Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
- BSB Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
- NKJV Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
- NASB Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.
- NLT Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus answers that anyone who loves Him will keep His word, and the Father and Son will come and make their home with him. God dwells with those who love and obey Christ.
Overview
Rather than a public display, Jesus describes an intimate indwelling: the Father and the Son taking up residence with the loving, obedient believer through the Spirit. This fulfills the Old Testament hope of God dwelling among His people, now realized inwardly. Love for Christ, expressed in obedience, is the appointed avenue for this abiding communion with the triune God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- John 14:21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
- John 14:15If ye love me, keep my commandments.
- Rev 3:20–21Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
- 1 Jn 4:15–16Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
- 1 Jn 2:24Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
- 1 Jn 4:4Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
- 2 Cor 6:16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
- John 10:30I and my Father are one.
- Isa 57:15For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
- Ps 91:1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
- John 6:56He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
- John 5:17–19But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
- Rom 8:9–11But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
- John 14:17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
- Rev 7:15–17Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
- Rev 21:22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
- Gen 1:26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
- Gen 11:7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
- Ps 90:1Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
- Rev 22:3And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 14:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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