Judas
(not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”
John 14:22
John 14 [15.] If you love me, keep my commandments. I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,— the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”
John 14 [22.] Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”
John 14 [23.] 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. He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me. I have said these things to you, while still living with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I. Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe. I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.
Meaning:
Jesus had just promised that he would love the one who keeps his commandments “and will reveal myself to him” (John 14:21). One of the disciples could not see how this fitted with what he expected of the Messiah, and asked about it.
- “Judas (not Iscariot)”
John carefully separates this disciple from the betrayer, who had already left the room (John 13:30). Luke lists him among the Twelve as “Judas the son of James” (Luke 6:16). This is the only time he speaks in the Gospels. Like Thomas and Philip before him, he voices an honest question.
- “What has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”
Many Jews expected the Messiah to appear openly in power, defeat Israel’s enemies and be recognised by all nations. Jesus’ own brothers had urged him, “reveal yourself to the world,” for “even his brothers didn’t believe in him” (John 7:4-5). Judas wondered why Jesus now spoke of a private revelation to a small group.
Jesus’ answer shows that his self-revelation is personal and relational: “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” (John 14:23). He reveals himself to those who love him, not by a public display that forces belief. After the resurrection the pattern held. Peter later said that God “gave him to be revealed, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God” (Acts 10:40-41). Through their witness the message would then go to the whole world.
The Significance of John 14:22
- Jesus is known through love and faith
Jesus does not overwhelm people with spectacle. He makes himself known to those who receive his word in love.
- Honest questions are welcome
Jesus answered Judas patiently, and every believer may bring questions to him.
Cross-References:
John 14:23: "If a man loves me, he will keep my word." Jesus' answer to Judas.
Acts 10:40: "God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed, not to all the people, but to witnesses" The risen Jesus revealed to chosen witnesses.
Conclusion: Judas, a faithful disciple distinct from the betrayer, asked why Jesus would reveal himself to them and not to the world. Jesus answered that he and the Father come to those who love him and keep his word.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible