May 22, 2025
The Helper - Part 4
John 16:12-13
05/22/2025
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 authority, but whatever he hears he will
speak, and he will declare to you the things that
are to come. (ESV)
Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night He was betrayed, spoke
words of comfort and hope to His disciples to prepare them for
His death, resurrection, and ascension.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot
bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will
guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on
his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak,
and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
The disciples were not ready to learn, to accept the truth
that Jesus would soon be arrested, tried, tortured, crucified,
and die. Even on Easter morning, the disciples did not believe
the report of the women who had witnessed the empty tomb. On the
day that Christ Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples asked
Him if He would restore the earthly kingdom of Israel.
Only after the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of
Truth, did the disciples understand the work of Jesus Christ.
His kingdom is not of this world, but is a kingdom of grace and
mercy given to those who trust in His sacrificial death and His
glorious resurrection. The Holy Spirit inspired the prophets and
evangelists who recorded God's Word for our salvation. The Holy
Spirit calls each of us to faith in Christ Jesus through the
spoken Word, and through the visible Word of the Sacraments.
May our Lord grant that we hear the Spirit of Truth, that we
know He speaks of Christ Jesus for our salvation from sin and
death. Amen.