John 14.8-17, Pentecost Sunday
I really empathise with Philip. “Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied!” he says, and haven’t we all said that? How much we wish to see the Father; all in good time of course! It reminded me of a story where a bishop was preaching and asked the congregation “Who is looking forward to seeing Jesus?” and all the hands went up. He then asked: “And who would like to meet Him tomorrow?” and all the hands remained firmly down. We have this ambiguity about it don’t we? Yes, of course we all want to meet Jesus, just as we all want to meet the God the Father, but not yet. We share the cry with many saints and believers down the centuries; from St Augustine of Hippo’s cry: “Lord, give me chastity, but not yet!” to the modern belief that we can have it all. Yes, of course we want to meet God the father and God the Son, but maybe not yet; at least not in person. There’s too much of this life on earth to enjoy just yet. But It’s just human nature to require proof. Even Philip, THE FOURTH APOSTLE TO BE CHOSEN by Jesus, and the one who followed Him without question when Jesus says to him in the town of Bethsaida, “Follow me, “ because he saw in Jesus the one whom Moses wrote about in the OT law. Philip’s enthusiasm was evident in his immediate introduction of Nathaniel to Jesus, and Philip is a good example of one of those who enthusiastically received Jesus when most of his own did not receive him. And although there are indications of Philip being a bit timid or even lacking faith, he immediately witnessed to Jesus in promptly telling Nathaniel. It is this theme of witness that runs throughout John’s gospel, and which we celebrate today on Pentecost Sunday. We see John the Baptist witnessing to Jesus, Andrew to his brother Peter, the Samaritan witness to Jesus, the Holy Spirit’s witness to Jesus (15), and of course, the apostolic witness.
And the content of that witness becomes evident as Philip witnessed not just to an amazing man, but to Jesus who was written about in the Law of Moses. Philip believed that scripture was being fulfilled in Jesus, and John really got that, and wants to establish it throughout his Gospel.
”So then we also see Philip as the one who doubted the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, saying it would be unaffordable. And here we see him as being so like us; we think of so many reasons why we can’t do something, doubting that God is in there, going ahead of us. That feeding was the ultimate evangelical opportunity; Jesus was to perform a great miracle, and then the peoples scales dropped from their eyes and they saw Jesus for who he is. We’re told in John 6 that they said: “This is indeed the prophet who came into the world,” and were going to take him by force to make him King, but Jesus withdrew from them. Of course, they didn’t understand that their notion of king, as an earthly ruler , was very different from the one that Jesus had been ordained to be. Jesus was to be a heavenly king, and sit on the right hand of God after rising from the dead, ascending on high, which we celebrated last week on Ascension Day.
In fact, I celebrated it in a very special way, as Jo and I went to All Souls in Langham place London, to celebrate 150 years of there being continuous Reader ministry in the Church of England. A very good celebration of lay ministry it was too, with the Archbishop of York presiding, and the sermon preached by the Bishop of Sodor and man, who is also the chair of the readers council. And his sermon marrys very well with the theme this week; that we must be bold in preaching the gospel, and use all the opportunities we have to do so; that doesn’t just apply to Ordained ministers and Readers; it also applies to all who confess Christ as Lord.
So back to the disciples for a moment: we also see Phillip asking questions of Jesus that started with Peter asking: “Where are you going, Lord? , and Jesus replying: “Where I am going, you cannot come.” And then Thomas’s question: “How can we know the way?” to which Jesus replies: “I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the father, except through me. If you know me, you know my Father also. So to Philip and his remark to Jesus, perhaps based on what he had seen at the feeding of the five thousand, and subsequent conversion of many to belief that he was sent by God. So Philip says to Jesus: “Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Perhaps in the belief such a meeting would engender similar faith in the disciples, who still didn’t understand the true nature of Jesus’ mission. But Jesus sounds profoundly sad when he replies to Philip: “Have I been with you all this time, and you still don’t know me, Philip?” After all, Jesus had just said that to come to the Father, one must go through Him. They had seen him in action, and heard his teaching, but still they had not realised that in seeing Jesus they were also seeing the Father; the mystery of the Trinity. The answer of course , was that the disciples had still not had their eyes opened spiritually to understand these things. And actually, I think that’s a relief, because I often feel that we don’t fully understand either; it’s one of the mysteries of faith, that God the Father is also God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And it falls to the Holy Spirit to fully open our understanding. In opening up the depth of Jesus’ teaching like this, John opens up a deep theological question; the unity of the Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in verse 10: Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?” This really challenging for Phillip: Jesus has already told Thomas, and we are presuming that all the disciples, including Phillip were present for this teaching, that “If you know me, you know my Father also.” And Jesus’ devastating reply to Philip is: Don’t you believe me? You must believe me! For these aren’t my words, but the Father’s. And if you don’t believe me, then look at my works that I have already done.” You can imagine Phillip shrinking back in embarrassment at this telling off to beat all telling offs.
For right here in this gospel, we are seeing scripture fulfilled, and Jesus is making it absolutely clear, beyond any doubt, that he is in God the Father, and God the Father is in Him, and that the Holy Spirit comes from Him and from God the Father to be called to be alongside us. The title that John uses for the Spirit in Greek is “Parakletos.” There are a number of translations of this word, including Counsellor, helper, comforter, and advocate, but perhaps the most important consideration is that expressed in verse 16: “Jesus will give you another counsellor.” The use of the word another is so important here, because it shows that the Holy Spirit fulfils a role parallel to the role that Jesus had fulfilled to this point; the Holy Spirit is another Christ. Martin Luther calls this “alter Christus,” and is so important yet we all too easily miss it. The Holy Spirit, this great comforter, counsellor, guide, advocate, is one with Jesus and God the Father. Once we have grasped this, we realise that Jesus has never left us; He is here with us now, on Pentecost Sunday, about 1990 years after his glorious ascension to heaven and the sending of His Holy Spirit to mark the birth of the early church with the repentance and baptism of three thousand new believers, who then were filled with the Spirit and went out teaching the gospel, fellowshipping together, and praying. That is what we celebrate today, brothers and sisters!
Something quite radical was happening, certainly, as many of those listening to Peter thought they were drunk. Perhaps this reminds us of other outpourings of the Spirit such as happened in Toronto 20 years ago, but In response to the accusation that they are drunk, Peter responds with a prophesy from Joel 2. 28 – 32: ….I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams. Even (the shock would have been immense at this one – my italics) slaves, both men and women, I shall pour out my Spirit and they will prophesy. The idea that mere slaves, whose opinions did not count at all, and to boot, women slaves, would also be a part of this outpouring of the spirit was something quite revolutionary.
It’s that revolutionary element that frightens some when talking about the power of the Spirit; they are afraid of the power of the Spirit, and of allowing God to rule their lives; they are afraid of the loss of control. They want to keep back a part of themselves and retain control over it, perhaps without telling anyone. This was the story of Ananias in Acts 5; he sold his field to give money to the Apostles, but then lied about the amount of money he had to give; he wanted to retain control over the money, and thus he had put the Spirit of the Lord to the test. That is not the Spirit that is released to give the Apostles the power to speak in other tongues on the day of Pentecost. That Spirit is the same Spirit that gives us the courage to speak of the Gospel (Acts 4.8), the same Spirit that convicts others of the truth of the gospel, and the same spirit that comes and dwells in us to guide us as we have the comfort of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives (Acts 9.31). Once you understand the Holy Spirit as the agent of regeneration, who brings believers into a dimension of new life which is shared by the whole church, then you begin to understand how radical the event that happened on Pentecost was and continues to be. This is the same Spirit that Jesus refers to in His conversation with Nicodemus, the Jewish leader, that “entry into the kingdom of God is impossible unless one is born of water and the spirit”, the background to which is to be found in Isaiah44.3, where God says: “I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring.” This is a mark of new era that arrives with the concept of new birth that Jesus explains to Nicodemus. This is because since the Word, Jesus, has become flesh, and was born, the new era of the Spirit has been inaugurated. So that new era begins at Jesus human birth, as already explained, He is born of one with the Holy Spirit, and so from that moment on, it is possible for us believers who submit to God’s kingly rule through the glorified Christ, to live eternally by being baptised with water and the Holy Spirit. They are one and the same event.. That’s what happened to the 3000 new believers on the day of Pentecost; they were baptised with water and the Holy Spirit; some think these events are in some way separate, but they are not. So, being baptised, we receive God’s Holy Spirit within us and become, as Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians (6.19), temples of the Holy Spirit, which we have from God, and was bought with a price, that of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, rising from the dead, conquering death, and ascending to heaven, and leaving Himself also on earth through giving us the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit that guides us on our walk with Christ, empowers us to share the gospel, but most of all, becomes God’s advocate in the world. Incredible, isn’t it? God, in His glorious wisdom, has given us the Holy Spirit to do all those things. Now. Are we going to work together in the power of His Spirit, to go out and share the gospel; the good news of God made flesh, in Christ, and conquering death, so that our sins are forgiven, and we are filled with that life giving Spirit, and are empowered to share the gospel with those who have not received Him. That’s our challenge for the coming year.
Amen
