John 16:12-15

12 "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 "He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you.

 

In addition to convicting the world, the Spirit will minister greatly to the disciples. How so? By completing the teachings of Jesus.

 

Jesus could not teach His disciples completely. They simply were not ready for all of His teachings. Especially here, prior to His death, they could not understand all that He would have liked them to grasp. But this did not mean that Jesus would never complete His teachings. He intended to do so when His disciples were ready. And He would do so through the Holy Spirit.

 

When the Spirit came, He would guide the disciples into all truth. How? On His own? No, but by speaking what He heard and announcing the things that were coming. Where would this teaching come from?

 

Well, the Spirit would glorify Jesus by teaching the disciples because the teaching would still be coming from Jesus. The Spirit glorified Jesus by teaching to the disciples what He heard from Jesus. And ultimately, these teachings came from the Father. This is not surprising, because Jesus has consistently taught the disciples that He is passing on God’s words and teachings. Even Jesus’ teachings are from the Father. But all that the Father has belongs to Jesus. So the Spirit is passing on Jesus’ teachings.

 

What a blessing! Jesus was providing His teachings to the disciples even after His departure. His complete teachings, which they still didn’t have. How? Through the Holy Spirit! Which is why we now have a New Testament. Because the Holy Spirit taught the disciples everything they needed to know and understand, and they recorded these things in the Scriptures. Not only the disciples, but we, too, have access to the complete teachings of Jesus! Everything we need to know, taught by the Spirit, through Jesus, from the Father. In our hands. What a good God!

 

Father, help me to receive the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Help me to read the Bible understanding that although men wrote the words, the words came by the Holy Spirit through Jesus from You. You are still teaching us today, because we still have Your teachings! Help me to depend on them. Completely. To understand them, and how to live because of them. Help me to trust them, even when I don’t understand entirely. Help my attitude toward Your words to be an attitude of trust, and help me to demonstrate my trust as You teach me to understand more and more by the way that I live.