John 14:15-24
Dear RTB’ers,
We have the first of Jesus’ Last Supper mentions of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading. He lists five items regarding the Holy Spirit: another Helper, to be with you forever; the Spirit of truth; You know Him; He dwells with you; and [He] will be in you. (vv. 16, 17) Jesus was speaking to His disciples, but I believe that each of these items is something that we can claim for ourselves. We will see more Holy Spirit mentions in John 15:26 and John 16:7-15.
Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” (v. 22) Here Judas is reflecting back to Jesus words in verse 19a: Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. I’ve probably thought of this before, but my recollection is that Jesus appeared only to His followers following His Resurrection. He did not appear to people who did not believe in Him – in particular, He did not appear to any of the scribes, Pharisees or Sadducees who were challenging Him. I have no further comment on that, only that observation. Intriguing…!
Blessings!
See also:
There is so much more that can be said about Jesus’s words here, and yet most of us remain silent. Surely you all have some additional thoughts. Surely you all have some questions. Surely the Lord is speaking to your hearts. Let’s break out of our shells and share with one another to build one another up in the faith.
Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live.” (v. 19b) What does that mean? More specifically, what does that mean to you, not just in the “sweet by and by” but today?