Wait For It – John 16:12-15

A text – John 16:12-15      

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

A reflection:

We know that the disciples were afraid and confused at the prospect of Jesus’s leaving them. I would have been, too. He reassures them on his last evening with them that they will not be orphaned, left alone. The Spirit will come and continue to teach them, taking the words and ideas Jesus didn’t get to tell them and conveying them to the 12. He’s teaching them, in this reassuring paragraph, about the very nature of God: the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit are one, and these three persons of God still have a way to communicate with, be with, the chosen disciples.

Jesus promises them the Spirit…in a little while. The Spirit does come just a little later on – it must have seemed like years, since Jesus’s death and resurrection came in between! But Jesus’s promise will be kept – we just have to wait for it. Remember Radar on the series M.A.S.H.? He would suddenly stop in the midst of something , freeze in motion, and say, “Wait for it…” and then you would hear the choppers coming. Jesus was getting his disciples ready to be Radar. In the midst of their continuing ministry, they could pause, freeze, say “Wait for it…” and see what the Holy Spirit would bring them.

Think of our recent lessons in Acts. Surely the Holy Spirit brought Peter in his vision of all things being clean and all people being deserving of the Good News. Surely the Holy Spirit provided the vision that drew Paul to Macedonia. The Spirit comes to us to help us focus on God’s call for us – we just have to have eyes and ears to perceive it.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for sending your Spirit out to all of us, not just the first disciples. Help us to remember that you have given us both work to do and also your love to share.  Help us to pay attention to where you want us to be. Amen.