irrelevant. If they were relevant to our salvation, the Holy Spirit would have included them. However, since the words are included, they on their own verify their importance. We must remember that there were events not recorded by John, as this book was written "so that we might believe." For me, the timeliness and location have no impact on the reader's choice to believe or not to believe.

 Previous      Next