A man and a woman, who were friends for many years, died and went to heaven. They told St. Peter they wanted to get married in Heaven.
“Take your time and think about it,” said St. Peter. “You have an eternity to think about it here. I’ll send you back to Earth for the time being. Come back and talk to me about it in 50-years.”
Fifty years later the couple, now very elderly, returned and again told St. Peter they still wanted to get married in Heaven.
“Take your time and think some more about it, “St. Peter said. “Come back and see me in another 50-years, and if we don’t have a preacher up here by then, I’ll marry you myself.”
There may be questions about preachers making it to heaven, but there is no question about Messiah’s place with God. Since we are indisputably positive about Jesus’ place in the order of authority, this means His words in John 16:12-15 are also unquestionable. The words, His words in this Scripture, give us insight into the Father’s plan for power and authority in every believer’s life. Here, Yeshua speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit, declaring to the disciples all the truth that is His from the Father will be available.
Last week we learned how to have God’s power with us, beside us as a constant resource. Now that we have this knowledge, we discover what the Holy Spirit will do for us and through us to benefit each of us so that the body of Christ and society will live and function as God intended.
Too often we are subjected to teaching about the arrival of the Holy Spirit, as if “arriving” is all He does. It’s fair to ask the question, “Does the Holy Spirit arrive, then leave, then return again and again, only to demonstrate how wonderful it is to receive Him?” Not according to the Son of God. If His authority counts, then His words about the role of the Holy Spirit are worth our attention.
Imagine the scene when Yeshua gathered the disciples around a rough-cut wooden conference table where they had just accepted the unleavened bread and wine, the truth and spirit of our Lord. Judas had already bolted out the door with his wine-soaked bread, his Last Supper to-go meal, to betray the Master and collect his pay. Notice that Judas did not “drink” from the cup as Christ asked, which separated him from a distinct understanding of truth and spirit. Each of the disciples would hear these parting words recorded in John 16 as they would fit into their own experiences and prejudice. They were behind closed doors partaking in moments of profound importance. Somebody, likely Lazarus, was taking notes otherwise we would not have such precise words and unbiased descriptions of events. The sun is setting, streaming beams of golden light across the table while the most important dinner speaker in history is making His remarks. Some of the words were familiar to them, yet this group had not heard them in such precise terms. They listened attentively as they sensed the Master’s intensity. Some responded but Yeshua did most of the talking. Even with sparse communication from disciples, we have a deeper glimpse into their characters. An amazing thing in this picture is how precise and calm Messiah appeared to be. Anxiety over events to happen in the following 24-hours was not seen until the garden prayer we read about in Luke 22:39, Mark 14:32 and John 18:1.
These series of Scriptures, beginning with John chapter 13, are amazing, making the Fourth Gospel a cornerstone of Christianity since they are loaded with the literal truth and Spirit of Messiah. It’s here that truth is not being spoken in terms of a story or parable, but blunt, to-the-point facts, which eliminates, or should abolish, erroneous interpretation. Still, some modern-day religious leaders find this truth somewhat inconvenient and the source of doctrinal controversy. A schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches over this subject took root in the eleventh century and continues today.
Did the person taking notes while Jesus spoke get the story wrong, thus causing division now? We have no problem with the Lord’s Supper and other information in these chapters, which causes me to be curious as to why there would be such disagreement over this passage in the 16th chapter. Disagreements about this scripture go all the way back to the third century. Perhaps today you can weigh the evidence to decide if these words of the Master are relevant to your thinking, of if you have reason to disagree with the meaning of your Savior’s words.
Yeshua knew that following this Upper Room meeting, events would be in motion that would lead to His arrest, then His death the next day. The disciples intellectually knew that life was going to be much different, although I question if their emotions could grasp the intensity of this change. If you have ever lost a loved one to death, and you knew time was short for them before they died, you also know that reality still assaults your spirit with loads of grief when they are taken away. So, it’s understandable how the knowledge of Christ’s departure was received with a, we-don’t-get-it, wide-eyed response from the disciples, since Messiah’s departure had yet to become real. Mark 14:32 and John 18:1 tells us plainly that the disciples slept while Messiah intensely prayed—in agony. We are like the disciples in that nothing makes us understand like reality. The same is true with the Holy Spirit, yet perception of the Holy Spirit’s reality varies widely.
There’s no wonder He is quoted in verse 12 of John 16 saying, “I have many other things to tell you, but you cannot grasp them now.” Yet, time was short, really short at this point, and He was correct; these guys couldn’t really seize what he was saying much less what was to follow. The reality of events that night and brutality of the cross the next day was that reality lesson that caused them to remember what Yeshua had told them the evening before in a much clearer way—in the light of reality. Today, we are removed from the brutality of the cross by thousands of years while still enjoying the benefits of His death and resurrection. An added benefit is the subject of John 16, the Holy Spirit and what He actually means to us in today’s world.
A major point of this scripture is that God is not finished revealing Himself through His Son and Holy Spirit. Yet, revelation of God through this divine “chain of command” is not universally accepted or understood. Careful examination of what Messiah said gives us the goal, or the end result of our accepting the Holy Spirit into our lives. He said, “But when the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all the truth.” Do you remember previous lessons on how to live in love? It is impossible to live in love outside of truth, which is the meaning of John 14:6. If Christ is truth and God is love, then how can the Holy Spirit be interested in anything other than leading us to God through Christ? What other goal is there for humanity? What else causes us to function as humans as well as love, whether as an individual, family, church, society or nation?
Next, those at the Last Supper hear about progression, or who will say what and how such information will arrive. Christ makes it clear by saying that the Spirit, “…will not speak for himself, but what he hears he will speak; and he will make known to you things, which are to come in the future.” Is this confusing? Do we understand from these words that what the Spirit speaks will be in mystification or born of confusion outside of knowledge? Can confusion lead to love? Let’s hope not.
It is entirely too easy to speak for Jesus and His Spirit when we think we have reached the level of Jesus Christ and possess all truth. Our human spirit wants to be right and seen as correct when it comes to spiritual issues so we can be admired or even loved. This human right-fighting mentality is alive and well in all who lack a full measure of love. An example of this high-mindedness is shown this way: Recently I received two promotional pieces from two major religious groups; one left at the door and another through the mail. One indicated that if I wanted to know the real truth, I could attend one of their meetings. The second one declared that the recipient, meaning me, I suppose, could be honestly and sincerely wrong about what I believed concerning my salvation. Obviously, attending this one church would mean that I would be straightened out. A line, emphasized by italics read, “Rest assured that he (meaning the recipient) will either cease to be wrong by changing, or cease to be honest by refusing to change.” How can love and right-fighting exist in the same spirit? Why did this information have to come by mail when the Holy Spirit was promised to me by the One who is the author of my salvation? Does Yeshua need to use the mail to reach a believer, or does the Holy Spirit provide truth as initiated by Messiah himself? I read in John 16, “that when the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all the truth.” If that line is intended for a select few believers, it’s too bad that “few” are not identified since the very mark or brand of a disciple is love for one another. If truth is intended to lead us to love, perhaps love for one another is the better witness of truth. See John 13:35.
Dr. Thomas Boomershine writes regarding John 16, “Later Jesus says that the Spirit will ‘take what is mine and declare it to you,’ in Greek εκτυαμυ (ek-tu-amu). Literally translated, Jesus' statement is: He will receive ‘what is out of me and declare it to you and he will glorify it because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.’ This describes precisely what has happened. The Holy Spirit has been present with us and has continued to reveal things to us in the course of the history of interpretation of the stories and sayings of Jesus. As we've lived through these 2000 years, Jesus' prayer has been answered and the Holy Spirit has continued to reveal things to us.”
Allow me to add the meaning of the word “declare” so you get the intensity of what Christ said. Declare in Greek is γνοριζο (gno-rid’-zo), which means “to make known, certify, declare, give to understand.” There is no room for confusion in Yeshua’s statement or uncertainty in what the Holy Spirit will make known to you as a believer in God.
As you have heard in previous lessons, repetition of important information is a teaching tool used by Christ. This passage in John 16, as short as it is, gives us the same information three times, to be understood as in the Greek, gno-rid’-zo.
The first time the words were used in this scripture, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will not speak for himself, and will relay what he hears from Christ. Then, He said the Spirit will “take of my own and show it to you.” The next sentence the same words are repeated, “…he will take of my own and show it to you.”
It’s one thing to hear words telling us what is to come, as spoken by Yeshua himself at the Last Supper, and still another to realize what happened after. Paul wrote Romans in about 57 AD while visiting Corinth, a rich City, where he had raised some money for the poor in Jerusalem. His plans were to visit the church in Rome on his way deliver the money, then travel on to Spain. The date of his writing indicates 24-years experience of knowing and seeing the work of the Holy Spirit. Certainly Paul intimately knew the Holy Spirit as evidenced by his reporting and instructions.
As Messiah’s statements in John about what was to come were clear and precise, so are Paul’s words in Romans 5:1-5. He goes through the process for the Roman Church so they and we could realize the progression from faith, the starting point where we are all justified, to the love of God, which is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is the goal. All three, God, His Son and the Holy Spirit are identified along with their plans and actions for humanity. This process causes us to be human, or mature, as God intended and Paul is identifying who it is that makes this possible and brings God’s love into us so we can give and receive in such a way that the world will know we are His disciples. How did Paul know this? He was a witness who could testify with authority and validity.
Still Paul, or one of his followers who wrote Ephesians, focused on the result of our being in unity through love. The information circle is completed in the 4th chapter, 13th verse. “Until we all become one in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become a perfect man according to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Verse 3 of the same chapter relates how we are to strive for this “fullness.” “…endeavoring to preserve the harmony of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Wow, living in love is just that easy, or just that difficult.
Should we adhere to the idea that declaring another Christian “wrong” causes unity, or does it make sense that love reconciles us to each other? Does it stand to reason that right-fighting fails to demonstrate love? Where do we find a mix of the Holy Spirit with demands or shaming another into thinking or believing as we do? Perhaps we should love our way into another believer’s heart and come to a mutual understanding of truth.
In our opening story, St. Peter was waiting for a preacher to arrive at the gates of Heaven. What do you suppose these preachers were doing or teaching that kept them away? Any teaching under the Christian flag that does not lead to the love of God, loving God in return and loving each other with unity as it is with God and His Son, falls short of God’s intended purpose for mankind. Admittedly, it’s a tall order for us to live that way, yet we have the perfect example in the person of Messiah, the Anointed One.
The way the plan was intended to work is explained in Romans 5:8-10 “God has here manifested his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being justified by his blood, we shall be delivered from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
What’s the story here? Christ gave His life—died, to bring us a plan so we all can live in love, then sent the Holy Spirit to continuously feed us truth so the plan can actually be carried out. The Holy Spirit is not mute; he can and does speak for himself. To convince others to listen to the Spirit, bring them to love through the words of Christ, and then let the Holy Spirit take over.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen.
©2013, J. Tilton
