With the retention of the controversial phrase, the Farewell Discourse begins with the testimony of the mutual glorification of the Son of Man and God and of the subsequent glorification of the Son of Man by God.

There is much that requires our attention in these words. And first of all, verb forms. In the translation, both the passive voice and the aorist should be preserved: "... now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him" (v. 31). The passive voice raises the question of the actor. In the glorification of the Son of Man, God, only God can be the person acting for the Son of Man, but since God is glorified "in Him," then έν αύτφ contains an indication of by whom God is glorified. This time it can only be the Son of Man. It is about the mutual glorification of the Son of Man and God. Embarking on the path of the Passion, Jesus, in the interpretation of the Evangelist, to whom the latter remains faithful throughout the book, can understand by glorification only his Passion. The Glory manifested in the past, as we remember, was already spoken of in XII.28, but if the aorist form of XIII.31 justified the rapprochement of the two texts, it would have been excluded by the solemn νΰν ("now") with which the Farewell Discourse begins. The mutual glorification of the Father and the Son now, when the Son enters the path of the Passion, can only refer to the Passion. This path is thought of as having already been traveled. The aorist forms express his contemplation outside of time (v. 31).

But the glorification of God by the Son of Man is thought of as a condition for the glorification of the Son of Man by God. In contrast to the appearance of Glory in the Passion, expressed in the aorist forms, for this second glorification, which is the glorification of the Son of Man by God, the future tense forms (δοξάσει) are used, and this future is thought of as near (v. 32). How to understand this second glorification, the Lord does not yet say. It is noteworthy, however, that in the continuation of the discourse, speaking of the sending down of the Spirit, the Lord also uses the future tense for it: "He will glorify Me" (XVI. 14). And, as already shown in VII. 39, the evangelist makes the sending of the Spirit dependent on the glorification of Jesus. Thus, the Farewell Discourse begins with Jesus' testimony to the mutual glorification of God and the Son of Man, which can only be thought of as glorification in the Passion. But after this first manifestation of Glory and depending on it, a second manifestation of Glory is expected in the immediate future, understood as God's glorification of the Son of Man and allowing in the context of the Farewell Discourse a rapprochement with the sending of the Holy Spirit.

After that, the Lord begins to speak about separation. He repeats to his disciples what he said to the Jews: "... where I am going, you cannot go." And He gives them a new commandment of love, repeating His interpretation of the washing of feet: "As I have loved you, that you also love one another." By this sign of love, they are recognized by all as his disciples (vv. 33-35). Passions are not only glorification. Passions are separation. And in separation, the fulfillment of Communion will be obedience to the new commandment of love. Peter tries to resist. He asks Jesus where He is going. Jesus answers, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me after." Peter objects, he is ready to lay down his life for Jesus, and the Lord predicts his threefold denial (vv. 36-38). On the pages of the Gospel both Peter's foretold denial (ch. XVIII) and His prophesied rite (cf. XXI. 19-22) are fulfilled. And the theme of Peter, raised by the Evangelist in I. 41-42, returns again in the narrative of the Passion. In chapter XX, Peter, as we see, does not dare to ask Jesus about the betrayer himself, but resorts to the intermediary of the Beloved. Here the Lord responds to his impulse with a prediction of renunciation. From now on, the topic of Peter will return again. But the emphasis does not lie on it, and here, at the beginning of the Farewell Conversation, the dialogue with Peter is needed in order to better show the reader the inevitability of separation. The Lord responds to the inevitability of separation with consolation in the first main part of the discourse, which in the generally accepted division constitutes Chapter XIV.

Hl. XIV. 1.

Consolation begins with the most general call to faith. In faith, confusion is overcome: "Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God and believe in Me" (XIV. 1). In form, the invocation is a four-member figure of chiasm. It begins and ends with the thought of faith (coinciding terms one and four), and the object of faith is God and Jesus (members two and three). By the very construction of the call, Jesus as an object of faith is placed on an equal footing with God. This is the first consolation.

XIV. 2-3.

The second consolation is the consolation of eschatological hope (vv. 2-3). These two verses are punctuated differently and often unsuccessfully. One thing is clear: "In My Father's house there are many mansions" (v. 2a). The Lord is coming to prepare a place in them for the disciples, and when He has prepared and returned, He will take them to Himself, "so that where I am, you will also be" (vv. 2b-3). From the general consolation of faith in God and in Him, the Lord here passes to eschatological consolation. His return is naturally thought of as a return to eschatology. But the Lord does not dwell on this eschatological consolation either.

The goal of His way is the Father. And the way for the disciples is Himself: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (vv. 4-6). His signs are also the signs of the Father. In Him the teaching! they also saw the Father. Philip doesn't understand. His desire is legitimate, he wants to see the Father: "... show us the Father, and that is enough for us." Jesus' answer: "... Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?" He who believes in Him will do greater works than He does, "because I go to the Father." And the fulfillment by Jesus of what is asked in His Name will be the glorification of the Father in the Son. Never before had Jesus spoken with such force and clarity about the Father as the beginning and source of all things, and never before had He placed Himself with such certainty in a position equal to God. "If you ask Me in My Name, I will do it" (vv. 7-14). The Lord completes the path of the Passion. And we remember that in the sacrificial feat of the Shepherd-Son the Father's love for Him is expressed (cf. X. 17). This is not eschatology. This is the life of believers here on earth.

XIV. 15-17.

But the Lord continues His speech. He is waiting for love from his disciples. The expression of love will be[72] their keeping of His commandments (v. 15). "And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever" (v. 16). This is the first promise of the Holy Spirit in the Farewell Discourse. He is called the Spirit of Truth (that πνεΰμα της αληθείας) and is opposed to the world, which, unlike the disciples, does not see Him and does not know Him. The revealed Comforter, in the context of the discourse, is made dependent on the disciples' fulfillment of Jesus' commandment, a fulfillment in which, as we have just seen, their love for Him is expressed. But the disciples' love for one another is also the content of the commandment. Through the prayer of the Son, the Holy Spirit will be sent by the Father to the disciples as a union of love. The disciples, united in love with Jesus and with each other, are the Church, as the interpretation of Chapter XIII has shown us. As the other Comforter, He is different from Christ, who in the First Epistle of John (cf. II.1) is also called the Comforter[73]. But, on the other hand, this naming establishes a close connection between them. The Spirit completes the work of Jesus. The translation of παράκλητος through the Comforter emphasizes the main content of Chapter XIV as consolation, and consolation in this life. Such is the meaning of εις τον αιώνα. The Russian translation of "unto the ages" suggests eternity. It would be more correct: "until the end of the century".

From the promise of the Comforter, Jesus turns without any transition to the promise of his speedy return (vv. 18-25). "I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you." This return will soon be invisible to the world. In this way, it will be different from both the return in eschatology, which was discussed in vv. 2-3, and from the Resurrection. It will be limited to the union of disciples as a circle of love. What is said in Article 15 is clarified and deepened. Love for Jesus is expressed in the fulfillment of His commandments. But "he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and show Myself to him" (v. 21, cf. 23). And again the glory of Christ is raised up to the Father who sent Him (v. 24b).

XIV. 26.

But here Jesus' teaching is again interrupted by the promise of the Comforter (v. 26). He's called the Holy Ghost, and the Father will send Him in Jesus' name. In somewhat different words than in v. 16, but the sending of the Comforter is thought of as the work of the Father, done for the sake of the Son. Therefore, "He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."