John 14:25-31 – Another Counsellor / Comforter
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
On Sunday evenings at Christ Church in Downend, I have been running the Bible Society's Bible Course. If you don't know this teaching material I would recommend it to you. Its author and presenter is Andrew Ollerton and in 8 video-based sessions he leads us through the Big Story of the Bible, always with his focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. Along the way he draws out many practical and pastoral lessons as well as teaching on how to read, interpret and understand the Bible. One of his comments is that if you take a text away from its context you are left with a con. He is making the point that to understand any passage of Scripture correctly you need to understand it first and foremost within its context. In particular, you need to understand these words of the Lord Jesus within the context in which he spoke them and what they would have meant to those to whom they were addressed. Only then can we answer the question of what they mean for us – what Jesus is saying to us today through them.
So let me take a moment or two to remind you of the context.
Within hours, Jesus will be arrested, taken away to a mock trial before Jewish leaders and then the Roman Governor before being taken out to a hillside to be crucified. All this was very much on Jesus' mind when he celebrated his longed for last Passover supper with his disciples, pointing them to what was about to happen. Now he has begun to make good use of these final hours by teaching his disciples in an extended discourse that stretches from John 13-17.
But the disciples seem to be becoming increasingly confused by what he is saying. They grasp that he is about to leave them but they do not understand where he is going and so don't know how they will be able to follow him. Yet at the same time, Jesus seems to be making great demands of them. In the verses immediately preceding our reading he says to them, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching" (v. 23). How are they going to live up to Jesus' call on them to love and obey him when he is no longer with them, no longer there to help the?
This is the immediate context for the words in the passage that we are looking at this morning.
I plan to go through these verses commenting on them to help us to understand them before I draw out some lessons for ourselves.
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
While Jesus has been with his disciples he has told them many things. Some of what he taught they did not immediately understand, but they were always able to come and ask him, "What did you mean when you said…?" You can see many examples of this in the gospels, not least when the disciples asked Jesus to explain a parable he had told.
Even now, there are many things that Jesus is saying to them that they really do not understand. They have not understood what is about to happen to Jesus or why he will be taken from them. Think of Peter's violent reaction to Jesus when he spoke of the cross after Peter had confessed that Jesus is the Christ. Peter is so vehement in his assertion that nothing like this can happen to Jesus that Jesus rebuked him with the words, "Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns" (Mark 8:33). Nor did Peter learn from this experience for he is equally vehement in his opposition to Jesus kneeling before him to wash his feet at the Last Supper. Or think of Peter, James and John falling asleep when Jesus was in agonised prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had asked them to watch and pray with him. In the words of Stainer's Crucifixion, Jesus says to them, "Could you not watch with me one brief hour?" Think of the way in which all of the disciples deserted Jesus and fled when he was taken captive. Think of them after Jesus' resurrection from the dead asking him if this is now the time when he will restore the kingdom to Israel? Think of them after Jesus has been taken from them huddled away in a locked upper room in Jerusalem, paralysed with fear of the Jews.
But then, on that First Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them in transforming power. Their understanding was transformed – it all suddenly made sense. Read Peter's sermon on that first Day of Pentecost and marvel at the depth of his understanding. And now their fear was banished. See Peter and John before the authorities in Jerusalem declaring, "Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:19-20). What a transformation!
And what accounts for this change? It is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in them and with them. The Holy Spirit makes Jesus present to them – he is another Comforter, another Counsellor, another Helper. Listen to Jesus' words, "I am going away and I am coming back to you" (v.28). The Holy Spirit brings the risen and triumphant Christ to be with his people. That's why Luke begins the Book of Acts, the second volume of his story, with the words, "In my former book … I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven." In other words, the Book of Acts is the account of the things that Jesus continued to do after his resurrection and ascension.
The Holy Spirit will be sent to teach these disciples and to remind them of what Jesus said to them.
Given the confusion of the disciples at the time of Jesus' death, and even immediately after his resurrection, don't you find it remarkable that we have such clear and orderly accounts of Jesus' life and teaching in the gospel accounts? That is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit who brought back to their minds what Jesus had done and said and, more than that, now gave them understanding of what Jesus had said.
And this is true not only of the four gospel accounts; it is true also of the Epistles. Paul is insistent that he got the message he was preaching from the risen Lord Jesus. In writing to the Christians in Galatia he says, "I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12). Or again, he says to the Corinthians,
"We declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began… As it is written:
What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:7,9-10).
The last verse is vital to understanding Paul's point. He is not saying we don't know the things God has in store for those who love him. On the contrary, he makes what may seem an astonishingly arrogant claim. He says that these things which no one could have imagined have been revealed to him and to the other apostles by God's Spirit. Or again, Paul, writing to the Ephesians makes the same point when he says,
Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:2-6)
Again, Paul makes the astonishing claim that the message he and the other apostles were preaching is one that God himself has given them by his Spirit.
These New Testament documents are reliable. They are not just the best thoughts of a number of first century men who had been followers of a crucified Lord. They are the living words of the risen Lord, given to the apostles by the Holy Spirit who reminded them of the things Jesus had taught them and who gave them insight and understanding of the very heart, mind and purposes of the Living God. This is what Jesus was promising those first disciples.
And that same Holy Spirit enabled them not only to remember what Jesus had taught them but to live out the life to which he had called them. They were enabled to live a life of love and obedience to God, like the life of the Lord Jesus himself. They lived in love for and concern for one another causing the Roman world to sit up and take notice. And they were enabled to continue the work and mission of the Lord Jesus.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
Jesus says that he is returning to the Father and that his disciples, far from being sad that he is leaving him, should be glad. And the reason that Jesus gives for this is that "the Father is greater than I." I'm not sure what the disciples made of this but it seems, on the face of it, a very strange argument. What does Jesus mean? What is he saying?
Jesus elsewhere emphasises his equality with the Father, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30), but here he is speaking of his subordination to the Father. Jesus, as God the Son, came into the world in obedience to his Father and his entire ministry has been one shaped by his love for and obedience to his Father. He is now approaching the climax of that ministry when his obedience will be tested to the ultimate degree. And here, when facing the trauma of the cross Jesus will say, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done" (Matthew 26:42). It is only after he has cried out on the cross, "It is finished" that he will be able through his resurrection and ascension to return to the Father. He will return having completed all that the Father had sent him to do. He will return to the joyful celebration and adoration of angels singing, "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5:12). And surely his disciples ought to rejoice also at this prospect. They may not understand this now, but they will when the Holy Spirit comes and gives them understanding.
But Jesus goes on to speak of the crisis which is approaching; "the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me." Satan who gained a foothold in this word in Eden and who has retained an unlawful dominion over the lives of men and women ever since is coming after Jesus. He failed to temp Jesus into disobedience at the beginning of his ministry so he is now out to destroy him. He will not succeed. In the coming battle, Satan will bruise Jesus' heel but Jesus, by his death and resurrection will crush Satan's head. And in this final conflict Jesus will show the world the extent of his love and obedience to the Father – and more than that, he will show the extent of his love for a broken and rebellious world: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8); "He loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).
And in all of this, Jesus not only demonstrates his love of and obedience to the Father, he also shows what it means when he tells his disciples that they in turn must live in love and obedience towards him. Satan's head will be crushed. The definitive battle is about to be fought and won. But Satan will not give up the fight. In the picture language of Revelation chapter 12, Satan, having failed to destroy the promised Messiah is enraged and goes off to wage war on the rest of God's people. That was what was going to happen in the persecution that the first century church was to suffer – and that many Christians around the world are suffering still.
How will these disciples manage to stand before Satan's onslaught? They will stand only because the Lord Jesus will be with them by his Spirit; "We are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37). And they will stand, not with gritted teeth but with joy and peace. Jesus says to them, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (v. 27).
The first thing to note is that we are not in the same position as those first apostles. The Spirit has not been given to us to remind us of the things Jesus said to us during his earthly ministry. But the Spirit is sent to give us an understanding of who Jesus is, of the things that he said and that are recorded in Scripture and of the meaning of his death and resurrection. As we read the words of Scripture it is the Spirit who makes them live to us, who brings Christ to us. Without the illuminating work of the Spirit we have ears but do not hear, we have eyes but do not see, we have hearts that remain cold and unmoved.
We need constantly to ask God by his Spirit to give us understanding of his word and to give us ears to hear the call of Christ through his word, eyes to see the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus, hearts set on fire with love for him. Jesus still calls us to love him, to follow him and to obey him.
And the Spirit is still the one who enables and empowers our service of Christ. He fills our hearts with a sense of God's great love for us in Christ and prompts our love for him in return, a love that is expressed in glad service of him. The Spirit alone can give us boldness even in the face of indifference, mockery of opposition. The Spirit gives us a sense that the living God is with us and that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.
We do not know what situations we may have to face in the days ahead but the Spirit assures us that in all circumstances, Christ is with us and that his word to us is always, "Do not be afraid". In the words of that old hymn by the storm-tossed sailor, John Newton, "With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm." The Spirit gives us the assurance of peace with God, a peace in his presence that passes all human understanding. David expressed it beautifully when he wrote, "The Lord is my shepherd … Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me."
The Spirit is given to us as our Counsellor, our Comforter, our help and our strength. He teaches us more of Christ and enables us to follow him. And who knows what God might do to touch and transform the lives of others through his Spirit at work in us just as he did in the days of the Acts of the Apostles?
Peter Misselbrook
Marshfield Chapel – 28/7/2024.