Understanding the Red Letters Part 35
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you” (John 16:12-15).
In Jesus’ sermon in the upper room, we learn that after nearly three years, Christ’s direct speaking and revelation to His disciples is coming to an end. Enter the Holy Spirit. The Spirit that Christ is sending, here described as the “Spirit of truth”, will continue Jesus’ ministry of revelation. The Spirit will guide the disciples, and us, “into all the truth”.
Jesus is the embodiment of truth. It is part of His three-fold identity; the way, the truth, and the life. The Spirit’s guidance “into all the truth” will be a further unfolding of all the truth that is found in Jesus. We learned in John 14:26 that the Spirit will illuminate all that Jesus taught.
Jesus insisted more than once that he did not speak or act on His own initiative. His words were those that the Father gave Him (John 5:19, 30; 8:28; 12:49). So when the Spirit of truth comes, “He will not speak on His own initiative.” He will follow the pattern of Jesus, disclosing what He has heard from the Father.
The message the Spirit discloses never changes. But by virtue of the Spirit being in us and speaking through us, the message is being proclaimed by the Spirit in the exact way that the Father prescribes for each generation. The Spirit and His message are moving in time and space upon the earth, illuminating the hearts and minds of Christ’s faithful.
The Spirit will glorify the Son by taking all that the Son has, which in itself has come from the Father, and will disclose it to us. The Trinity, God in three persons, is clearly on display in this passage. The Son has appeared and lived into all that the Father had for Him. The Spirit will carry on the work.
The Spirit glorifies the Son by unfolding clearly the meaning of Jesus’ person and work. Hear the Spirit. As you read, worship, and contemplate all that God is revealing to you, you are listening to the Spirit’s voice.
One of the misconceptions sometimes heard in our Bible churches is that God only speaks to us through the Bible. I don’t believe that that is the only way He “guides us to the truth”. The direct revelation of the Spirit also reveals the truth to us. I have seen how this works in someone very close to me. I will share her Holy Spirit story next time.