Episode 109 - "The Spirit of Truth" John 16:12-15

John 16:12   “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

There are few things as central to the historic Christian faith and yet so mysterious as the doctrine of the Trinity. Contrary to the skeptical accusations of some, the doctrine of the Trinity is not a later invention of the Church. There is no evidence that the word “trinity” was used by the Apostles and our earliest evidence of its use, I believe, is in the late second century. But, the earliest Christians understood Jesus to have a divine nature as I’ve already pointed out in the text of this gospel. Yet, there is no evidence that these Christians believed there were multiple gods. They were monotheists. 

Notice what Jesus is saying here about the Holy Spirit. Already he has spoken of the Holy Spirit as the paracletos, the Advocate or Helper, and has described what the Holy Spirit will do for the disciples. Now he gives us more information about the Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth.” In John 1, we read that absolutely nothing was created (Greek - ginomai) apart from the Logos (Word who was with God and was God). The expands the identity of “the Word”  in verse 17 where John reveals  “grace and truth came through (ginomai) Jesus Christ.” This ties up the loose ends that the Word who was with God and was God is Jesus Christ. He is the source of truth. Now in John 16:13 Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of truth.” What does that say about the nature of the Holy Spirit? To me, it speaks of the divine nature of the Spirit. But, he doesn’t stop with that.

Jesus adds, “for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (v. 13b) Does that sound familiar? It sounds consistent with Jesus’ description of himself. (See John 5:19 and following.) Even though Jesus shares in the divine essence, he only says and does what the Father gives him to say and do. 

In verse 14, Jesus says of the Spirit, “He will glorify me.” So, we see the Son glorifying the Father, the Spirit glorying Jesus, and the Father will glorify the Son. Here lies a principle that moves me: the persons within the divine Godhead are fully committed to the glory of each other. This is further clarified in the rest of verse 14 and 15 where all that belongs to the Father also belongs to Jesus and the Holy Spirit will declare it all to Jesus’ disciples. If only we creatures made in God’s image would do the same, what a different world this would be.

There is perfect harmony and otherliness within the divine Godhead and this triune God is sharing it with his human creatures. Does that not blow your mind?

May our prayers reflect our desire for God’s love to affect our attitudes and actions toward others and inspire thankfulness of God’s unsurpassed generosity towards us.

Episode 97 - "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." John 14:8-11

John 14:8   Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

If I were to give this section a title, I might be tempted to call it “Weird stuff Jesus said.” What is this “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” stuff? Even for us seminarians, processing statements like this can be frustrating. We ask, “How can this be?” We want to be able to compartmentalize the details as if it were a mathematical formula. My suspicion why we can’t is that it’s not supposed to be completely understood in the limited capacities of us humans. We are speaking about God. God is the Creator and we are the creature and we’re broken through our sin. So, what do we do with this?

Let us focus first on the request by Philip which appears to be on behalf of the others with him. He said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” (v. 8) This is simple enough to understand I think. Philip is saying, “Lord, show us God and then we’ll trust you.” I think a lot of people say this exact thing today. “If I could have just seen Jesus work some miracles, I would believe.” 

The first problem with this line of thinking is it is not true. People will not necessarily believe if they could see Jesus work miracles. Why? Because John has already demonstrated this truth in this very book hasn’t he. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, many believed in him. That’s great! BUT . . .John also records that instead of believing in Jesus, some returned to the Pharisees (the religious leaders who consistently rejected Jesus). (John 11:45-46) The man born blind reminded the Pharisees that never before had anyone born blind received their sight and that Jesus must be from God in order to make that happen. The religious leaders cast him out in rejection. (John 9:32-34) 

The second problem with this line of thinking is it is not true. Are you smiling? Wasn’t that the first problem? Yes. But, I want to emphasize the point by leading us to Jesus’ response to Philip’s request. Jesus said, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”(v.9)  Ouch! Jesus is saying, I have shown you the Father. All the miracles I’ve done and everything I have taught you is from the Father and it reveals that I’m not just another prophet bringing a message. I am the unique Son who has the same essence or nature of God and I have come to be present with you so that you can see God. (My paraphrase) This is why Jesus repeats and emphasizes, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” (vv. 10,11) This is foundational for the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Some people think that this doctrine teaches there are three gods. That is not accurate. Christianity strongly holds to a belief in one God. However, it also believes that this God is “three in person; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” The three persons of the trinity are said to be in one essence. They have different roles. But, there is no difference in their nature. 

Notice that Jesus does NOT say, “I am the Father and the Father is me.” God does NOT change from one person to the next. There are three distinct persons within the Godhead but remain one God. 

Bringing this back to Jesus’ response to the Philip and the disciples and what we can learn from this is that when we listen to Jesus’ teaching and consider the things he did, we should ask ourselves, “What does this reveal about Jesus?” The answer we should arrive at is, “It reveals that Jesus truly is God and we can trust him.” 

A few other Scripture verses that may help us better, if not fully, understand Jesus divinity are:

John 12:45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.

Colossians 1:15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  (Note: “The firstborn of all creation” means that he has the authority from the Father God over all creation.)

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Episode 38 - Honor God by honoring the Son

Episode 38 - John 5:19-24

John 5:19   So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

The rest of chapter five is Jesus speaking to these Jewish leaders who want to kill him because they believe he broke the Sabbath and committed blasphemy by calling God his own father. I’m going to break this up into three episodes to call attention to details given by Jesus and how they are related to each other.

As you scan through the rest of chapter five, you’ll notice that there are three times Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you . . . “ That is a marker that we should take notice of what he is about to say because it's important. The first begins with “the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing . . . “(v19) The second begins with, “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life . . . “ (v24) The third occurrence begins with, “an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” (v25) We are going to look at these first two in this episode.

Jesus’ words “the Son can do nothing of his own accord,” may seem to create a problem when we consider the fact that the author has already clearly expressed and shown that Jesus is God. If that’s true, how can He as the Son of God and full deity “not” be able to do something on his “own accord?” God should be able to do anything on His own accord, right? The answer lies in the context that follows. He “ONLY” (my emphasis) does what he sees the Father doing. What follows then is this picture of a loving Father that shows His Son exactly what He himself does. This helps us have an idea of one aspect of our Triune God. The word Trinity in reference to God did not exist at the time of Jesus' time on earth. Yet, the human authors of our Christian Scriptures are sharing truths about Jesus to help us understand this mysterious nature of God. God is One; yet three in person; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What this shows us is the perfect will that exists between the Father and the Son. The statement that “the Son can do nothing of his own accord” is not lack of ability. It speaks of the Son’s complete dependence of will and harmony with the Father. 

Verse 21 reveals that just as the Father gives life to the dead, the Son has that authority as well. But, what He does will be in complete, perfect accordance with the will of the Father. 

Verse 22 and following reveal that the Father has given the Son responsibility and authority to judge for the purpose that people will honor the Son. This tells us that the Father’s will is for us not to think of Jesus as one who is secondary or slightly less important than the Father. The Father specifically wants us to honor His Son. In verse 23, Jesus tells them, “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him (the Son).” This is a strong and harsh statement to Jesus’ antagonists who claim that they are honoring God because they are rejecting Jesus. My interpretation of what Jesus is telling them is, I am not coming on my own behalf. I have been sent by the Father and I am only doing what He wants me to do. If you do not recognize that and believe me, then you are not honoring the Father.

This brings us to the second “Truly, truly, I say to you . . . “ statement. Jesus has just said in verse 22 “the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.” This should evoke in our minds the question, “what judgment would he give and on what basis?” Here is the answer in verse 24. Jesus says, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Jesus’ word will be in perfect harmony with the Father’s word since the Son does nothing on his own accord. That is why hearing Jesus’ word and believing him who sent Jesus are intrinsically tied together. Jesus IS the Father’s Word, the Father’s message to mankind. Anyone who has heard and believed in Jesus has already escaped the judgment of death. We’ll learn more about this in coming episodes. But, the important thing here is that once someone has believed the Father about Jesus, they have gained eternal life. This recalls John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Episode 31 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life

John 3:31-36   He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

The third chapter of John’s gospel has evoked much scholarly discussion over the years regarding where Jesus’ words to Nicodemus end and where the author takes over and subsequently where John the Baptist’s teaching to his disciples ends as well. Is it John the Baptist still speaking in verse 31 or is this John the apostle picking up the point from the Baptizer and explaining the truth more completely for his audience. I am inclined to see this section as the author’s interpretation and explanation of the significance of who Jesus is.

The point in verse 31 there are those who are “earthly.” Nicodemus, John the Baptist, and John the apostle himself are from the earth. But, there is “He who comes from above” and he is superior to all. He understands things of heaven and earth and he “bears witness to what he has seen and heard” (v32), but “no one receives his testimony.” Essentially, the one who knows more and knows truthfully shares the truth. But, as we’ve seen with Nicodemus, the representative ruler of the Jews and teacher of Israel, they have not received Jesus’ teaching even though Nicodemus stated that “we know that you’ve come from God.” 

In verse 33, John speaks of the exception, “Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.” What does that mean? To set one’s seal is to make a uniquely identifying mark on something which signifies the one who initiated or authorized a document or agreement. So, to receive the testimony of the One who came from above is to strongly affirm that you believe God is true. Craig Keener in volume 1 of his two-volume “The Gospel of John: A Commentary” suggests that using this imagery of a seal could mean that this believer becomes a witness as well. (Vol 1, pg. 582) 

Verse 34 explains the reasoning for this assertion; “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.” The first part of this is explaining that Jesus (the One whom God has sent) utters the words of God. He is not coming with his own agenda or message. The second part is a little confusing. It evokes the question of who is giving the Spirit without measure? Is it God the Father or Jesus the Son? In chapter one John the Baptist saw the Spirit descending and remaining upon Jesus signifying the Father’s identification of Jesus as the one whom John the Baptist was to direct people. Later in this gospel, we see how Jesus will promise to send the Holy Spirit to be with those who trust in him. So, in a sense, they are both “givers” of the Holy Spirit, which is consistent with what we’ve been learning since the opening verse of this book; that the Son is divine and always has been. He is from above. Verse 35 gives us a glimpse at the difference in person between the Father and the Son. “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” We see oneness in divinity but uniqueness in person. This contributes to the Trinitarian doctrine of the Christian faith; there is only one God, that is three in person. Verse 35 emphasizes the Father’s love toward the Son and gives him all authority. Yet, the Son does not come speaking his own words, but that of the Father. This is a picture of harmony of will between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The message culminates in a reinforcement of mankind’s need to believe in the Son. The one who believes in the Son receives eternal life. However, the one who disobeys (or disbelieves) the Son “shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Why? The point of this text is that if you do not believe the Son, you are not setting your seal that God is true, and therefore, you’re calling God a liar.