You’ve just been given a big assignment at work or in one of your classes at school, and you find that it’s beyond your level. You just don’t have the capability to complete the task properly. Maybe you are brand new on the job or in the class, and you need someone to help you. Not feeling qualified for a task can give someone a rather sinking feeling, especially when that job needs to be done. You need someone to come alongside you to help and teach you what you need to know to accomplish what you need to in order to complete that task. Followers of Jesus have an important assignment to bring the Gospel to the whole world, yet knowing that He would no longer be physically present with us, Jesus promised us just such a Helper as we would need. In our Gospel reading for today we read the promise Jesus made to us for the Helper we need.
Just hours before His crucifixion, Jesus spent some time with the Apostles, teaching and instructing them, preparing them for the task that would face them after He returned to heaven. One promise that Jesus made was that after His ascension back to heaven, He would send them the Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed that God would send “another”, someone of the same kind, someone like Himself who would take His place and do His work (vs. 16). The Holy Spirit is the 3rd Person of the Trinity, having the same deity as Jesus and God the Father. The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within all believers, helping us live as God wants, and building Christ’s church on earth.
The Greek word used in verse 16, that Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit is “parakletos”, which means an advocate, an intercessor, someone called to be a helper, an assistant, a consoler and comforter. He is an advocate, called alongside for aid in times of trouble. The Holy Spirit is our helper, our counselor, our comforter. He is on our side, working for and with us. The Holy Spirit is there to encourage, exhort, and help us.
Jesus promised this Helper to come to His followers, those who have accepted Him as their personal Savior. He will take up permanent residence in all believers, all Christians. The Holy Spirit will be with us forever (vs. 16). The world at large cannot accept Him, but He lives with and in us (vs. 17). When we feel that the task we have at hand for the Lord seems insurmountable, when we feel inadequate for the job, when we are opposed on every side, we do not need to fear. The Holy Spirit is right there with us and is in us. He is our Teacher, our Intercessor, our Helper.
The Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of Truth (vs. 17). He is the source of truth, and communicates truth to believers. Today we wonder who we can believe any more. The news media can’t be relied upon to give us the truth, neither newspapers, magazines, or television news. We all know that we cannot trust that the truth will come from any politicians. So where can we find the truth? The truth comes from God alone, and through His Word, the Bible. Apart from the Holy Spirit one cannot know God’s truth.
We may feel deserted or opposed by family or others. We may feel all alone, and not know where or to whom we can turn to. If we are believers and God’s children, we can know that we are never alone. God has sent us His Spirit to be with us and in us. Knowing God’s intimate presence gives us confidence in the middle of trouble. Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the power that Jesus demonstrated while on earth prevails in those who now call upon Him for aid. The believer is secure in Christ, and Christ is in God (vs. 20).
As the Apostle John closes up this passage of Scripture, Jesus tells us that if we say that we love God, we are to show it by obeying what He says in His Word (vs. 21). Love for Jesus Christ is inseparable from obedience (vs. 15). It does not matter how many times we read through the Bible, it does not matter how many Bible verses we memorize, or how many classes of theology we’ve taken, if we aren’t obeying God it won’t matter. What does matter is obeying and keeping God’s Word.
We can rejoice that if we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior, we now have the Holy Spirit to come alongside us to help and teach us, indwelling us every minute of every day of our life. We do not need to fear that we are on our own as orphans. And if we love Jesus, we need to obey His Word and keep His commandments.
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