The Holy Trinity, June 3, 2007 “Series C”
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Gracious God, whom we have come to know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, speak your word of truth to us. Keep speaking to us through the words of Scripture. Keep showing us your love and glory as revealed through the life, death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus the Christ. Keep prodding us to open our hearts and minds to your will and truth for life through the power of your Spirit, that we might grow in faith and live as your redeemed disciples. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
Our Gospel lesson for this morning is the shortest Gospel text for the whole year. But in order to understand this brief lesson, and its significance for Trinity Sunday, I believe we need to return to the beginning of John’s Gospel, where the author states the purpose for his book.
John writes: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father… For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” [John 1: 1, 14, 17-18]
There are two points about this introduction to John’s Gospel that I would like us to focus on. First, through these words, John tells us right at the beginning of his Gospel, that Jesus is God’s incarnate Word to us. As Richard P. Carlson points out in his commentary on our lesson, “John’s entire Gospel revolves around Jesus as the eternal and ultimate self- revelation of God. Who God is and what God is about is revealed in and by Jesus.” End quote. [1]
In other words, unlike the Synoptic Gospels, which attempt to give us a chronological account of the events in the life of Jesus, John’s Gospel is designed to help us understand the significance of these events. John wants us to see that in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God is revealing his glory, his grace and his truth – to us.
Think of these statements from John’s Gospel. “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” In Jesus’ own words, as John records, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” through whom we come to God, and to know God.
And then, at the end of his Gospel, John sums up by telling us, “Although Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.” Clearly the intent of John’s Gospel is to proclaim God’s revelation of himself to us in Jesus the Christ.
The second thing that I would like to focus on in the introduction to John’s Gospel, is the phrase “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” In the research that I did in seminary, I came to understand that what we translate into English from the original Greek language of John’s Gospel as “grace and truth,” has the same meaning of what would be translated from the Hebrew language of the Old Testament as “steadfast love and faithfulness.”
This is significant, because John uses this term truth, many times in his Gospel. And it is my guess that most of us, most of the time, when we hear or read the word “truth,” understand it to mean the opposite of “false, or falsehood.” But there is another meaning for the term truth. It can also mean “loyalty” or being “true and faithful.” And it is this meaning of the term “truth” that applies, in John’s use of this word.
I would like to pause here for a moment, and share with you the fact that as I began to work on this sermon for Trinity Sunday, which drives me nuts every year, Josie suggested that I ought to keep it light. Then she added that I should say something personal, because it helps everyone to relate to what I’m saying. Well, now that I’ve accomplished that… and if you are still with me, I would like to apply what I have just shared with you to our brief text for this morning.
The fact is, as I read these few parting words of Jesus to his disciples, I was moved by God’s Spirit, to see one of the most beautiful descriptions of the Holy Trinity. And the only way that I could think of to share this vision with you, was to give you the background I have just shared.
Jesus says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” In the context of John’s Gospel, these words are shared with our Lord’s disciples, just prior to his crucifixion and resurrection. Thus, I agree with many scholars, by interpreting this statement, not in the sense that Jesus had a lot more lessons to teach the disciples, but rather that they could not understand the significance of his crucifixion for our redemption, until after his resurrection.
Then Jesus says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…” Now, if we apply to this text the fact that in John’s Gospel, the term truth is to be understood as faith or faithfulness, think of what Jesus is saying. He is telling us that the gift of God’s Spirit will lead us to faith in Jesus, as the Christ, the Son of God, who gave himself in steadfast love and faithfulness for our redemption.
It is not that God’s Spirit is going to reveal to us some new and yet to be discovered knowledge about God that Jesus has not already revealed. It is not as if there is some secret code, like the fictional “DA Vinci Code” would have us believe, that God’s Spirit will reveal to us. It is not as if the role of God’s Spirit is to give us the power to determine between truth and falsehood. The role of God’s Spirit is to bring us to faith and trust in what Jesus has already revealed to us of God.
Jesus then concludes our text by saying, “For the Spirit will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
This brings us back to the purpose for which John wrote his Gospel. In Jesus, God’s Word become flesh, and in Jesus, God revealed himself to us as fully as is humanly possible for us to discern. As Jesus says in chapter fourteen, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him… The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”
Thus, in this simple, brief text from our Lord’s farewell discourse with his disciples, we are given and beautiful description of the Trinity. It is the one activity of God to reveal himself to us his creation.
Let me conclude with a few statements from Dr. Carlson’s commentary: “John does not stress the distinctiveness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, but focuses on the ongoing complementary reality and function of…” God to gather and reveal himself to the world. “From John’s perspective, the Spirit does not bring new truth or new revelations to the community, but helps the community to understand God’s revelation in Jesus Christ in new ways for new situations and new circumstances.
Thus, when the church shaped its understanding of the Trinity in the expression of the Nicene Creed, it did not do so as a result of a new or different revelation from God. Rather, through the work of the Spirit, the community gave distinct expression to what God has already revealed about himself in and through Jesus the Christ.
For John, it simply does not matter whether the community of Christ lives in the first century, the fourth century, the twenty-first century, or the thirty-eighth century. Jesus Christ is God’s ultimate manifestation of himself to the world. God’s Spirit continues to keep that manifestation of himself relevant.” End quote. [2]
Amen.
[1] New Proclamation, Year C, 2004 , Fortress Press.
[2] Ibid.
