This is a less eloquently written piece... It's one that is direct, and outlines some exact takeaways from a beautify Biblical passage. While reading John 14 this morning, I saw something I had never seen before. The reflectivity of the trinitarian dynamic between God Himself, and us.
John 14:15-23
“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans--I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see Me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me. And because they love Me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?” Jesus replied, “All who love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and We will come and make Our home with each of them.”
+ + + + + Let's start with verses 17-18 + + + + +
John 14:17-18 "He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you."
Takeaways:
- He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The Holy Spirit is therefore the spiritual manifestation of Jesus.
- The Holy Spirit was living with them "now" (Jesus), but He would soon be in them, in the same way that the Holy Spirit was in Jesus in Himself and in His humanity. When you have the Holy Spirit in you, the reality is that Jesus is walking with you as He was walking with the disciples. We start to see the manifestation of the Trinity here. The Holy Spirit was with the people, because Jesus was with the people. The Holy Spirit and Jesus are connected, the same, inseparable.
- Jesus would come to them, not leaving them as orphans, because they were (we are) His children. By the Holy Spirit, His children (us) and Himself are connected. We are inseparable from God because we have the Holy Spirit, so we literally have God with us, the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus - God with us. Holy Spirit is the tie that has sealed us and is holding us to Himself.
John 14:19-20 "Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."
Takeaways:
- Since Jesus was raised to life, so are we. Because Jesus lives, His new life and the entirety of God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is readily available to us.
- As we love Jesus, He reveals Himself to us.
John 14:16 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you"
- Jesus ASKS the Father. He doesn't demand. The relationship between the Father, Son and Spirit is one of respect, gentleness, love, submission, and gratitude.
- We see this in 1 Cor. 13:14 & Galatians 5:22-23
- As we love Jesus they way the Trinity loves each other, we are welcomed more fully into the presence of God. There is a dynamic between us and the Trinitarian relationship that is so closely interwoven, that it's clear, yet also still a deep mystery. We are to reflect in our interactions with God the way they (they persons of the Trinity) interact with each other – with patience; kindness; without jealousy; without boasting; without pride; without rudeness; without demanding our own way; without irritableness; without record of being or feeling wronged; without rejoicing about injustice, but rather rejoices when the truth wins; with a love that never loses faith, is constant in hope and endures perfectly no matter the circumstance (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). We are to interact with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
* We've heard that we are image bears of God - created in His image - and this passage brings more clarity into what that actually means. We are to be reflective of how God interacts with Himself - both to Him, and other people. God is relational, and the way He is relational within the Trinity, we must also be with Him and with humanity.
John 14:23 - "Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them."
- When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive ALL of God - Father, Son, Spirit. They cannot be separated from each other, so when you receive the Holy Spirit, you receive the FULLNESS of God. When you get one, you get all.
John 14:15-23
“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans--I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see Me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me. And because they love Me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?” Jesus replied, “All who love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and We will come and make Our home with each of them.”
+ + + + + Let's start with verses 17-18 + + + + +
John 14:17-18 "He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you."
Takeaways:
- He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The Holy Spirit is therefore the spiritual manifestation of Jesus.
- The Holy Spirit was living with them "now" (Jesus), but He would soon be in them, in the same way that the Holy Spirit was in Jesus in Himself and in His humanity. When you have the Holy Spirit in you, the reality is that Jesus is walking with you as He was walking with the disciples. We start to see the manifestation of the Trinity here. The Holy Spirit was with the people, because Jesus was with the people. The Holy Spirit and Jesus are connected, the same, inseparable.
- Jesus would come to them, not leaving them as orphans, because they were (we are) His children. By the Holy Spirit, His children (us) and Himself are connected. We are inseparable from God because we have the Holy Spirit, so we literally have God with us, the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus - God with us. Holy Spirit is the tie that has sealed us and is holding us to Himself.
John 14:19-20 "Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."
Takeaways:
- Since Jesus was raised to life, so are we. Because Jesus lives, His new life and the entirety of God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is readily available to us.
- As we love Jesus, He reveals Himself to us.
John 14:16 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you"
- Jesus ASKS the Father. He doesn't demand. The relationship between the Father, Son and Spirit is one of respect, gentleness, love, submission, and gratitude.
- We see this in 1 Cor. 13:14 & Galatians 5:22-23
- As we love Jesus they way the Trinity loves each other, we are welcomed more fully into the presence of God. There is a dynamic between us and the Trinitarian relationship that is so closely interwoven, that it's clear, yet also still a deep mystery. We are to reflect in our interactions with God the way they (they persons of the Trinity) interact with each other – with patience; kindness; without jealousy; without boasting; without pride; without rudeness; without demanding our own way; without irritableness; without record of being or feeling wronged; without rejoicing about injustice, but rather rejoices when the truth wins; with a love that never loses faith, is constant in hope and endures perfectly no matter the circumstance (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). We are to interact with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
* We've heard that we are image bears of God - created in His image - and this passage brings more clarity into what that actually means. We are to be reflective of how God interacts with Himself - both to Him, and other people. God is relational, and the way He is relational within the Trinity, we must also be with Him and with humanity.
John 14:23 - "Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them."
- When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive ALL of God - Father, Son, Spirit. They cannot be separated from each other, so when you receive the Holy Spirit, you receive the FULLNESS of God. When you get one, you get all.