Only Jesus can take us to God

1Jesus said to his followers, “Don’t let anything upset you. You believe in God, and you have to believe in me too.

2Listen, I am going home to my father, and I am going to get a place ready for each one of you to come to. It’s like my father has a big house with a lot of room in it, and I will get a place ready for each of you. That’s what I told you before, and it is true.

3And after everything is ready, I will come back and get you. Then you will live with me for ever.

4And you know the track to the place where I am going.”

5Then Thomas said, “But, sir, we don’t know where you are going, so we can’t know the track. We don’t know how to get to that place.”

6Jesus said, “I am like that track for you. I can take you to my father. And I am the one that says what is true about God. And I am the one that can give people life so that they live with God for ever. I am the only one that can take people to God.

7If you know me properly, you know my father too. So you do know my father now, and it’s like you have seen him too.”

8Then Philip said, “Sir, show us the father, that’s all we want.”

9Jesus said, “Look, Philip, I have been with you for a long time now, so you know me, right? Anyone that looks at me, can see my father. So you have seen the father. So you don’t have to ask me to show you the father.

10Do you believe that I am joined to the father, so that it’s like I am in him? And do you believe that the father is joined to me, so that it’s like he is in me? I don’t just say whatever I want to say. The father told me what to say. You see, it’s like he lives inside me and uses me to do his work.

11Believe me when I say that I am joined to the father, so that it’s like I am in him. And the father is joined to me, so that it’s like he is in me. If you don’t believe what I’m saying, look at the powerful things I do. Those things will get you to believe me.

12Listen to this, it’s true. I am going back to my father. So if anyone believes in me, they will do the same powerful things that I do. Yes, and they will do even greater things than I do.

13You know the things that I say are good. So if you ask me to do that sort of thing, then I will do whatever you ask. I will do that to show you that my father is really great and powerful.

14Yes, if you ask for anything like that, I will do it for you.”

Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit

15Jesus kept on talking to them. He said, “If you love me, you will do everything I told you to do.

16And I will ask my father to send you another helper. He will come to you and stay with you for ever.

17He is the Holy Spirit, and what he teaches is always true. The people that belong to this world are not in God’s family. They don’t understand the Holy Spirit. They don’t know him. So they don’t want him to come to them. But you know him. He is here with you now, and later on, he will live inside you.

18I’m going back to my father, but I will not leave you all alone, like kids without a mother or father. No. I will come back to you.

19The people that belong to this world will not see me any more, but you will see me again soon. Yes, I will be alive, so you will live too.

20Then you will know that I am joined to my father, so that it’s like I am in him. And you will know that each one of you is joined to me in the same way, so that it’s like you are in me. And I am joined to you, so that it’s like I am in you.

21The people that love me are the people that listen to me and do what I tell them to do. And my father will love anyone that loves me. Yes, and I will love them too, and I will show them what I am really like.”

22Then one of Jesus’s followers talked to Jesus. His name was Judas, but he was not Judas Iscariot. He said, “Sir, why are you now saying that you will not show everyone in the world what you are like? Why are you saying that you will only show us?”

23Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, they will do whatever I tell them. And my father will love them, and we will come and live with them.

24But if somebody doesn’t love me, they don’t do what I tell them. And these things that I tell you are not my own words, but they come from my father, the one that sent me here.

25You see, I am telling you these things now, while I am still with you.

26Later the father will send the Holy Spirit to help you. He will be your teacher, in my place. He will help you remember all the things I told you, and he will teach you everything you need to know.

27When I go away, I will give you the power to always feel happy and quiet inside yourselves. You see, I have that power, and I will give you that power too. The people in the world can’t give you that power, but I can. So don’t let anything upset you, and don’t let anything frighten you.

28Like I told you before, I am going away, but I will come back to you again. You see, I am going back to my father, and my father is much greater than I am. So if you really love me, you will be happy for me to go to my father.

29I’m telling you all about this now, so that after it happens, you will trust me.

30All right, I will not tell you much more, because the boss over the bad spirits is getting close now. He is the boss over this world, but he is not my boss, so he can’t tell me what to do.

31No, I do what my father tells me to do. I do that so that the people of this world can know that I love my father.” Then Jesus said to his followers, “Come on, get up, and let’s leave this place.”