Wednesday, March 23, 2016

In our last visit we noted Jesus promised the disciples that though He would not be present physically as He had been over the 3 years of His ministry, the Holy Spirit would be with each one of them all the time even when they might individually be in different locations at the same time. Jesus promised them in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” In this promise Jesus used a “word picture.” Orphans are children who are abandoned and alone. When Jesus started talking to the disciples about leaving them they began feeling grief, fearing they would be abandoned and left to fend for themselves. They feared becoming spiritual orphans. So Jesus promised them, that won’t happen, saying, “I will come to you.” Since the Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son, when He is present with you it’s like having Jesus with them, not physically, but spiritually. Earlier in the same chapter Jesus said He would ask His Father to give them another Counselor or Comforter, another “word picture,” to be with them forever – the Spirit of truth. Two words in the original language are translated into English with the word another. One of them means, “another of the same kind,” and the other, “another of a different kind.” Jesus used the word, “another of the same kind” in this promise. So what He promised them was the Holy Spirit would be just like Jesus with them. These “word pictures” helped them remember, they would never be orphans. Amen.