When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth

"These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

"And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

- John 16:1-15

This week, we have been reading from Jesus' farewell discourse to His Apostles, at the Last Supper. In yesterday's passage, Jesus reminded them of His new commandment: "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." He said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." Jesus reminded them that He calls them friends; He has revealed Himself and all things He heard from His Father to all of them. And He reminded them again: "These things I command you, that you love one another." Then He warned that if the world hated Him, it would hate them also. And He said, "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

"These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them." His warnings to them (and to us) are made out of love, so that they know what to expect, what is coming. He will be persecuted, and so will they. Indeed, the reference here is stark: "Whoever kills you will think that he offers God service."

"And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you." In the beginning, He was with them: He could protect and comfort them. But now, in this farewell discourse, He is explaining that He is leaving them, going away -- but that it is to their advantage that He does so, because the Helper, the Spirit of truth will come to them. They do not even think to ask where He is going, because they are filled with sorrow at His words. My study bible explains rather elaborately about this word, sorrow. It says that sorrow, here, means "extreme grief, leading to a state of severe depression." It explains the history of the Church's belief of the dangers of despondency, a type of sin of the passions. St. John Chrysostom has written, "Great is the tyranny of despondency." It notes, "Even when the world hates true Christians, they must not become despondent but take comfort from the Holy Spirit. The disciples are troubled not only because Jesus is leaving them, but also because of the ongoing struggle between light and darkness, between Jesus and the prince of this world." If we are to understand correctly, then, it would seem that falling into deep despair asks of us faith as the remedy, the comfort of the Comforter, reminding us that we are not alone, even under any circumstances. We recall also the words of St. Paul, which seem to apply here: " Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

"And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." Speaking of the Spirit of truth, the Comforter or Helper, Jesus continues. And He lays down, here, a role for the Spirit: He will act to bring out the truth, to expose righteousness as well as sin, and to bring judgment on the ruler of this world. It is the response to the Spirit that will prove out these things, the true things of the heart which Christ knows and understands.

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." Their sorrow is so great that they cannot bear the other "many things" that He has to say to them. But there is a deep promise here. Like all else in this speech, it is made directly to the Apostles, minus Judas who will betray Him; they are the ones who have been with Him from the beginning. But it is also implicitly the promise made to us about the Spirit of truth. His words are worth repeating, so that we understand this promise fully, and think about them: He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. Just as Christ represented, manifested, the Father in the world, so the role of the Spirit is to represent both Christ and the Father in the world. All three are inseparable; where there is the Spirit, there is Christ and "all things" of the Father. This is our promise. We are not left alone, but will be guided into all truth.

Let us consider the work of the Holy Spirit in the world. Certainly we count that the Holy Spirit has worked through the Church, and continues to do so. The Spirit works in our lives, active and powerful. His promise is real, it is for us, for all of us. The ways in which the Spirit works are too mysterious for us to count, to recall them all in some sort of formula, but we know where the Spirit has been. It is in John's Gospel, in chapter 3, that we read Jesus' words about the Spirit: "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." Let us consider all the saints of history, the "great cloud of witnesses" as St. Paul has put it. How has the Spirit worked in each of them? Saints are not necessarily what we would call "perfect people." No, they are instead people who have been transformed, brought to greater and deeper persona in the image of Christ, in the things that are of the Father. They are those "called out" of this world, and brought into focus and light from the Father, who empowers, personifies, magnifies and challenges through Christ and the Spirit's work in the world, and relationship to us. God calls them to be who they are, rather than simply "fitting in." Paul Evdokimov has written, "Holiness is nothing but an unquenchable thirst, the intensity of the desire for God. . . . The saints are souls of longing."

Let us once again consider the words of St. Paul. We are here to run the race, and to finish it, and not give up. The Spirit will prove out and illuminate all things. It will guide us in the Way, and teach us where we are wrong, how we need to change. Let us work together with our Helper, in His name, so that we too will fight that good fight of faith, finish the course given us to race -- and know that we are not alone.