John 16:1-15- The Helper

Explanation- In our previous section Christ speaks to the disciples about the worlds hatred of those who follow Christ. Here He gives reasoning for telling them these things. Christ is foretelling the persecution that the disciples will surely face upon His resurrection. They will be thrown out of the synagogues and even killed in the name of God. This shows just how deceived these men truly were; they were so set in their ways that they would believe that in killing the followers of Christ they would be doing a service to God. Great delusion was present among those of the world and Christ warns that it will only get worse.

It is also in this section that we have further clarification of the Spirit’s work and purpose. The Holy Spirit has often been referred to the silent member of the Trinity. Silent here meaning that He does not seek to bring attention or glory to Himself, but points believers to the Son. Now to be clear, the Spirt is God. He is an equal member of the Trinity and has shared glory with the Father and Son for all of eternity, but as Christ identifies the Spirit’s role in the believer’s life it is clear that the Spirit came to be the spiritual reminder of the physical Christ. He would bring glory to Jesus and speak those things He hears Christ speak. He ministers the words of Scripture to the believer’s heart and sanctifies according to the word. The Spirit is our guide to all that the Son has for us and He reveals the Son to us more and more as we grow.

Application- Because the Spirit is more of a ‘silent’ member of the Godhead, it seems as if much of our worship is directed toward the Father and Son and the Spirit takes the backseat, so to say. With this in mind we should be all the much more diligent to include the Spirit in our worship. Our thoughts should be drawn to His sanctifying and cleansing work in our hearts and our prayers should be directed toward a greater manifestation of His work in our lives. It is the Spirit who directs our prayers and makes them effective, He prays on our behalf when we are at a loss for words. Let us seek to know Him more deeply and experience His presence in our worship!