THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

 

Jesus knew that the disciples were not ready. They understood so little and misunderstood even more. They were in serious need of more teaching and guidance. That’s why, on the eve of his departure, he would ask the father to send them the Holy Spirit. The Spirit would be their teacher and guide in his absence.

It was as if God, Jesus, and the Spirit were on a relay team. God had run the first leg, speaking, teaching, and guiding his people directly from heaven. Then Jesus, coming to earth in the form of man, took the baton and run the second leg. He taught and guided his followers while in their midst. Now Jesus is ready to hand off the baton to the Holy Spirit, who is to run the third and final leg of the race. The Spirit was to come and continue to teach and guide the believers as he lives within them.

Jesus tells the disciples that he had so much more to tell them but that they were not ready to bear it all. What did Jesus mean and what more did the disciples need to know?

While no one knows for sure, it seems to me that Jesus knew that, for one thing, the disciples had still not fully grasped who he was and what he was trying to accomplish. Their concept of “Messiah” was still misplaced as seen by their behavior on the last night and the subsequent week. They thought everything was over when Jesus died on the cross instead of seeing that event as just the beginning. Second, they still had to search out the implications, for themselves and others, of the teaching of Jesus. What would it mean to love your enemy, for example? Or to love one another? And most important, they had to examine and face the consequences of acknowledging Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, the Christ, and the Son of God. How would that proclamation change their lives and the lives of those around them?

But at that point in time, on the night before the crucifixion, the disciples were still wrapped in blankets of innocence and ignorance. Oh they had seen the power of Jesus and had even called him Lord, but they still had so much more to learn and to face. All these things and a thousand more were still to be faced by the young, fragile band of believers and any who would later come to faith. They would need help in sorting these things out. Jesus knew it. And the Holy Spirit would provide that help.

The Holy Spirit would continue on with the disciples’ development and teaching. He would do this by “guiding them into all truth.” In fact Jesus called the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth”. First, the Spirit will not speak or teach on his own but only what the Father and the Son have taught. There was continuity and harmony in what was to be taught to the believers. It will not contradict or radically alter what has been taught by Jesus.

Second, the Spirit would help the disciples by reminding them of what Jesus had taught them while he was among them. This would aid the first disciples. This teaching also carried within it the seeds of the apostolic writings that we would eventually come to know as the revealed and inspired writings of the New Testament. The Spirit, then, was and is also concerned for the development and teaching of all disciples, past and present.

Third, the spirit of truth would reveal the depth of the teachings of Christ and their real implications for the future. One example of this can be seen in Acts 10 where we find the Spirit guiding Peter to reach out with the gospel to Gentiles. This proved to be a major step in the growth of the kingdom and a radical step away from the practices of the early Jewish church.

The Holy Spirit brings Glory to God and to the Son. The Spirit does not seek his own glory. The Spirit does not seek his own followers. The Spirit does not seek to displace God or Jesus. No, the Holy Spirit seeks to serve and to serve well, and in so doing brings glory and honor to the Father. Amen