If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him

 

 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

"A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also.  At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.

"These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  

 

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  

 

"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.'  If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.  

 

"And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.  

 

"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.  But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.  

 

"Arise, let us go from here."

 

- John 14:15–31 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given the beginning of Christ's Farewell Discourse to the disciples at the Last Supper.  He told them, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake to the works themselves.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." 

 

  "If you love Me, keep My commandments."  Let us note the significance of this statement to our faith, and to our own discipleship.  We show our love for Christ by keeping His commandments, and this He commands to us.

 

 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."  How are we to know Christ's commandments?  We have the Gospels, the Old Testament Scriptures, the Epistles, and the Revelation in the Holy Bible.  We have the testimony of the saints and the entirety of the Church.  But Christ teaches also this important event, the sending of the Helper.   In Greek this word is Παράκλητος/Parakletos), a title that also means "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  The word indicates One who comes when called (to one's side).  This is the Holy Spirit.  My study Bible comments that the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus also calls the Spirit of truth, is in each believer, and that we are called to know Him.  The Holy Spirit prays in us and for us when we do not know how to pray, enabling us to pray in Christ's name (John 14:13-14; Romans 8:26) and giving us words of witness when we speak the gospel (Mark 13:11).  Note how Christ indicates that in the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, Jesus is also present with us and to us:  "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

"A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also."  My study Bible comments here that the brief separation of Jesus from the disciples at His death will lead to a deeper mystical union after the Resurrection and also to the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  

"At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me."  That day is a reference to Pentecost, the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit.  My study Bible cites St. Chrysostom, who teaches that it is "the power of the Holy Spirit that taught them all things."  Note once again, how closely linked the keeping of His word, the living of His commandments, is to loving Christ and in turn receiving the love and indwelling of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Conversely, Jesus says, "He who does not love Me does not keep My words."

"These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."  Again, Jesus speaks of the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in His name.  We recall from the past couple of readings what it means to be "in Christ's name" -- His name is an extension of His Person, which includes His will.  Therefore the Holy Spirit "will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."  My study Bible comments that we therefore have confidence in the apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42) because the Holy Spirit is their Teacher.  The Holy Spirit brings to remembrance not only Christ's words, but also their meaning.  We have confidence in the Church, it says, because the Holy Spirit is our Instructor as well from Pentecost until today, leading us into all truth (John 16:13).  St. Irenaeus is quoted here:  "Where the Church is, there is the Holy Spirit and the fullness of grace."

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you."  Peace was the customary Jewish word of both greeting and farewell, my study Bible explains.  Perfect peace, it says, is brought by Christ, who reconciles humanity to God (Ephesians 2:14).  Peace is a part of the traditional greeting of Christians to one another (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3), and the greeting "Peace be to all" is offered many times during the liturgical services of the Church.  

"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.'  If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I."  My study Bible comments that "My Father is greater than I" does not mean greater in nature or essence, as the Father and the Son share one divine nature.  Neither does it mean that the Son is created, because the Son is begotten from all eternity.  Rather, it means that the Father, as the Fountainhead of the Trinity, is the eternal cause of the Son. 

 

"And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe."   My study Bible says that before it comes refers to our Lord's Passion.  Telling these events beforehand strengthened the disciples' faith.  

"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.  But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do."  The ruler of this world is the devil, who my study Bible says dominates the realm of those who do not love Christ or keep His commandments.  It notes that Jesus said that the devil "has nothing in Me" because there can be no compromise between Christ or His followers and the devil.  Jesus became Man, but He was never stained with sin.  

"Arise, let us go from here."  My study Bible explains that Jesus takes His disciples to another room or location to complete this discourse, in order to gain their undivided attention.  According to St. John Chrysostom, their current location was susceptible to intrusions, and the disciples were likely to be distracted from fear.

It's important to connect the idea of following (or "keeping") Christ's commandments and having a connection of love with Him.  Faith is not merely an intellectual act; it is the depth of entrusting someone, resting in His word, and living your life through it, that is really the product of faith.  In this sense, faith and works cannot be separated.  Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments," and "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me."  As Jesus gives this such great emphasis, we must ponder it, take it seriously.  Just to make it very clear, He also says, "He who does not love Me does not keep My words," adding that the word He gives is from the Father ("the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me").  So His word, His commandments, all of the things we read that Christ taught, the things passed on to us from His apostles, these play an integral and deep role in our lives of faith not only because they are teachings we try to follow, or a set of codes, or a principle.  Neither are they abstract or theoretical.  But Christ's word is in some sense an extension of His Person.  Following His commandments is the way that we show that we love Him, and it is the way that we come to Him, learn from Him, receive the Holy Spirit, and even moreover, how we in turn learn to love.  Because His word comes from the Father, and we know that God is love, it is in the discipleship of keeping His word, keeping and living His commandments, that we learn -- even experientially, in ways that touch the depths of us and all that we are -- what love is.  It is in the faithful keeping of those commandments that we, in fact, grow in faith, grow in learning what He is all about, become greater in understanding what love is and does.  And it is in the keeping of His commandments, the living of them, the love we share in doing so, that we receive not only the Helper who will help us to learn and remember and understand, who will come to us "when called" with the word we need, but both Spirit and Father, together with Christ the Son, will come to indwell us.  Jesus says, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."  It is seemingly impossible to overemphasize the importance of these teachings, for this is our gateway to living life in the Kingdom, to the indwelling of Father, Son, and Spirit.  It begins, ends, and joins the future in love, for, as we said above, God is love (1 John 4:8), and it is in God's kingdom that we wish to dwell -- and in this way God's kingdom can dwell in us, even as we are still in this world.  Let us remember from yesterday's reading (above) that Christ has said that He is the way, or the path.  He is the road, the journey.  Father, Son, and Spirit may indwell and journey with us, giving us remembrance of His word, teaching us how to live it, and growing this understanding of love within us as we go.  Note also that Jesus tells the disciples, "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me."  (He then affirms all of His teachings about love and keeping commandments by asserting that He goes to follow the Father's commandment to Him:  "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do").   Let us endeavor to do likewise, to love Christ and keep His commandments, and to grow in that love and understanding, so that the ruler of this world also has nothing in us.  This is Christ's peace that He gives to us!