In today’s Gospel Jesus promises his disciples to never leave them alone. God’s presence will continue to be with them in the person of the Holy Spirit: “I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate (paraklētos), the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name–he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” Jesus is gathered with his disciples for the Last Supper. During this meal Jesus has a series of Farewell Addresses in which he teaches his disciples what is most important. He promises that he will never abandon them, but that God will send to the disciples another like himself, “another Advocate,” that is the Spirit:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live.” (John 14:16-18).
In today’s Gospel Jesus describes the role of the Spirit that the Father will send to them: “the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name–he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. The Spirit guides the early church to remember everything that Jesus did and taught. They will eventually write down these memories in the Four Gospels. The Spirit will not only remind them of everything that the earthly Jesus told them but the Spirit will also “teach you everything.” The risen Jesus will continue to speak to the disciples through the Spirit and teach them the meaning of his words and actions. These teachings of the risen Lord are also written down in the Four Gospels.
The Spirit continues to teach and remind us today. The Spirit reminds us as a church and as baptized Christians. We are invited and challenged to remember everything that Jesus taught, especially his new commandment to love one another as he has loved us. As we remember this “new commandment” of Jesus, the Spirit teaches us has to put this commandment into practice.
Image: “Descent of the Holy Spirit” by Lawrence OP is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.