John 14:15-17
[Jesus said:] "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you...I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.
This is obviously Jesus beginning to say good-bye to his followers. The meal on the night that Jesus would be betrayed and arrested, which is a matter of only a few paragraphs in the various synoptic gospels is a matter of several chapters in John’s gospel. In the middle of that long teaching is this small paragraph in which Jesus introduces the idea of his going away, but sending the Holy Spirit to take his place here among us.
The word used for the Spirit is variously translated as Helper, Comforter, and Advocate. It is the One who will help the Jesus-people as they struggle to not only find their way in the world without Jesus right there to lead them, but as they seek to continue Jesus’ work without him present at their side.
Yes, Jesus is leaving them, but he will not leave them orphaned and alone. Though he will not be with them in his human form, he will still be with them in the Spirit. By the time the writer of John’s gospel is writing this story, he already knows what happened. He knows the work the Spirit would do among the disciples.
But on that day, no one knew. They couldn't wrap their minds around the idea that Jesus would ever leave them, and they are as frightened as children, abandoned by their only safety and security.
So what is it Jesus asks them to do for him? All the long pages in John’s gospel generally boil down to this: to follow his commandments, which are all about loving each other. But it is not that he is asking them to do something new for him. It is more as if he is simply stating an obvious fact: If you love me (as you say you do) then you will love each other and all these others that I have also loved. And you will act accordingly. [They can’t reasonably do anything else.] And I will send my Spirit to be with you and in you so that you can see your way clearly to do this.
With Jesus’ coming death, which, again, only he is ready to acknowledge, the disciples are going to be tossed into a maelstrom of change. While hurt and grieving they are going to be expected to get back up and start straight out into the world, carrying out Jesus’ work. Without the Spirit in them they would be hopelessly unable to think or to move. But if they trust Jesus, and trust his promise of a Helper, they will find themselves able to do this.
While doing my reading for this study I discovered this gem of understanding from theologian Dianne Bergant, in which she says Spirit acting in our lives "enables us to interpret the signs of the times in ways very different from the ways of the world. It is the Spirit who works through us for the transformation of the world." The disciples were to be sent out on a mission of nothing less than transforming the world.
Our world is, I believe, in another such time of transformation. Those who have been silent are finally speaking out and saying “NO” to bigotry and violence. Those who have been taught to sell their lives for the money-makers’ gains are saying “NO” to the idea that their lives have no value in and of and for themselves. We are saying “NO” to the idea of destroying our planet for some nebulous idea of ‘progress.’
Many things are coming together at once and I don’t believe it is happening accidently. This is a time of change—and I believe the Spirit is leading us into and through this time. This is our work, just as was the work of the earliest disciples. A work to claim human dignity for all God’s children, everywhere. A time to say that we value all God’s creation – not just some group of “special” people somewhere.
The Spirit is nudging us out of our comfort zones and moving us out into the world to reclaim it for God. As long as I am quoting people, let me include another favorite, sometimes attributed to Mother Teresa, but actually from actor/politician Richard Attenborough: "There is a LIGHT in this world. A healing Spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometime lose sight of this force when there is suffering, and too much pain. Then suddenly, the Spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways."
It is time for us to pray and listen for the voice of the Spirit leading us, and --like the disciples—time for us to follow and answer and act.
The word used for the Spirit is variously translated as Helper, Comforter, and Advocate. It is the One who will help the Jesus-people as they struggle to not only find their way in the world without Jesus right there to lead them, but as they seek to continue Jesus’ work without him present at their side.
Yes, Jesus is leaving them, but he will not leave them orphaned and alone. Though he will not be with them in his human form, he will still be with them in the Spirit. By the time the writer of John’s gospel is writing this story, he already knows what happened. He knows the work the Spirit would do among the disciples.
But on that day, no one knew. They couldn't wrap their minds around the idea that Jesus would ever leave them, and they are as frightened as children, abandoned by their only safety and security.
So what is it Jesus asks them to do for him? All the long pages in John’s gospel generally boil down to this: to follow his commandments, which are all about loving each other. But it is not that he is asking them to do something new for him. It is more as if he is simply stating an obvious fact: If you love me (as you say you do) then you will love each other and all these others that I have also loved. And you will act accordingly. [They can’t reasonably do anything else.] And I will send my Spirit to be with you and in you so that you can see your way clearly to do this.
With Jesus’ coming death, which, again, only he is ready to acknowledge, the disciples are going to be tossed into a maelstrom of change. While hurt and grieving they are going to be expected to get back up and start straight out into the world, carrying out Jesus’ work. Without the Spirit in them they would be hopelessly unable to think or to move. But if they trust Jesus, and trust his promise of a Helper, they will find themselves able to do this.
While doing my reading for this study I discovered this gem of understanding from theologian Dianne Bergant, in which she says Spirit acting in our lives "enables us to interpret the signs of the times in ways very different from the ways of the world. It is the Spirit who works through us for the transformation of the world." The disciples were to be sent out on a mission of nothing less than transforming the world.
Our world is, I believe, in another such time of transformation. Those who have been silent are finally speaking out and saying “NO” to bigotry and violence. Those who have been taught to sell their lives for the money-makers’ gains are saying “NO” to the idea that their lives have no value in and of and for themselves. We are saying “NO” to the idea of destroying our planet for some nebulous idea of ‘progress.’
Many things are coming together at once and I don’t believe it is happening accidently. This is a time of change—and I believe the Spirit is leading us into and through this time. This is our work, just as was the work of the earliest disciples. A work to claim human dignity for all God’s children, everywhere. A time to say that we value all God’s creation – not just some group of “special” people somewhere.
The Spirit is nudging us out of our comfort zones and moving us out into the world to reclaim it for God. As long as I am quoting people, let me include another favorite, sometimes attributed to Mother Teresa, but actually from actor/politician Richard Attenborough: "There is a LIGHT in this world. A healing Spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometime lose sight of this force when there is suffering, and too much pain. Then suddenly, the Spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways."
It is time for us to pray and listen for the voice of the Spirit leading us, and --like the disciples—time for us to follow and answer and act.
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