Text: John 14: 15-31
Text verse: John 14:16
In the previous passage, Jesus said that He was leaving, which upset the disciples. How will they cope without Him? Peter also says in verse 5 that they cannot follow Jesus because they do not know where He is going.
Now Jesus begins this passage with the words, “If you love me, keep my commands.”
This after Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times that night (John 13:38). It should make us think about our love for Jesus. The sins we commit show our guilt. If we truly love Him, we will dedicate our lives to Him.
Every sin we commit testifies to something we love more than Jesus.
You may want to control people, even though you may hurt them in the process, simply because you prefer that power to Jesus. It may be important for you to be part of a certain group. The result is that you do everything the group finds acceptable and therefore you are more for the group than for Jesus. It could be a relationship with a parent or friend that you value more than Jesus. The result is that you will do unacceptable and irrational things to protect that relationship.
This sin makes us realise that we are not able to love Jesus as we are supposed to and therefore Jesus says in verse 16 that He will ask the Father to send us another Advocate. Here’s what this Advocate will do.
1. Helper (16-17)
The word “Advocate” can also be translated as “Helper” and it refers to someone encourages, comforts, advises and reprimands you. In other words, what Jesus has done for the disciples so far, the Holy Spirit will do for them in future. The Holy Spirit makes Jesus a reality for the disciples. He reveals this truth to us so that we do not become discouraged. He encourages us with Jesus’ redemptive work and reprimands us where necessary.
2. He reminds us that we are not orphans (18)
An orphan struggles all his life with the fact that he doesn’t belong. His parents rejected him and therefore he has no home. The result is that he always feels inferior and does everything in his power to be a part of something. As a result, they often become involved with the wrong groups.
The Holy Spirit reminds us that we are part of a large family. We do not need to seek the acceptance of people, because in Christ we are made part of the most glorious family. The Most High is our Father. In this way He helps us not to regard the opinions of men higher than the will of God.
3. We live a new life (20-24)
James 2:14-26 emphasises the fact that true faith is accompanied by deeds. The Holy Spirit brings forth that new life in Jesus’ disciples. Deeds that come from faith are proof that the Holy Spirit pours out his love in our hearts.
He shows us how deep and wide and high the love of Christ is and therefore we cannot help but want to love in the same way. We want to obey and follow Him because there is no equal.
4. He reminds us of Christ (26)
We see something of this when it says in chapter 2: Later, after He was raised from the dead, the disciples thought about this (2:21).
The Holy Spirit helped them understand the Scriptures and apply them correctly in their lives.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us to see Jesus for who He is. The Bible is not there so we can learn beautiful life lessons from it. The Bible is the revelation of God and the Holy Spirit helps us to understand the full revelation.
5. He gives us peace (27)
The world thinks of peace as the absence of conflict. Jesus points out to his disciples here that he leaves us with more peace than the world’s. Jesus’ peace has to do with a personal relationship with Him.
The word devil literally means “accuser”. He constantly accuses us. This is why we sometimes have such a hypersensitive conscience. For example, when something bad happens, we immediately think that the Lord is punishing us for all our sins. Our conscience is being charged.
What Jesus teaches us here is that the Holy Spirit is like an advocate. He points out to us that we have nothing to fear. We must not be upset or afraid, because Jesus died on our behalf. He has already paid the penalty for our sin and therefore we cannot be punished again.
The Holy Spirit is a wonderful gift – a gift that every believer has received. He makes the redemptive work of Christ a reality in our lives so that we can live in love.
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