Notes on John 14: 15 – 21

Our read through, from four different versions of the Bible, showed the large disparity of terms used for the Holy Spirit: advocate, helper, comforter and counsellor. Our commentaries informed us that all these English words convey a sense of the Holy Spirit which is all these things and more. English does not have one word that would convey the richness of the Spirit. We discussed how the word advocate could mean not just defence but prosecution counsel as well, and we thought that this would refer to the conviction the Holy Spirit brings. The word comforter also has a different meaning today from the one it had two thousand years ago. The word comfort meant encouragement or courage. In fact it was a word used in warfare. When infantry soldiers made a line to advance, the soldiers behind the front line would have their weapons ready, therefore the front line soldiers would not be able to retreat. In this way they were encouraged and prodded to move forward. In a note from one Bible the Holy Spirit was referred to as standing by God’s people. All these meanings give a richness and diversity to the actions of the Holy Spirit. When we realise how much the Holy Spirit can do for the life of a Christian we come to trust more. We discussed our trust in God during service preparation and agreed that it was crucial to centre on the Spirit before putting a service together.

We noted the conditional “if” in verse 1 and linked this to the house built on rock. Faith or belief must include action as well as listening. We thought about which commandments Jesus was referring to here and we felt that they would be the two main ones: “Love the Lord your God with heart mind and spirit and your neighbour as yourself” and the one he has just given them to “love one another” (Chapter 13 verse 34). We noted that when he began these final words Jesus had washed the feet of the disciples, and we assumed that Jesus also had this in mind too. Therefore we felt that Jesus was talking about love in action: love and service to others were His commandments.

We asked the question why the world could not receive the Spirit (verse 17). Neil Richardson, in his book on John’s Gospel, answers this by saying that it is because the world does not know God. God is both Spirit and Son, so to know either one first has to acknowledge God. This got us into a discussion about other faiths and whether they had the same feeling of God being “in” them! Our answer brought us to verse 21 “The one who accepts my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me”. Many people love and serve, as Jesus commanded, but are not Christians. A few weeks ago we were discussing the way some Christians use John 10 verses 7 – 10: Jesus the only gateway to the Father. Here Jesus seems to be saying that those who obey him love him even if they do not believe! This links to the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew’s Gospel. It also links to Mark 10 38 – 41 where Jesus tells his disciples that whoever is not against him is for him.

Verse 17 confirms that the Spirit reveals God to the believer. We discussed this with reference to infant baptism. How is the baby aware of the Holy Spirit or the revelation of God? We thought that alongside infant baptism there had to be another revelatory moment when the adult received the Spirit in a way that an infant could not.

Verse 20 “I am in my Father and that you are in me” is a thought that is referred to again in the next chapter where Jesus uses the image of the vine and branches to make the same point. We thought that the sentiments expressed in this verse came from John’s community and were pertinent to it’s situation. They were being persecuted and needed encouragement to keep the faith; these words would help them. Jesus has begun this farewell discourse at chapter 13 where it is made clear that he knows he is about to die. We asked how he could know that, if he were truly human. Our answer was that John is writing from a post-resurrection perspective. John is writing to encourage his community to withstand persecution and to look forward to Jesus’ return. We agreed that Jesus as human may not know about his own resurrection but also we recognised that Jesus knew his scripture and in Job there is that wonderful passage “I know that my redeemer lives” If Jesus knew he was the messiah, which from the gospels we must assume he did, then he would have believed that he would be resurrected!

Verse 21 is a logical place to finish this reading as it completes the argument, but verse 22 includes a question that we thought was one John’s community may well have asked, and which may be relevant today. Sometimes Christians ask why God is not revealed to those who do not believe. The answer in verse 23 is sobering. Jesus refers back to his followers’ obeying him. Presumably God is revealed in our actions of love and service to others. God is revealed, but our focus has to change to recognise the revelation.

All the way through these notes I have referred to what Jesus says! However for the record I must acknowledge that at least one of our group would never use a text in this manner. They would make sure that they referred to the gospel writer rather than Jesus when relating who said what. We all agreed we had to be careful not to give a false impression of what is written in the Bible and why. John is writing this Gospel and we have to recognise that the words are his to a certain extent but he is writing or dictating from his own experience and memory. Much of chapters 13 – 18 repeat the same ideas in a different way using different images to help the teaching. We thought this might be due to an earlier oral tradition which depends on repetition to aid memory.

What would we preach on?

1. Using other passages from John, link up the different images used for the idea of remaining in the Father and the Son

2. Faith and works

3. Baptism and the Holy Spirit

4. Use one of the other lectionary passages e.g. Acts, and link the Gospel to it.