Jesus began this part of his discussion with the eleven Apostles, and however many other disciples were with them in the upper room, by telling them he was leaving them (physically), in order that he could prepare a place with them. In the context of the first century AD, when a wedding agreement had been made, the groom had a fixed period of time to return to his father’s house and prepare a wing for his beloved. In the context of the Old Covenant, the Father’s House was the Temple, which was in Jerusalem, and which was destroyed in 70 AD. However, the House of God (cp. Exodus 25:1-9, 40) was supposed to represent an unseen reality, vis-à-vis in the context of the New Covenant, believers were the reality, or the Temple of God (1Corinthians 3:9-16; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1Peter 2:5).
Jesus left his disciples in order to prepare them as an abode for both himself and his Father (John 14:23). So, the place Jesus went to prepare was not for them in the sense that they would be given a chunk of real estate in heaven, but to prepare them, as the place in the Father’s House where God dwelt, and this was the greater work Jesus disciples would do together with him (John 14:12).
That said, Jesus told them, if they loved him, they would keep his commandments (John 14:15), which means they were to love one another as he loved them (John 13:34). To love as Jesus loved would mean to become as Jesus was, when he walked in the flesh. In other words, believers must be conformed to the Image of God (Hebrews 1:3), which men were originally created to bear (Genesis 1:27). This cannot be done in any other way than to fix our eyes upon Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and be changed into that unveiled Image we see (2Corinthians 3:18). This is a spiritual work not a physical one, and it is a work much greater than any miracle that either Jesus or any of his disciples did in the flesh (John 14:12). It is something no man is able to do by himself (John 3:3). Indeed, it is the work of God, but God demands our cooperation in the work he does in us (Ephesians 2:10; 1Corinthians 3:9-16).
As his disciples obeyed his commands, Jesus would ask the Father to send them another Comforter, who would abide with them forever (John 14:16). The Greek word for another is allos (G243) and means another but compatible with the original.[1] We derive our English word alloy from this word. In other words, Jesus told his disciples they would be given the Spirit of God to comfort them and help them understand the things of God (cp. 1Corinthians 2:2-16).
Jesus described the Spirit of God, which his disciples would be given by saying it is the Spirit of Truth (remember Jesus said he was the Truth – John 14:6). The world would be unable to receive this Spirit, because it doesn’t see him or know him (John 14:17). The problem is, when two worldviews clash, they clash because at least one is unwilling to see or understand the world from the other’s point of view. Therefore, the spirit within all men is what teaches him about his world (1Corinthians 2:11a), but he is unable through his human spirit to understand the things concerning the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned (1Corinthians 2:14). The natural man, believes he is already able to see (cp. John 9:40-41), and as long as he continues to refuse to consider another point of view, he’d be unable to see or understand the Gospel.
Nevertheless, Jesus’ disciples knew the Comforter, because he dwelt with them and would be in them (John 14:17). Jesus concluded by saying he wouldn’t leave them comfortless, because he would come to them, meaning Jesus, when he would go to be with his Father, would return as the Spirit of God, the Comforter. That is, Jesus is the Spirit in the believer, and he teaches believers all things they needed to know (John 14:18; Colossians 1:27).
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[1] For example, Paul’s Gospel was different from, but compatible with Peter’s Gospel (Acts 14:13-29; Galatians 2:7-10), but neither was compatible with the gospel (so-called) of the men who came from James (Galatians 1:6-7). The Greek word allos (G243) is used in Galatians 1:7 saying the other gospel brought to the Galatians was not another (allos; G243), meaning it wasn’t compatible with the Gospel of Christ.
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