THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
In the Christmas season we have celebrated “Immanuel” or “God with us” in the birth of Jesus. That’s what Christmas is all about – rejoicing that God came into our world to live with us in the man, Jesus Christ.
But in the present tense, Jesus is no longer “with us” that we could go and find him and talk with him face-to-face. We cannot sit and eat with him. We cannot see his facial expressions and ask him his thoughts on matters that concern us. There are certain people in our lives that walk into a room give us a sense of relief. Jesus can’t do that for us. He’s not here; he’s not “with us.” We wish he was.
The disciples had followed Jesus for about three years. They had enjoyed his presence, eating with him, learning from him, knowing him, and loving him. Having Jesus in their lives was life changing. Jesus unpacked the mysteries of their world for them. He taught them about God. He showed them God. Jesus was the most important person in their lives.
Then one day, Jesus told them he had to go away and leave them. The disciples would not have the pleasure of his presence any longer. Fred Craddock captured the scene in a memorable image: He said the disciples were like children playing on the floor who happen to look up and see their parents putting on their coats and hats. They ask three questions:
Where are you going?
Can we go?
Then who is going to stay with us?
Jesus had repeatedly told them that he was going to die at the hands of the Jews. They didn’t get it. They did get that he was leaving. And to this last question, Jesus promises them that another paraclete is going to come and be with them to assure them of his abiding presence. This is the promise of the Holy Spirit. Where Jesus was with them, the Spirit was going to be in them.
He is given to those who love Jesus (John 14:15)
In John 14-17, Jesus gives a farewell speech to his disciples. It is here that we find this promise that Jesus will not leave the disciples without help once he’s gone. Jesus, in this sense, answers the question, “Who is going to stay with us?” They are then introduced to the person of the Holy Spirit and what he is going to do in them.
First, Jesus makes this remark: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” (15). I am amazed at how many preachers skip to the promise without considering this caveat. There is a direct link between this statement and the receiving of the Holy Spirit and it should not be ignored.
Who is the Holy Spirit given to? Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will be given to those who love him. But Jesus qualifies what it means to love him by connecting that love with obeying his commandments. Loving Jesus means obeying Jesus. It’s not uncommon logic. If a patriot says he loves his country, he won’t go and break every law. If you love your spouse, you are not going to flirt with another.
Loving Jesus is expressed in a firm belief that what he taught is true and worth following in life. It is not so difficult a concept. John expanded on this idea in his first letter (see 1 John 5:1-3). Jesus taught that the whole law is summed up in the Great Commandment and its companion: Love the Lord your God and love one another.
Whose feet do we wash and whose feet do we ignore? What are the boundaries of love? Do we keep these commandments? Is our love growing, expanding, transforming the way we think and influencing our world? If yes, then Jesus is a present reality for us, and we are experiencing the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives.
Keeping the commandments is our access to Jesus’ promise that we will not be left without help. Keeping the commandments does not make Jesus present to us. It makes us present to the already ongoing reality of Jesus’ presence. The commandments do not earn us Jesus’ love, they reveal our love for him, a love that finds its source from his presence in us.
He is “Another Paraclete” (John 14:16)
I know, I know, the word “paraclete” is rather foreign to our ears. Here’s what Jesus says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you,” (16). Depending on your translation, you may see the word “Helper,” “Comforter,” or “Friend.” These terms are inadequate to fully explain what the Holy Spirit does for us. That’s why I’m using the word “paraclete.”
What’s a paraclete? It’s a Greek term that is untranslatable and can only be described. It’s like “schmaunt faut.” It literally means, ‘one called alongside to help.’ In the ancient Greek world, a paraclete could help in different ways. This person…
· May be called in to give witness in a law court in someone’s favor.
· May be an advocate verifying your character when someone maligns your name.
· May be an expert called in to give advice in a difficult situation.
· May be called in when a company of soldiers lose morale and need someone to give them courage in heart and mind.
Did you notice that Jesus says, “another advocate”? Jesus was telling the disciples that the Spirit’s presence would replace Jesus’ encouraging and strengthening presence with them while on earth. The Holy Spirit had accompanied Jesus throughout his ministry and now the Spirit will accompany the disciples in the same way. He has been “with them” in Christ, but now he will be “in them” as the Spirit of Christ.
We can’t miss this important piece: Everything that can be said about the Paraclete (the Holy Spirit) has been said in other parts of the Gospel narratives about Jesus. Both are sent by the Father; Jesus is the truth – the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth; Jesus is the Holy One of God – the Spirit is the Holy Spirit; Jesus bears witness – the Spirit is a witness.
When Jesus tells the saddened disciples he is going away, he says, “Don’t worry. I am sending you another like me to come alongside you and help you. He will be all to you that I am now. He will even be in you.”
He Opens our eyes to Reality (John 14:17a)
There are apparently 87 titles for the Holy Spirit in the Bible. We have looked at Paraclete and we will look at one more. Jesus gives us this title: Spirit of Truth.
Jesus said, “He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth,” (17a). I was surprised to discover that “truth” is another way of saying “reality.” How do we know what is true? How do we know what is real? What Jesus infers to us is that the Spirit reveals the truth about our world and the meaning of life as we are able to know it.
There are many illusions in life, things that we think are true, but which aren’t true at all, principles upon which we act expecting certain results and then disappoint. People are blinded by the philosophies of this age; they are obsessed with rights believing that if we all accept their way of living and thinking they will be happier. They clamber for freedom to express themselves and live how they want but insist that you not oppose their choice. They want to be free, but we are not free to follow Christ because that infringes on their freedom.
In the midst of this confusing spirit of the age, Jesus has given his people the Spirit of Truth. He has come to help us understand life as it really is, to unmask the illusions, and to strip off falsehoods. He has come to remind us of God’s reality.
Jesus expanded on this role of the Spirit saying, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard…” (John 16:13-14). And I truly believe that while the Bible is the primary source of God’s truth, that the God who created the world through the agency of his Son, Jesus Christ, continues to reveal truth through science and technological discoveries (to name a few). In other words, God has given us a world to explore as a medium for knowing him better. The truth is out there, they say, and it can be known through the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.
He lives in you because you know Him (John 14:17b-c)
Jesus does not soft pedal about who has the Spirit and who doesn’t. He said that those who understand him and love him will take on his commands to love God and love each other. It makes sense then, doesn’t it, that those who have the Spirit are those who buck the trend of “me first” that the world teaches and love others at the cost of not being loved in return. That’s the “Jesus way.”
So, Jesus said, “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,” (17b-c). There are two remarkable features of this saying.
First, the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit (in fact, doesn’t want him). The world, according to the NT, is the spirit of the world, those we call secularists or humanists – people who live life without a thought to what God wants or decrees as good. They look at life from a human point of view believing that humankind can solve its own problems, that the human spirit will triumph over anything. Education has been secularized by this view so that knowledge is the god that will save the earth.
Second, Jesus says that you know the Holy Spirit. We know him because we know Jesus. The Spirit is not a stranger to us. You have known him all along in your Christian walk. You may not have recognized him, but you are familiar with him. This meant more to the disciples at that moment when Jesus said it. They were the ones with breaking hearts as Jesus said his farewells. But he said not to worry – you know me, you’ll know the Holy Spirit because of me. Jesus was with them; the Spirit will live in them. And because this is true for us as well, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Think of that, God dwells…in…you!
You remember at the beginning of John 14, Jesus said he was going to the Father to prepare a place for the disciples. At the same time, the Holy Spirit (Paraclete) comes into your life to prepare a place for the Father and the Son. It is no mistake that both homes are revealed in the same chapter. Jesus, as Paraclete, makes a home in the presence of the Father for his people. The Holy Spirit, as Paraclete, makes a home for the Father and the Son in the believer. You as an individual, as well as all of us as the church, have become a dwelling place where God lives by his Spirit. The world can’t grasp this reality, but we do, and we see the effects of his presence in how we are being transformed into the image of Christ.
I have read a few comments on a site called “Quora” – a site where people can ask any question, and anyone can answer – and some have asked if Jesus was a myth created by the church. I find these threads disturbing. Part of my angst is wondering how to answer someone who says that Jesus was a concoction of the disciples’ imagination.
What scholarly proofs do you bring to this debate? What historical evidences can you provide to refute the skeptics’ doubts? How do you prove Jesus?
As I was considering this and praying over it, the Spirit no less spoke to my heart and said, “Changed lives.” Begin with the disciples who cowered in the shadows when Christ was killed and then faced death in the face when filled the Spirit to testify about Jesus. Then go to Paul, the persecutor of Christians who became a missionary for Jesus. And then follow the trail down through history of the thousands of people who were changed from degenerate and wicked men and women into selfless followers of Jesus. Think of those who cared not for reputation or popularity but flung them aside to dangerously live for Jesus. Think of your own life – what you once were and what the Spirit has done to change you from an infant of grace to a maturing lover of God and God’s people.
The proof of the reality of Jesus Christ, historically, theologically, spiritually, and empirically rests in the evidence of changed lives. Through the Holy Spirit, you have come to believe in Christ and through the Holy Spirit who now lives in you, you are being changed from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18). As Paul said, this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Immanuel, “God with us,” is now “God in us.” Jesus did not leave us alone but has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to live the “Jesus way.”
AMEN
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