John 15:26–27 (ESV) 26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
When the Helper comes. Jesus had already warned them that they would be hated by the world. With that warning in their minds, and ours as we read, Jesus returned to the theme of the Holy Spirit. That they would be hated was not good news, but countering that warning, Jesus said, "when the Helper comes . . ." They would not face persecution alone. I love that Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Helper. It shows that what they experienced being with Jesus personally, and what they were grieving and thought they were about to lose, was help. That's what they needed, and it's what we need. We need Help. We need the Helper. Every believer I know, me especially, needs more thinking about what this means for us now.
Whom I will send to you from the Father. In that short phrase, we receive a glimpse of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that He will send the Helper. But he also says that he proceeds from the Father. It seems unlikely they were able in that moment to ponder the glory of the Trinity. But for all time following and throughout all eternity, we will delight in the majesty and the wonder that God is God in three persons.
This is speculation on my part, but I think it mattered to them emotionally in that moment that Jesus was the one who was sending the Helper. It was Jesus that they would miss, so it helped them to hear Jesus say that he was the one sending the Helper. But later as the Holy Spirit would inspire them to write that the Helper was from the Father, their understanding and their worship would mature. For all time we will marvel at the glory of God and never exhaust the wonder, ever.
The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me. What is the significance that he calls him the Spirit of truth in this context? The Holy Spirit, in bearing witness to Jesus, would speak the truth about him and about the world. This is why we can have confidence about the self-authenticating word of God. The Holy Spirit would not bring to them vague warm feelings about Jesus once he was no longer physically on the earth. He would bear witness to them according to the truth. And though skeptics will scoff and protest that believers have misunderstood Jesus, the writing that these grieving men would eventually do would and continues to transform the world. Here's a wonderful short article I just read that describes why we can have confidence in the Bible.
And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. The Holy Spirit works to do this in every believer now, but this statement uniquely applied to these who would soon become eyewitnesses of the resurrection who would write the books that we call the New Testament. As John would say write,
1 John 1:1–4 (ESV)
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
No comments:
Post a Comment