#006: The Holy Spirit and the Questions We Ask
The Sixth Sunday of Easter: Rogation
Readings: Joel 2:21-27; Psalm 67; John 14:21-29
In seminary, one of the formative moments for me was the Friday afternoon zoom calls and sometimes in-person meetings with my mentor Fr Dave Currie. We talked about a wide range of issues. We also read and discussed Helmut Thielicke’s very important little book, A Little Exercise for Young Theologians.
During these sessions, Fr Dave asked what I thought about a chapter we had read. My answer paved the way for a discussion on human nature, theology, pastoral ministry, current affairs, etc. I also asked him questions which he was kind to answer.
These sessions were perhaps beneficial for me because Dave—as I sometimes called him—answered my questions, even the ones I had not asked.
In our passage today (John 14:21-29), we encounter a set similar to my mentorship sessions with Fr Dave. Jesus has been sharing with his disciples some important words as he prepares to return to his Father. In verse 21, he says “The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” What catches the attention of one of his disciples, Judas of James is the last part of that verse: “I […] will reveal myself to him.”
This statement then prompts a question: “Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” (v. 22).
Now you need to understand where Judas is coming from. This statement from Jesus is strange. If anything, the revelation of Jesus, at least according to the witness of scripture, [is] not private. Matt 24:30 says “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Compare with the other synoptic accounts in Mk 13:26, and Lk 21:27). The most popular one is Rev 1:7, “Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him. This will certainly come to pass! Amen.”
From that background, Judas is asking a legitimate question. But Jesus!
Non-answers
Jesus’s answer to him is a non-answer. In short, he offers an answer but not to Judas’s question. I spent hours wondering how the statement “If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him.” (v. 23) is related to the question Judas asked. And after much thought, I still cannot see the connection. Jesus seems to be rehashing what he has already said earlier in this chapter.
Even verse 24 which reads like a negative answer only seems to apprise the inquiring disciple as to who the unlover of Jesus looks like. You may say that Jesus will not reveal himself to the world because it does not love him or obey his words but that is to put words in the mouth of Jesus. You don’t want to do that. He is flipping what he just said in verse 23.
Judas’s question by all means still stands.
I want to assure you that had Fr Dave decided to answer my questions with non-answers or some trick responses, I would not have logged in to the next Zoom meeting. Get that from me.
There is something about unanswered questions that does not sit well with us. Yet the Christian faith is one of questions left unanswered. Sometimes, it takes a while longer to receive answers.
Whether the answers don’t come, or they take some time, waiting becomes a worthy posture among God’s people. It means that it is okay to sit down and wait upon God. I believe that the art of waiting is not so important these days. You don’t need me to point you to some empirical study to prove this. If you live in Kampala, just go to any busy street and observe how most drivers operate. A thirty-second hold-up in traffic always leads to a second, then the third lane on a single-lane stretch. Before you know it, the road is clogged and there is nowhere to go.
What about some of us who pray for something in the morning and by evening, we are at some sketchy ‘apostle’s’ church? When the apostle does not help change our fortunes, we are off to some ‘prophet’ fellowship in the middle of nowhere. Patience is hard to come by these days. Yet, what stands between us and a response from Jesus is time.
The Holy Spirit—Custodian of Answers
It doesn’t look like Jesus answers Judas’s question but at least offers him hope. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.” (v. 26). Let us sit here a little bit and listen to Jesus. Three things:
This advocate or paráklētos in Greek is a helper or assistant (we will explore this fully below). He comes not to initiate a new ministry but to take forward Jesus’s. This advocate is identified as the Holy Spirit.
The Father who sends the Son also sends the Holy Spirit. Theologians call this ‘procession’. The original Nicene Creed said of the Holy Spirit that “He proceeds from the Father.” Jesus also says that the Holy Spirit will come “in my name.” This points to the singularity if you will, and the continuity of the work of Christ through God, the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will “teach you everything” and “will cause you to remember everything I said to you.” The primary role of the Holy Spirit is that of a teacher. Teaching and reminding are essentially the same thing. So, the Holy Spirit does not come to teach us new things, but to instruct us in the old truths already spoken by Jesus. His ministry among us is to massage the message of Jesus into our bones.
It seems to me that there is a link between Judas’s question and Jesus’s promise of the Holy Spirit. Teaching primarily burdens itself with answering questions. Judas has a question(s), and Jesus promises that the Father will send an advocate to further explain the nuance in his words.
Where do you go when faced with the toughest questions of life? Where do you find comfort when the world cannot offer the answers you are looking for? What about that challenging theological question you encounter as you read the scriptures?
The Holy Spirit teaches us. He preaches to us. He clarifies the complexities of God’s word. And sometimes, the best lesson or answer from the Holy Spirit is silence. Job had questions about why he was suffering. When he consulted his friends, they gave him wild theories as to the cause of his suffering. Yet at the end of it all, he was content in God’s silence on the matter. Knowing God who held his life was enough for him. “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you.” (Job 42:6)
Indeed, we will sometimes not like what the Holy Spirit will teach in the scriptures. It is also true that sometimes it will be confusing and perplexing. But learners don’t decide for the teacher what to teach. They trust the teacher.
The Good News of Jesus’s Departure
Jesus promises his disciples that he will leave peace with them but not as the world. It seems that the worldly conception of peace cannot co-exist with distress. Why would you need courage during a time of peace? The peace Jesus speaks about is counterintuitive. It is otherworldly. He assures his disciples that they will be hated by the world (15:18-19) and still have his peace.
This peace is connected to his ascension and the coming of the Advocate. “…If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father because the Father is greater than I am.” (v. 28b) Why would his disciples be glad that he was going to his Father? I will focus on just two reasons, briefly.
One is that he must go for the Holy Spirit to come. The Teacher and Reminder of God’s people comes to galvanise, expound and remind Jesus’s words. It is through the ministry of the Holy Spirit that we receive the divine gift of faith. Two, Jesus’s departure from this world points to the success of his saving work for God’s enemies. The Good News of the Ascension is that the work is done (more on this later in the week). Verse 29 is connected to this second point. What Jesus is talking about which will cause his people to believe is his coming passion in Jerusalem.
Judas, I am sure, got his answer. There is no revelation without the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Our reading of scripture and search for answers can also become futile if disconnected from the teaching and reminding ministry of the Divine Advocate. The Good News is that the Holy Spirit comes to apply to you what has already been accomplished for you in Jesus Christ. So, be of good cheer, child of God, that while some of your questions may remain unanswered, the most important question of them all—your redemption and hiddenness in God—has been satisfactorily answered.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.