What
would qualify a person as a “real Christian?” What daily practices would they
have to observe? What would they have to know? These questions and others like
them would be interesting topics for an information session or a class for new
believers. There is one basic thing that each and every Christian must have to
be a real Christian, and Jesus mentioned it in the reading we heard from John
14:15-21, and it is the Holy Spirit.
John
14:15-21 is another part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. Jesus
has just told the disciples that he is going to be crucified. Now he is telling
them that he will not leave them alone because he will send the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will guide them and remind them of everything Jesus said, taught
and did. In that sense, Jesus will be with them forever.
The
disciples saw the risen Christ and knew the truth about Jesus and his
relationship to them. They would live because Jesus lived. In other words,
Jesus would live on because of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit would live
in the disciples just like the Holy Spirit lives in all believers. Because the
Holy Spirit lives in all believers, they will show their love for Jesus by
keeping all of his commandments. By keeping his commandments and doing Jesus’
work in our world, the Holy Spirit and Jesus live in all believers.
The
Holy Spirit’s role in our lives is the same role the Holy Spirit had in the
lives of the disciples. He is a helper, teacher, guide and encourager. He
continues to do Jesus’ work. He gives us gifts that are based on the character
of Christ. In return, we are to work in the Spirit and obey God.
John
14:15-21 marks a change in the relationship between believers and the world.
Until this point, Jesus has defined the world to include all of humanity that
is opposed to him because of sin. Now, there arises a difference between the
world and those who believe in Jesus. Both groups are opposed to each other.
Those
who believe in Jesus and his death and resurrection are inseparable from Jesus,
especially through the Holy Spirit. We will see Jesus in heaven, but in the
meantime we have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit allows believers to see Jesus
even though he is no longer with us. Since we “see” Jesus, it stands to reason
that he can “see” us. Therefore, he can see whether or not we are obeying him.
As we continue to obey him, our spiritual sight gets stronger.
The
Holy Spirit will always stand beside God’s people. The Holy Spirit is referred
to as “the Spirit of truth” because truth is part of the nature of the Holy
Spirit’s mission. The Holy Spirit testifies to God’s truth and brings people to
the truth through conviction that leads to repentance and faith.
When
the Holy Spirit is present, Jesus is present. When Jesus is present, God is
present. John 14:15-21 helps us to understand the Christian life and God’s will
for our lives. It allows us to see things as Christ sees them. The Trinity
teaches us to love unconditionally and respect boundaries and roles. John’s
Gospel sees love as the key to following Jesus.
At
this point in our church year we are getting ready for Pentecost. During these
weeks between Easter and Pentecost we have been describing what it means to be
a Christian and a church. Jesus’ resurrection has changed us into a people who
are living beyond the power of death. The Scripture readings we have heard
since Easter Sunday are full of references to the Holy Spirit and the work the
Holy Spirit will do among believers. In John 14:12, Jesus said that the
disciples would do greater works than he did. That is because Jesus in his
human body could only be in one place at one time, whereas the Holy Spirit can
dwell within all believers, wherever they are, all the time. To do this, Jesus
said in verses 14 to 16 that the disciples would need prayer, obedience and the
Holy Spirit. The greater works referred to are the proclamation of the fact of deliverance and the hope and promise of salvation.
God
wants to reveal himself to us and he reveals himself to us through Jesus, but
only if our hearts belong to Jesus. That’s why Jesus revealed himself to only a
select few people after his resurrection. He knew that there were a lot of
people who refused to believe that he rose from the dead. In other words, their
hearts did not belong to Jesus.
Loving
Jesus means wanting him because he is desirable. It means admiring him because
he is infinitely admirable. It means treasuring him because he is very valuable.
It means enjoying him because he is enjoyable. It means being satisfied with
all that he is because he is infinitely satisfying. It is the response of the
reawakened human soul to all that is true and good and beautiful and embodied
in Jesus.
The
Holy Spirit is just like Jesus, so following the Holy Spirit is no different
from following Jesus. The only difference is that the Holy Spirit’s leadership
is invisible instead of physical. The Holy Spirit is the exact image of both
Jesus and God.
No
one can produce the love we need to do God’s work except the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will help us obey Jesus’
instructions because it gives us revelation from God’s word. When we are filled
with the Holy Spirit, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, he changes us and
his love flows from us. This lifestyle of obedience will increase our trust in
God. We will be able to commit to obeying God, and our study of the Scriptures
will be consistent.
The
Holy Spirit can transform us once we understand it. It will help us to model
the type of Christian behaviour that we want to teach other people. If our
behaviour is unbelievable, we will deceive ourselves in the long run. When the
Holy Spirit changes us, we will be able to withstand all of life’s problems. We
will have peace in our hearts. We will have hope when we are hurting. This will
only be possible when Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the centre of our hearts
and thoughts.
No
man-made idols will be able to withstand the truth of God’s love if we open our
hearts and invite the Holy Spirit to live in us. Money will not make us happy,
because the Holy Spirit teaches that happiness can’t be bought. Power and
control are not important because the Holy Spirit teaches us that truth,
kindness and love are more important.
When
the Holy Spirit is in us, it shows that we love Jesus. We must always ask
ourselves what the condition of our love for God is. How do we respond to God’s
love for us by loving others? We often think of God’s love as being
unconditional, but this passage from John’s Gospel concludes with two
conditions for receiving God’s love-keeping Jesus’ commandments and loving
Jesus. These two conditions are so interdependent that Jesus binds them
together as if they were one. When we love Jesus, we will obey his commandments
and we will not find them burdensome. On the contrary, we will obey them
joyfully, because the Holy Spirit inspires us to go into the world and share
God’s love, even if the world can’t or won’t accept this message. The world
doesn’t know the Holy Spirit of truth and love yet, but if we allow God’s truth
and love to speak through us, the world will know this life-changing,
life-saving message.
2.
Jeremiah,
David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood,
TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013)
3.
Swindoll,
Charles R.: Swindoll’s New Testament
Insights on John (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan; 2010)
4.
Frederikson,
R.L. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s
Commentary Series, Vol. 27: John (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1985)
5.
White, J.E.
in Holman Concise Bible Commentary (Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1998)
6.
ESV Study
Bible. Part of Wordsearch 10 Bible Software package.
7.
Rick Renner,
“Jesus’ Last Lesson for the Disciples”. Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
15.
Jude
Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, Sixth Sunday of Easter (A).” Retrieved
from www.preacherexchange.org
16.
Lectionary
Homiletics, Vol. XXV, No. 3 (St. Paul, MN: Luther Seminary; April/May 2014)
17.
Johnathan Shively, “Evangelectionary for Sunday, May
25, 2014.” Retrieved from www.evangelismconnections.com
18. The Rev. Jason Cox, “Paul: Appealing or Appalling?”
Retrieved from www.episcopaldigitialnetwork.com
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