Day 10 – John 14:16-20

Read John 14:16-20

Here is the Promise of the Holy Spirit, who will be given to all believers.

V16: Jesus asks the Father to give the Spirit. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are engaged together in all that our salvation means. They are One, and their will is One, but their roles are revealed to us in Scripture, Jesus calls the Spirit “another Helper” (ESV) – another to be what Jesus has been to them. This promise extends to every believer. The word here given as “Helper” is translated in many ways in different versions, the term was used, originally in a court of law, to describe one who stands alongside another, to help, support and plead for them. All this, the Holy Spirit is to all true believers.

V17: He is the Spirit of Truth – He reveals the truth of God’s Word to our hearts, the truth that Jesus brought – and WAS. (v6) He did this for these first disciples after He was given to them on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) opening their understanding to all that Jesus had told them. He does it still through the Scriptures, but only true believers can know His Work in their hearts. He is with these disciples already – in Christ’s own ministry – but He will be IN them – after Pentecost.

V18: And Jesus will be with them still, no longer physically, of course, but through the Spirit’s ministry. He will not leave them bereft (“as orphans”) He loves them as His own children. Still true for every believer!

V19: Soon He will leave the world – by His death, resurrection and ascension – but they will see Him again. First, in His appearances in the 40 days after His resurrection, but surely the promise reaches out to what He has said back in v2-3, not only for these first disciples but all His redeemed people.

V20: “in that day” – perhaps when they see the risen Lord, perhaps after Pentecost – all He has said of Himself, His Father and their union with all believers will be known to be true. This is the Spirit’s ministry to them, and through His Word, to us!