Daily Devotions
John
What the questions of the disciples revealed
Text: John 14 : 12 - 31
WHAT THE QUESTIONS OF THE DISCIPLES REVEALED
As Jesus listened to the questions of the Disciples, He knew what they lacked. They did not have depth or maturity of understanding. Of course they needed answers. Jesus kindly answered them. However, each answer only provoked more questions. This state of affairs just would not do. There was no time to go into depth. He had only a little bit of time left with them, before He was going to be arrested by His enemies. There was so much more to teach them, but time had run out.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD
Once again, Jesus spoke to His Disciples about the Spirit of Truth. He had already informed them that He would pray to His Father and the Spirit of Truth would be sent to assist them in their life and ministry. Jesus now elaborated on the ministry of the Spirit of Truth.
“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name,
He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance
all things that I said to you.”
John 14:25-26
The Spirit of God was first introduced as “The Spirit of Truth”. He was also spoken of as “The Helper” (“The Comforter” KJV). Now Jesus described Him as “The Holy Spirit”.
These little titles were important, for they would go a long way to help the Disciples to identify the Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Though Jesus did not elaborate on this subject, He was most conscious of how the Devil could well deceive the Disciples by posing as the Spirit of God.
There were limitations to the extent the Devil could imitate the work of the Spirit of God. He could not duplicate His ministry with reference to Truth. The teachings of the Devil may contain some elements of “truth”. But when examined carefully, they are easily seen as falsehood. There is no way in which the Devil could pretend to be holy. He could present the form of holiness, but on closer examination, his teachings would be exposed as nothing more than hypocrisy.
Let us read a word of warning that the Apostle Paul wrote concerning the deceitful ministry of the Devil.
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself
into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform
themselves into ministers of righteousness,
whose end will be according to their works.”
2 Corinthians 11:13-15
It was necessary for Jesus to emphasize to His Disciples just how the Spirit of God would be characterized. He did not want to risk the Disciples being deceived.
ONE SPECIAL MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There was one special ministry that the Holy Spirit would undertake. He would focus on TEACHING. The following things would be associated with His ministry of teaching.
1. He will be their Teacher as Jesus was
Just as Jesus focused on teaching, so the Spirit of God would also focus on teaching. This was another way of emphasizing the fact that He was truly “Another Helper”. He would function in a similar way to that which Jesus had already established!
2. He will particularly help them understand and remember what Jesus said
The Spirit of God would of course not be limited in His ministry. However, it is not insignificant to note that Jesus emphasized the fact that He would particularly help the Disciples to “remember” all that they had been taught.
3. The Need for Deeper knowledge
Jesus knew that the level at which His Disciples had understood all that He had taught was still superficial. They were struggling with so many things that He had taught them. A number of things were needed before they could hope to learn the lessons at the desired level. Among other things, they would certainly need the following:-
A.They would need wisdom and discernment.
B.They would need experience.
C.They would need a deeper faith
AN IMPORTANT THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY
The Apostle Paul made an important theological comment on the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit in the following text.
“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.
For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know
the things that have been freely given to us by God.
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom
teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual.”
1 Corinthians 2:10, 12-13
The Apostle Paul affirmed the truth of what Jesus taught. One of the main ministries of the Spirit of God is teaching us deep truths. Let us seek to be good pupils.