Jn. 14:16. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter,
To this they could say: "How can we not grieve, when we are about to be deprived of Your comfort and guidance?" Therefore He says: "This will not be; you will not be left without comfort. For I will ask, that is, I will entreat the Father, and He will send you another Comforter, another, but one such as Me."
Let Sabellius be put to shame by these words, he who says that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one person. For listen: He will send "another" Comforter; therefore, the Person of the Spirit is distinct. Let Macedonius also be put to shame, he who says that the Spirit is of a different essence and inferior to the Son. For listen: the Spirit too is a Comforter, just as the Son is. Thus, the Spirit is a Comforter, just as the Son is. Therefore, the Spirit, being consubstantial with the Son, is without doubt consubstantial with the Father as well. For the Father and the Son are of one and the same essence.
Do not be surprised if He says "I will ask the Father." For He does not ask as a servant; but in order to assure the disciples that the Comforter Spirit will certainly come to them, He condescends to them and says "I will ask the Father." For if He had said "I will send," they would not have believed as much; but now, to make His word more credible, He says "I will ask the Father," that is, if it is necessary even to ask and to entreat, then I will do everything possible so that the Spirit comes to you. This is similar to how we ourselves often say "I will lay down my life so that such and such happens." Although often the matter does not require great effort, we nevertheless speak in this way, wishing to show that we will not refuse to make the effort.
Otherwise. Since the Lord offered Himself as a sacrifice to the Father on our behalf, propitiating Him by His death as High Priest, and then, after the destruction of sin and the cessation of enmity, the Spirit came to us, for this reason He says "I will pray the Father and He will give you the Comforter," that is, I will propitiate the Father on your behalf and reconcile Him with you, who were hostile to Him because of sin, and He, propitiated by My death for you and reconciled with you, will send you the Spirit.
Jn. 14:16. that He may abide with you forever,
"That He may abide with you forever." He said this also to comfort them. His coming is not like Mine — it is not for a time only, but will continue forever; He will not leave you even after your death, but will abide with you and glorify you; He abides always with all the saints, even after their death, all the more so since they are then even more elevated above fleshly passions.
Jn. 14:17. The Spirit of truth,
"The Spirit of truth," He says. That is, the Spirit not of the Old Testament, for it is a figure and shadow, but of the New, which is truth. Those who lived under the Law also had the Spirit, but they had it in figures and shadows, whereas now, one might say, the Truth itself essentially descended to the disciples.
Jn. 14:17. Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him and does not know Him;
And lest they think that the Spirit, like Him, would also become incarnate, He says that the world cannot receive Him. "He," He says, "will teach you not as I do, for the world cannot receive Him bodily. He will dwell in your very souls."
Otherwise. "The world" cannot receive Him, that is, people who are depraved and minded toward worldly things, because they "do not see Him," that is, because His essence is incomprehensible. For by "seeing" He means here contemplation by the mind, which is why He also added "and does not know Him." Clearly, by the word "does not see," He expressed that which "does not know" means.
Jn. 14:17. And you know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.
So, He comforts the apostles when He says that the world cannot receive Him, but to you this excellent gift will be given and will abide "with you" and, what is even more, will abide "in you." For by the word "with you" He indicates the outward help from nearness, while "in you" indicates the inward indwelling and strengthening. This also shows that He is God. For God says: "I will dwell in you and will walk among you" (Lev. 26:12). So, the world cannot receive the Spirit because it does not know Him, but you know Him. Why? Because you are not of the world. That is why you are able to receive Him, and He now abides "with you" and will always be "in you."
Jn. 14:18. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
"Do not be afraid," He says, "that I said to you 'I will send another Comforter.' Do not think that you will no longer see Me. For I will not depart from you forever. I will come and will not leave you orphans." Since at the beginning of the discourse He called them children, He now fittingly says "I will not leave you orphans."
Jn. 14:19. Yet a little while, and the world will see Me no more; but you will see Me, because I live, and you will live.
And lest they think that He would appear in the body to them and to everyone as before, He says: "The world will no longer see Me. You alone will see Me after the resurrection. For I live; though I will accept death, yet I will rise again."
"And you shall live," that is, having seen Me, you will rejoice and, as if after death, will come alive from My appearing. Or also thus: "Just as My death served unto life, so you also, though you die, shall live." Therefore, do not grieve either over Me dying, or over yourselves. For even if you die, you shall live in the life to come.
Jn. 14:20. In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
"In that day you shall know that I am in My Father," that is, when I rise again, then you shall know that I am not separated from the Father, but have one and the same power.
"And you in Me," that is, kept by Me, "and I in you," that is, I am with you, I deliver you from sorrows, I work miracles through you, and in general I glorify you through all things.
And in another sense: "I am in you," as the Head in the members, for the apostles are members of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15), "and you in Me," as members in the Head. When He rose, then He made clear to them the knowledge of all this. For after the resurrection, the grace of the Spirit taught them all things.
When you hear the words "I am in the Father, and you in Me, and I in you," do not understand them in one and the same sense. For the Son is in the Father as Consubstantial, while He is in the apostles as a Helper and Co-worker, and the apostles are in Him as those who receive from Him help, cooperation, and fervor.
Many other names are also used of God and of men, but not in the same sense. Thus, we too are called gods (Ps. 82:6), but not in the same sense as God. The Son is called the Image and Glory of the Father (Heb. 1:3), and man is called the same; but not in the same meaning. So also must one understand the present words. Likewise the following words, "As the Father has sent Me, so I also send you" (John 20:21), must we really understand them in a simple manner? The Father sent the Son in the sense that He, being bodiless, became incarnate, being born of the Virgin. Does it then follow that the apostles also came from heaven and were bodiless, then became incarnate, and each of them was born of a virgin?! But to understand the words of Scripture in this way is manifest madness.