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John 14:25-27
Have you ever been misunderstood? As a pastor I’ve been misunderstood, and I’ve misunderstood others. It happens to all of us from time to time.
You know what, if you’ve been misunderstood you’re in good company with Jesus. He had to teach and reteach the Disciples who lived life with Him throughout the days He ministered here on Earth, and we are not much different from those Disciples. Let’s look at today’s passage.
John 14:25-27 (NIV) “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Think about this for a moment, this passage has a similar teaching to the passage we read yesterday. Jesus is once again promising the Holy Spirit or the Advocate who will come to us with some specific purposes.
The first is to teach. Now this is interesting as Jesus has just spent about 3 to 3-1/2 years teaching the Disciples. But the teaching part wasn’t just for them it was also for the believers that would come later…ummm…like you and me.
And that’s what the Holy Spirit does. As we read the Word of God, the Holy Spirit living in us and through us, is constantly revealing God’s will to us. He is teaching us – the Holy Spirit teaches us. Jesus said earlier that the Holy Spirit or the Advocate would come and live within us – why? It was all so that He could teach us the teachings of Christ Jesus.
The second is to remind us what Jesus taught His Disciples. It goes hand in hand with the teaching, the Holy Spirit reminds us of the teachings of Christ. All throughout this section of the Gospel of Jesus Christ According to John, we see Jesus talking about how if you love me, you’ll obey my teachings. And If you obey my teachings I know that you love Me. He speaks of this repeatedly in this chapter alone.
Now yesterday we talked a bit about how obedience, love, and faith are all intertwined together. And again Jesus repeats Himself to His Disciples to reassure them.
And then if that wasn’t enough, Jesus assures them and leaves them with His peace – not as a greeting or like saying “goodbye” but a peace that can go beyond all understanding.
You know in these uncertain times that peace can sure come in handy. I know people who are living afraid right now. They are living in real fear, fear of being sick, fear of getting someone else sick, fear of dying there is a lot of fear right now. And you know – that kind of fear doesn’t do us any good – it steals from us. That kind of fear steals the life from us we could live today.
It’s in times like these that I have the blessed assurance of Jesus. I am His and He is mine because I have made up my mind, and I believe in Jesus as the Messiah. And since I believe that Jesus has given me His Spirit – to live in me and through me. And His Spirit living in me means that while my physical body will someday expire – just like everyone, my Spirit will live on with Him. So I don’t have to fear.
Jesus promised us that His peace, was unlike any peace this world could give. and He’s right – the peace I have within me goes so much further than just the absence of conflict. It’s a peace that I can have, no matter the circumstances that surround me.