John 14:18 (DRB)

Passage

I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you.

Nearby Context

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father: and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever:

John 14:17 The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him. But you shall know him; because he shall abide with you and shall be in you.

John 14:18 I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you.

John 14:19 Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more. But you see me: because I live, and you shall live.

John 14:20 In that day you shall know that I am in my Father: and you in me, and I in you.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "leave", "orphans", and "come". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "leave" and "orphans", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "The spirit of truth whom the world..." into verse 19's "Yet a little while and the world...", so "leave" and "orphans" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "leave" and "orphans" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.