Friday 10th November - John 16

Today’s chapter is John 16

Tom writes:

Jesus has been gradually unveiling himself to his disciples. He’s dropped many clues and they know they are onto something… but they still aren’t quite sure what. How encouraging. If we “read” the gospel properly - choosing to lay aside our preconceptions and put ourselves in the place of the disciples - then we will share their befuddlement. We know Jesus is Word Become Flesh, the Light who came to shine in our darkness. But what that all means for us - well, it still feels slightly elusive. It’s like we’ve been climbing the spiral staircase inside the Tower in the Palace of Westminster. We can tell we are getting closer to Big Ben but we’ve also got slightly dizzy and exhausted, wondering whether we can make it at all. Now, in this chapter, we lay eyes on the Great Bell. Here Jesus begins to spell things out in clean, unambiguous language (he continues the “plain speaking” in chapter 17) - Jesus has come temporarily to release the Spirit to enable many people to come to know the Father. That we would Know the Father - this is the end game of Jesus’ work. Ah. Our ears, our faces, our minds resound with the reverberating realisation that we barely know ourselves, let alone Almighty God.

Can I, the real me, really know the Father? Really know him? God can feel so distant. Jesus can feel like he lived so long ago. Sometimes ‘knowing God’ can feel so depressingly ungraspable - like trying to hug Big Ben when it is wildly swinging back and forth. But that feeling ignores what Jesus said about the Counsellor. You see, knowing God is not about our efforts, it is not about us reaching out to touch the bell. It is about the ringing of the bell reverberating in us - the knowledge of God is received, not won. It is about His work, not our work. The Life of Faith is about being alert and being open to the Spirit of God who comes to us, convicting us of our sin, leading us into truth and making Jesus known to us. Oh what freedom there is in this truth. When you really understand it it changes EVERYTHING. It is not about us, except for how we respond. And so - in the words of Gordon Fee “the first imperative of the Christian Life is to be filled with the Spirit”. Are you filled? Are you making being filled the prime driver in your day? We must go on being filled with the Spirit, because only through the Spirit can we receive the knowing of our God who came to make himself known.

Question for reflection

What knowledge of himself has God given you?