I will not leave you orphans; I will come to 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 14:18-31 

 

This week the lectionary gives us Christ's Farewell Discourse to the disciples at the Last Supper.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "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 of 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.  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."  Here is Christ's assurance of His continued presence to His disciples, especially in the presence of the Spirit of truth, which He has just assured them is the Helper who will be sent from the Father.

 

 "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 explains that the brief separation of Jesus from the disciples at His death will lead to a deeper mystical union after the Resurrection and to the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  

 

"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."  That day is a reference to Pentecost (Acts 2).  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who comments that it is "the power of the Holy Spirit that taught them all things." 

 

  "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."  Once again, we review that the Helper is the Holy Spirit.  The word Helper is translated from the Greek Παρακλητος/Paracletos, often rendered Paraclete.  This title literally means "One who comes to one's side when called" indicating someone assisting in defense at trial.  The title can also mean "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  My study Bible comments that we have confidence in the apostle's doctrine (Acts 2:42) because the Holy Spirit is their Teacher.  He brings to remembrance not only Christ's words, but also their meaning.  It adds that we have confidence in the Church 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, who comments, "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.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."   Peace was the customary Jewish word of both greeting and farewell, my study Bible comments.  It says that perfect peace is brought by Christ, who reconciles humanity to God (Ephesians 2:14).  Peace is also part of the traditional greeting of Christians to one another (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3).  The greeting "Peace be to all" is offered many times during the liturgical services of the Church.  

 

 "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 explains that when Jesus says, "My Father is greater than I" it does not mean that the Father is greater in nature or in essence, for the Father and the Son share one divine nature.  Neither does this indicate that the Son is created, for the Son is begotten from all eternity ("In the beginning was the Word" - John 1:1).  Instead, Jesus is indicating 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."  Before it comes is a reference to Christ's Passion.  This Farewell Discourse at the Last Supper takes place just prior to Christ's betrayal and arrest.  My study Bible comments that telling these events beforehand strengthened the faith of the disciples.  

 

"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; my study Bible explains that the devil dominates the realm of those who do not love Christ or keep His commandments.  Moreover, my study Bible adds Jesus says that the devil "has nothing in Me" because there can be no compromise between Christ or His followers and the devil.  Christ became Man, but He was never stained with sin.  

 

"Arise, let us go from here."  My study Bible says that Christ takes His disciples to another room or location to complete His discourse in order to gain their undivided attention.  In the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, it is suggested that their current location was susceptible to intrusions, and the disciples were likely to be distracted from fear.  Therefore we may conclude that Christ is taking them to a more private place in order to further instruct them and continue His discourse.

 

 Today's passage begins with this statement by Jesus to His disciples:    "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."  He is going away, and He is reassuring them that they will not be left alone.  He will return to them.  This statement is profound in all of its implications of the reality that is to come, and in what it teaches us about transitions and changes in life, and God's terms for the transformation of life in God's spiritual purview.   What this means is that the substance of Christ's teachings to them about what is to come -- after what will transpire at His Passion, death, and Resurrection -- exists within these words.  "I will not leave you orphans" tells us once again, in yet another form, of the relationship between Christ and those who are His disciples.  It is that of a family.  In this case, Christ speaks of Himself as Father to all of them, and by extension to all of His disciples, to those faithful who will come into the world, up until the present day, and into the future for as long as the Church exists, and until His final return at the Second Coming.  "Orphans" speak to us of those who are fatherless, without protection, grieving, comfortless, vulnerable, and abandoned.  It conjures for us, as it is meant to in Christ's compassion, the greatest fears of human beings, for He indeed understands the hearts and minds of His followers found in these His disciples, and all those to come.  Christ speaks of abandonment and the pain of loss in this world that we know.  But the comfort comes in that He says He will not leave them this way, and adds with commitment, "I will come to you."  The whole of His discourse, as we have read until now, is all about the ways in which He will return to them, He will come to them.  He will come in the sending of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Comforter and Helper.  That is, the One who will come to our sides when we call, and perhaps more to the point, the One "whom the Father will send in My name," the One who "will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."  Christ will be present to them -- and to us in the Holy Spirit, and in so many ways described here.  He, the Holy Spirit, is the One who will bring Christ's presence to us in all the ways we need Him to be with us, to guide us and teach us, to show us His way (in His name), and who can bring all things to remembrance that Christ has said, to teach us meaning and purpose and even application in our own lives.  Jesus tells them, "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."  This is a solemn promise, a commitment, a covenant that those who love Him -- which is shown by keeping His commandments, His words, has a depth of communion with both Christ and the Father.  The Holy Spirit makes all of this possible through the functions Jesus names here in this passage.  Moreover, Jesus teaches them, and us, "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."  This is the promise in Him that He will not leave them or us parentless; He will come to us, albeit in ways different from His work and ministry as the human Jesus, Christ Incarnate.  But in His communion with us, in all the ways He will be present to us and with us, he gives us His peace.  And what He can give is given as no one else can give, as the world cannot give.  This is a peace found in our souls and spirits, in the depth of this relationship that becomes a part of us, in our communion with Him.  As we read further in His discourse, Jesus will be giving us more fullness in terms of the meaning of that communion.  Let us continue to read in the spirit of the peace He gives, and the confidence of our trust in the One who does not leave us orphans, but comes to us through so many ways. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 "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 a commandment, so I do.  Arise, let us go from here."

- John 14:15-31

 In our current readings, Jesus and the disciples are at the Last Supper, and He is speaking to them.  He has revealed that He will be betrayed.  He said to 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 of 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.  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."  The word in Greek translated here as Helper is "Parakletos."  It refers to the Holy Spirit.  My study bible says that this title also means "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  The word parakletos literally means the who comes by your side when called, and meant something similar to an advocate in a courtroom.  Furthermore, my study bible says that the Spirit of truth is in each believer, and we are called to know Him.  It notes that 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 (see yesterday's reading, verses 14:13-14, also Romans 8:26.)  The Holy Spirit also gives us words of witness when we speak the gospel (Mark 13:11), also related to testimony and the language of justice.

"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."  My study bible notes that the brief separation of Jesus from the disciples at His death will lead to a deeper mystical union after the Resurrection and to the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.   When Jesus says, At that day . . ., He is referring to Pentecost.  St John Chrysostom writes that it is "the power of the Holy Spirit that taught them all things."  And here is the depth of love:  the Holy Spirit communicates to us all truth concerning Him, and the promise is that for those who keep His commandments, Father, Son, and Spirit will return that love and make Our home with him.

"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."   Here Christ affirms the relation of Father, Son, and Spirit and their dwelling with us and in us.  Peace, my study bible points out, was the customary Jewish word of both greeting and farewell.  Perfect peace is given by Christ, who reconciles humanity to God (Ephesians 2:14).  Peace is also part of the traditional greeting of Christians to each other (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3).  The greeting "Peace be to all" is offered many times during liturgical services of the Church. 

"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 Father is greater than I does not indicate nature or essence, because Father and Son share one divine nature.  Also the Son is not created, but begotten from all eternity (as John's Gospel has taught is in its Prologue (John 1:1-18).  What Jesus means is that the Father, as Fountainhead of the Trinity (as the Church calls Him), 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.  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 a commandment, so I do.  Arise, let us go from here."  Before it comes is a reference to Jesus' Passion; He has given the disciples a full warning of what is coming so that it strengthened their faith.  The ruler of this world is the devil, whom my study bible says dominates the realm of those who do not love Christ or keep His commandments.  Jesus says the devil has nothing in Me because there can be no compromise between Christ or His followers and the devil.  Although Jesus became Man, He was never stained with sin.  That Jesus says let us go from here has been understood to mean He takes His disciples to another room or location to finish His talk with them, in order to get their undivided attention.  St. John Chrysostom writes that their current location was open to intrusions, and the disciples likely to be distracted from fear.

Once again we observe that Jesus uses the language of love -- this time even more explicitly than in other examples in the Gospel -- to teach the disciples in this farewell address at the Last Supper about what is to come.  The great good news in today's reading is about the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus calls the Helper.  This Third Person of the Trinity adds yet another degree of depth to the teachings of Jesus about love and communion of the Father and the Son and those who become children by adoption through faith.  He has spoken to the disciples before about what is coming, His Passion, death, and Resurrection, and taught them that He goes to the Father so that they can be with Him.  But here He becomes more explicit about the work of the Spirit, the Paraclete, in the world and in them.  The language of love becomes more clear:  "If you love Me keep My commandments ... 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 ... 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 ... If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I ... But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me a commandment, so I do."   Let us observe that in all of these statements, love and obedience are intertwined.  This love is a kind of loyalty at the depth of the heart that cannot be reached by any other means, because His talk of love is mingled with the knowledge and the certainty that Father, Son, and Spirit not only love us first but even dwell within us in a depth of communion deeper than all that we know.  The power of this love is something unbreakable when it is bonded with our faith and our love in return.  Therein is the peace that He promises for us:  not that we will not have troubles and tribulation, but that we will know this depth of His love that is always with us and always made present through the Holy Spirit -- so that all three Persons of the Trinity dwell within us, to use Christ's language.  He gives not as the world gives, but fully and wholly, so that we who are His children may always be with Him and He with us:  "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."  This is the living Spirit, the promise of the living water that He made to the woman at Jacob's well, the Spirit about whom He taught to Nicodemus.  Can we measure such a gift that helps and shapes us at such a depth and gives us so much?  What does it take to receive this gift?  The measure of love that we can give to it, to hear, to learn, to follow.

 

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

"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, Jesus began His Farewell Discourse to the Apostles, just after He warned Simon Peter that he would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.   Jesus told the Apostles:  "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 of 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.  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."  My study bible tells us that "this is the first of three passages in the Farewell Discourse (chs. 14-16) which deals with the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  The Apostles did not fully understand the teachings and works of Christ prior to their reception of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. . . . Jesus calls us to know the Spirit of truth who is in us and helps us pray.  Thus prayer in Jesus' name relates to all three Persons of the Holy Trinity.  Jesus gives assurance that such prayer is answered for those who are united with Him."  This note refers also to parts of the discourse we read in yesterday's reading (see above).

"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."   Although He is going away, He will not leave them alone.  "A little while longer" refers to the "brief separation of Jesus from the disciples, due to His arrest and Crucifixion," says my study bible.  It will "lead to a deeper mystical union after the Resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost."   It adds, "At that day refers to the Resurrection of Jesus followed by the Ascension and the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, all of which, working together, make the fullness of divine life available to all believers."  Jesus speaks of commandments, which we receive through the Gospels -- but there is also an understanding that His commandments are in real time, through the presence of the Helper, through His Spirit of truth that will be ever-present with them, and with us.  My study bible says, "Love for Christ is shown through obedience to Him.  Jesus tells us that if we have His commandments and keep them, He will manifest Himself (reveal, make Himself real) to us."  This is the promise of a gift greater than any other that is possible.

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."  Here Christ's Farewell Discourse leads us into the greatest power of God, which is the power of love.  John is the disciple who will also write to us that "God is love."  But Jesus elaborates here on the great union possible to Him and to the Father, who will come and dwell in us.  Our love for Christ is intimately connected to our response to His words and teachings; in turn He establishes into permanent understanding that the word from Him is the word from the Father who sent Him. 

"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."   My study bible says that "we have confidence in the Apostles' doctrine because the Holy Spirit is their Teacher and brings Christ's words to their remembrance."

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you."  My study bible notes here, "Peace was the customary Jewish word of both greeting and farewell.  Perfect peace is brought by the Messiah, who carries out the work of salvation and reconciles humanity with God.  Together with 'grace,' peace is part of the traditional greeting of Christians to each other."  His is an assurance of His steadfast love; in this we find our peace, as the world cannot give -- it is a gift of grace.

"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."  Christ goes to the Father, but in return He will give us the Spirit, making complete the indwelling of the Trinity, and all that will come to pass that we celebrate at Easter.  The disciples cannot understand Him now, but His words teach about what is to come, and the Spirit, as promised here, will bring them understanding, and He will be with them again in His risen presence to them.  My study bible says that "the ruler of this world, the devil, dominates the realm of those who do not love Christ or keep His commandments.  Jesus said the devil has nothing in Me because there can be no compromise between Christ -- or us -- and the devil.  Jesus becomes man, but was never stained with the sin of men, nor was He under the authority of the devil."  At all times, Jesus has referred His identity as Son to that of the Father.  Here He has taught that He goes to the Father, from whom all commandments have come, and under whose obedience Jesus has led His ministry and mission into the world.

There are many promises in today's reading.  The greatest of these is the promise of the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, whom my translation of the Gospels refers to as "Helper" here.  And this promise is greater than we can imagine, greater even than the promise of the Spirit (if we can imagine such a thing) because what Jesus really promises is the indwelling of all three Persons of the Trinity:  Father, Son and Spirit.  They are inseparable.  The Divine, through Jesus, invites us into the fullness of spiritual life, an indwelling of love in which we are invited to participate through our love.  Christ has said if we love Him we must keep His commandments, thus creating a bond that "the ruler of this world" cannot break.  His commandments live for us through Scripture and they live for us through the Helper that is with us.  This gift of grace is not something we earn:  we're not God's equal, so how can we possibly "earn" the gift of God?  The gift is given from love and we cement our bond through our love.  This is His promise.  His peace is there in that promise for us.  This is the truly infinite gift that surpasses all understanding and expectation, and is given "not as the world gives."  It simply continues to give. Jesus goes to His death so that we may receive of this fullness beyond measure.