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."

The Return of Christ in the Spirit.

It was noted above that the imminent return of Jesus must be distinguished both from His return in eschatology and from His Resurrection. It will take place "in that day," έν εκείνη tή ήμέρςϊ (cf. v. 20). The eschatological term of the synoptics (cf. Matt. VII. 22 and Lk. XXI. 34) and Paul (cf. II Thess. I. 10; II Tim. I. 12,18; IV. 8) retains the meaning of a technical term in Jn. in relation to the imminent return of Christ. The immediate context of the promise of an imminent return is the promise of the Spirit. The Lord passes to him from the word about the Spirit and, having spoken of His imminent return, again turns to the Spirit. At one time it was emphasized that, in contrast to the manifestation of Glory in the Passion, the second glorification, which is the glorification of the Son of Man by God, uses the forms of the future tense, which are also used when it comes to the gift of the Spirit. The same forms of the future tense are used about the imminent return of Christ. These observations suggest Christ's imminent return as His return in the Holy Spirit. In antiquity, this interpretation was proposed by St. Cyril of Alexandria. Then it was forgotten, revived in the liberal theology of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and only recently began to be reintroduced in the works of Orthodox theology.

XIV. 27-31.

Утешение продолжается как дарование мира — «не так, как мир дает» (ст. 27) — и обещанием возвращения (ст. 28). Но если ученики любят Иисуса, они должны радоваться и Его отшествию к Отцу, «потому что Отец больше всех» (ст. 27). Об этом стихе было много написано. Его приводили ариане как аргумент в пользу субординационизма, учения о подчиненном положении Сына по отношению к Отцу. Православная апологетика шла по двум линиям. Для одних превосходство Отца было просто превосходство Духа над Сыном, как Воплощенным, для других Отец был больше Сына, как начало и источник Божества. Ключ к ответу лежит в антиномии Отеческого—Сыновнего отношения: Отец, как Отец, всегда больше Сына, но Сын, как Сын, всегда равен Отцу. В преломлении в области человеческих отношений последнее положение оправдывается тем, что принципиально всякий сын когда-то становится отцом. В контексте беседы утешение учеников отшествием Иисуса к Отцу предполагает возведение и их к источнику Божественной жизни.

Но беседа близка к концу: «...идет князь мира и во Мне не имеет ничего» (ст. 30). Являя миру свою любовь к Отцу, Иисус призывает учеников встать и идти отсюда (ст. 31). Куда? Навстречу князю мира в лице предателя?[75] Во всяком случае, первая часть беседы в закрытом помещении[76] кончена. Образ виноградной лозы (ср. XV. 1) позволяет думать, что беседа продолжается под открытым небом.

XV. 1—XVI. 4.

Вторая основная часть Прощальной беседы, над которой был проставлен заголовок «Пребывание в Любви», начинается притчей о Лозе (XV. 1 -8).