The Passage
John 14:15-31
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
Word Work
Ask and answer questions. Questions unlock new discoveries and meanings. Ask questions about the passage using these words: who, what, why, when, where, or how. Jot down your answers to these questions
Word Thoughts:
Carefully note what Jesus actually says. If we love him, we will obey him. Jesus does not say, if we obey him, he will love us. The gospel turns everything right side up. We can do nothing to earn or maintain a relationship with God. Our obedience merits us nothing; but our obedience is an essential affirmation of our love for Jesus. It is by Jesus’ obedience that we are saved, and it is by our obedience, compelled by love for Christ, that we express our gratitude for so great a salvation.
As Jesus continues instructing his disciples in advance of his ascension, we enter the most profound teaching about the Trinity to be found anywhere in the Bible. There is much mystery here, but let us affirm what is clearly in the text. The better we know Jesus, the more Trinitarian we will become. The gospel is the means by which we enter the fellowship, love, and joy shared by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit throughout eternity—a staggering thought indeed.
Jesus is the perfect Son whose obedience is counted as our own—the basis upon which the Father adopts us as his beloved children. The Spirit comes into our hearts as the spirit of sonship (Rom. 8:15)—freeing us from our orphan-like ways, leading us into greater intimacy with the Father and the Son. It is astonishing: we are the room in which the Trinity takes up residence (John 14:17, 20), becoming the new temple among all nations.
Word Reflection:
- What stood out?
- Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our Helper, why? How does He help us?/=
- What does Jesus mean, Because I live, you also will live?
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever[…]
End in Prayer
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