John 14 15-21 additional notes
We could talk here about God the Father and Son. “I am in the Father and the Father is in me,” said Jesus to his disciples on the night before his crucifixion (John 14:10). They were bound together — bound as tightly as Derek and Jim Redmond — as they approached the finish line at the cross.
But a stronger image emerges. Here are the disciples, who’ve been riding on the back of Jesus for three years. This gravy train, such as it was, was coming to an end. He’s talking about his own death in terms that the disciples don’t clearly understand.
Something is in the wind. But Jesus says to them, as they now begin to feel the tension, that he “will not leave [them] orphaned”(14:18). “I am coming to you,” he says, and his coming is in the form of the Holy Spirit or here called in the Greek, the Paraclete, or the Advocate (14:16).
The word evokes a juridical drama, especially since Jesus himself is described as a paraclete in 1 John 2:1. Jesus is our advocate, i.e., he stands in court with us, pleading our case.
Here, the Holy Spirit is described as another Advocate. Like Jesus, the Holy Spirit will also stand in for us. The Holy Spirit will strengthen us, keep us on track, because he is the “Spirit of truth” (14:17).
So let’s review.
The disciples are called to get into the action, to run this race, as it were. But Jesus is there with them. They never could have done it without him. In their faith run, they’ve never been alone. Jesus has always been there. The very physicality of Jesus has been their source of reassurance. The miracles, the teaching, the leadership. It’s been enough to keep them going.
Now he’s talking of dropping out. The unthinkable’s happening. How are they to proceed? Some are no doubt already contacting their fishing buddies to see if there’s an opening in the cannery at Capernaum.
But Jesus says that even after his death he will still be with them. He will still encourage them, plead with them, pray for them, teach them.
But the nature of his presence will change. “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me,” he says (14:19). He will be present to them in the form of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth.
They will not run this race alone, they will not have to cross the finish line alone.
We all have been in those circumstances where we sign on to do something as long as we have someone to help us with it. If we have to do it alone, forget it.
This is the key issue here. The disciples signed on because Jesus was team leader. We signed on because we believed that God would be present in our lives, that God was trustworthy, that God was Someone we could count on.
Then, things happen that seem to suggest that God is not with us. That Jesus has indeed left us “orphaned” (14:18). And when that happens we’re tempted to take a DNF.
It’s a strong image: orphaned. It’s the feeling that your own parents have rejected and abandoned you. Your parents! Or perhaps the parents are no longer present because of a tragedy. You are orphaned! You do not have even your closest blood relatives alive to support and encourage you.
Jesus told his disciples that he would not leave them “orphaned,” i.e., without a “parent” present in their lives.
In his book, A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural (1970), sociologist Peter Berger tells of a priest working in the slums of a European city. “Why do you do it,” someone asked. He answered, “So that the rumor of God may not disappear completely.”
Here is the question: How are we going to react when the rumor of God is fading? When we pull up with a hamstring, and no one is coming out of the stands to help us, to put their arms around us? Are we alone?
No.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of life
“What is your only comfort, in life and in death?” asks the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism, a Protestant teaching tool that was written way back in 1562. The answer is as true today as it was almost 500 years ago: “That I belong — body and soul, in life and in death — not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”
We belong to Jesus Christ, and his Spirit gives us life. This is good news for any of us who find ourselves limping toward a finish line.
The Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of love. “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me,” says Jesus to his disciples; “and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them” (14:21). The love between God and Jesus is never limited to a supernatural Father-Son relationship — it spills over into our lives and saturates us with unconditional acceptance and affection and acknowledgment.
Of course, there are strings attached. Jesus does talk about obedience. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (14:15). That sounds difficult, demanding, and even daunting. The important thing to keep in mind is that the commandments of Jesus all involve living a life of love. Just a few verses earlier, Jesus says to his disciples, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (13:34).
When you are feeling defeated, love one another. When the medical test is disturbing, love one another. When a family member faces a layoff, love one another. When there’s a death in the community, love one another. When a friend has been rejected, love one another. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,” says Jesus, “if you have love for one another” (13:35).
The Spirit of truth leads us into a life of love, thus comforting us and carrying us through anything life throws at us.
“I’m here,” says Jesus, in every time and place and situation. “We’re not taking a DNF. We’ll finish together.”
A father rushes onto the track to help his injured son finish his race. Likewise, the Holy Spirit comes to us to help us finish ours. Derek Redmond was determined. He had to finish the race. Period.