John 14: 15-31. Jesus continues to comfort His disciples. He knows their hearts are troubled. He knows the powers of darkness are at work in the world. He knows they are confused and scared. He knows exactly what they need. Peace. His peace. The world offers peace, but only in shallow, temporary measures. Jesus gives peace that is real and lasting. He is the Prince of Peace, the very source of peace. Peace is a major fruit of the Holy Spirit, listed in Galatians. Oh, how we need peace today, in every one of our situations. We should be people of peace, to the degree where it is attractive to unbelievers. I still picture Jesus asleep in the back of the boat during the storm.
So Jesus is going away to prepare a place for us in heaven. How will he comfort us and bring us peace? By none other than the gift of the Comforter, the Counselor, the Helper- the one and only Holy Spirit. It is the third person of His triune character. The miracle of His presence is realized by the omnipresent quality of His spirit dwelling inside us. Notice v. 23, "we will come make our home with him". We get all of Him. The Spirit in Jesus. Jesus in the Father. The Father in Spirit. All of them in us. We in all of them. It's a picture of perfect relationship. Also notice we are out-numbered in this relationship 3:1. There should be more of Him and less of us in this deal.
He is going away but won't leave us as orphans, or "comfortless". I see this "comfortlessness" in my adopted children. There's a restlessness that runs deep, beyond any diagnosis of ADHD or hyper-arousal. They have known something I haven't: abandonment and neglect. They were left comfortless. I am reminded of a story while in Ukraine, where we visited the orphanage everyday to interact with our children. Soon, the youngest girl would not have anything to do with us. She was afraid to attach, only to be abandoned again. The caretaker, speaking no English, but only using hand gestures, advised us to not visit for two days, creating a longing in this little girl to miss us and want us back. We did it and it worked! Amazing. We now have the closest attachment possible. Thank you, Lord. The literal translation of "I will come to you" in v.18 is "I do come to you". It is a continual "coming", never-ending, and timeless.
This Comforter is to remind us of all Jesus said and He is to teach us all things regarding Him as we study the word and are obedient to follow it. The world can't receive the Spirit because He only comes in response to our faith. And faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God. We cultivate a relationship with God in obedience to the Word, love for the Word, and learning from the Holy Spirit. There's not a formula to success here. It's relationship. If we love Jesus, we will keep His commands. If we keep His commands, we are loving Him. Which one is it? Both! It makes sense in the context of a relationship, not in rule-following. He gave us the illustration of marriage to help explain. We love our spouses, so we do what they like us to do and stay away from what they don't want us to do. We do those things because we love them. Our interests change over time to ones that are less selfish and more interested in pleasing the other person. What if your spouse operates in the same way? They are reciprocating love and obedience. And the relationship benefits from these truths. Try not doing those things and see how it works out!
I want us to take in and exhale daily breaths, realizing the Holy Spirit is indeed dwelling inside us. The Spirit is our breath, the very breath God breathed into Adam to bring him life. I want us to develop a habit of depending upon and consorting with the Spirit to help in our situations. Don't count Him out in your calculations and predictions. Remember the story of 5 loaves + 2 fish + Jesus = you have something. It's time we make real the fact that He is right here with us. It's not necessary to live a powerless, hopeless, purposeless, and selfish existence. This is so grieving to the Spirit who is right there available to us through it all. I want us to live under the influence of the Spirit, counting on Him to teach and give direction, believing in His involvement, engagement, and ability. The fruit will come (Gal.5), that the world may know...
