Read John 14:15-21
Questions for Littles: Upon what condition does the command in John 14:15 depend? What is the command for those who do love Jesus? What will Jesus do for those who love Him and keep His commandments (John 14:16)? What will the Father do? What will the Helper do—how long will He abide with Jesus’s disciples? What name is the Helper given in John 14:17? Who cannot receive Him? What two other things can the world not do with the Spirit? Who do know Him already in verse 17? With whom does the Spirit already dwell when Jesus says this? In whom would He later be? In what condition will Jesus not leave the disciples (John 14:18)? What will He do in the giving of the Spirit? Who will not see Jesus once Jesus is gone (John 14:19)? Who will still see Jesus? What will the connection be between their life and Jesus’s life? What will they know about Jesus and His Father in that day (John 14:20)? What will they know about themselves and Christ? What two evidences does John 14:21 give for recognizing whom they are who love Jesus? What will the Father do for the one who loves Jesus? What two things will Jesus do.Lovers of Christ receive the greatest gift: Christ Himself and, through Him, the fellowship of the Triune God. This is why we keep His commandments. Because the commandments are His, and we love Him. But the disciples (like we) are weak and foolish and sinful. How are they going to be able to love Jesus?
Because the Father has loved them and sent them His Son in the first place. “We love Him because He first loved us.” The Father has already sent them one “Helper”—literally “one called alongside”… a fuller translation could be “Mentor.” And the Father has sent His Son to be that for them. What now that Jesus is leaving?
Jesus is leaving, but He’s not forgetting them. He’s mediating at the right hand of the Father, always living to intercede for them. And a big part of that intercession is His praying for the Spirit’s ministry. The Father loves us and sent His Son. The Son loves us and prays the Father for the Spirit, who comes as another Mentor (John 14:16).
And the Spirit loves us. Jesus says that He will abide with them forever. Then Jesus says something interesting in John 14:17: “you know Him for He dwells with you” (present tense!), “and will be in you” (future tense). How is it that they already know Him? How is it that He already dwells with them? It’s because the Father, Son, and Spirit are One.
This is what Jesus means by “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). This isn’t about the second coming. At the second coming, the whole world will see Jesus, but John 14:19-20 tells us that Jesus is talking about the disciples seeing Him when the world can’t—seeing Him because He is their life in a way that He is not for others. This is not a seeing with eyeballs of the flesh but a seeing that is by faith. This is what Jesus means by “manifest Myself.” His Spirit will enable us to know Him by faith.
This is why the doctrine of the Trinity is so precious to us. It is central to Jesus’s love-gift of Himself to those that love Him. It’s not clever theologizing for people to feel superior. It’s the reality of Jesus with us by His Spirit in us: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loving us now and forever!
How does an improved understanding of the Spirit’s ministry to you make Him more precious to you?Suggested songs: ARP110B “The Lord Has Spoken to My Lord” or TPH212 “Come, Thou Almighty King”
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