The Introduction.
THE solemn scenes and serious words of chapter 13: from a fitting prelude to the great discourse of chapter 14. In the 13th chapter we have seen the exposure of the utter corruption of the flesh, whether in the false disciple or the true. In Judas the flesh prefers a paltry sum of silver to the Son of God and, with basest treachery, will use the token of love to betray the Lord. In Peter we learn that the flesh in a believer can seek credit for itself by the profession of love and devotedness to Christ. Man in the flesh is mere clay in the hands of the devil, and unjudged flesh in the saint is only material for the devil to use.
Disclosures of unsuspected evil in the circle of the Twelve, the shadow of the great loss they were about to experience, the premonition of the coming denial, cast their gloom over the little company. One of the number—about to betray the Lord—has gone into the night; the Lord is going whither they cannot follow; Peter is going to deny his Master. Sorrow, if not confusion of soul, presses upon their troubled hearts as the dark shadow of coming events creeps over the disciples.
Peter, hitherto so forward, is silent. Throughout these last discourses we shall hear his voice no more. For the moment all are hushed in the presence of the disclosure of the coming departure of the Lord, the coming betrayal of Judas, and the imminent denial of Peter. Then it is that we hear the voice of the Lord as He breaks the silence with these touching words, “Let not your heart be troubled.” These words of infinite comfort and consolation must have come like balm to the hearts of this sorrow-stricken company. Yet though the Lord speaks to the Eleven, let us remember, as has been said, “The audience is larger than appears. In the foreground are the Eleven, behind them the universal Church... The hearers are men like ourselves, but they are representative men: dear to their Lord in their own persons, as His tender language shows: precious also in His sight as representing all ‘who shall believe on Him through their word.’”
In a pre-eminent way this great discourse breathes comfort and consolation for troubled hearts. It commences with that sweet word, “Let not your heart be troubled,” and, as it draws to its close, again we hear these words, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Yet it was hardly the troubles of the daily life of which the Lord was speaking, however much they may be lightened by these tender words. It was the special trouble of hearts about to lose the One whose infinite love had won their affections. A little later the Lord will say, “Now I go My way... because I have said these things unto you sorrow hath filled your heart.” It was the trouble of hearts that had been so attracted to Christ that they were satisfied in His presence, and sorrowful in His absence. To be left in an evil world, from which Christ is absent, is a sore trial to the heart that loves Him.
To meet this special trouble the Lord will lift us above the sin of men, and the failure of saints, into the company of Divine Persons. He will link us by faith with Himself in the new place to which He has gone; He will set us in relationship with the Father in heaven, and put us under the control of the Holy Spirit on earth. For the comfort of our hearts we are set in relationship with each Divine Person—the Son (1-3); the Father (4-14); and the Holy Ghost (15-26).
As these discourses proceed there will be exhortations as to bearing fruit and bearing witness in a world from which we are warned to expect only hatred, persecution and tribulation. Before, however, we are called to face the opposition of a world without, we are brought into communion with Divine Persons in a scene within. The holy communion of the inner home, prepares us to face the trials of the outer world.