But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. --Job 32:8 (NKJV)
Why do churches have steeples?
Some might say it is to identify them as houses of worship. Others may say it is to point our eyes to the heavens. Still others may feel that it represents beauty and architectural traditions passed down from centuries ago.
Steeples are also known as church spires. In English, we find many words with the suffix -spire. According to WordReference.com, the root word spir comes from Latin, where it has the meaning "breathe; have a longing for.'' This meaning is found in such words as: aspire, conspire, expire, inspire, perspire, respiration, respiratory, respire, spiracle, spirit, transpire.
In our Christian walk, we aspire to be more like Christ. We are inspired by His teaching. We perspire in our work for Him, as the world conspires against Him. Finally, we try to work for Him until our dying day, when we expire or take our last breath on this earth. All of this would, of course, be impossible without the Spirit living within us.
The concept of the Holy Spirit was not foreign to the disciples. They had been taught from childhood lessons in the Torah about the Spirit of God falling upon Moses and seventy elders, causing them to prophesy (Numbers 11:25). They knew that in the history of Israel, the Spirit was given to men who were appointed as Judges over the people. Such men as Gideon (Judges 6:35), Jephthah (Judges 11:29), and Samson (Judges 14:6-19, and 15:14) were used by God for specific purposes in their leadership roles, and the Spirit of God was upon them.
The Holy Spirit also came upon kings of Israel: Saul prophesied (1 Samuel 10:10), David ruled (1 Samuel 16:13), and Zechariah spoke (2 Chronicles 24:20), all under the influence and filling of the Spirit of God. Prophets were sent by God to preach repentance and to foretell future events, such as Ezekiel (Ezekiel 11:5). All of these Old Testament examples, though, told of the Spirit falling upon people for a specific time and a specific purpose, and in at least one case, being removed from him (see 1 Samuel 16:14, when the Spirit of God departed from Saul).
Jesus spoke to them of the Spirit of God in a new way.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that He will take what is mine and declare it to you (John 16:12-15).
The knowledge that the disciples had at this point was incomplete. Much would transpire between now and the Lord's ascension into heaven. Even more knowledge would need to be imparted to them as they learned to live the Christian and share the Christian message with others after Jesus left them, but the disciples were not ready for this information at this moment. Warren Wiersbe explains it this way:
The Lord was always careful to give His disciples the right amount of truth at the right time. This is always the mark of a great teacher. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher today, and He follows that same principle: He teaches us the truths we need to know, when we need them, and when we are ready to receive them (The Bible Exposition Commentary).
The Holy Spirit's ministry is revealing Jesus to us, to bear testimony of Jesus. When a witness is about to testify in a court of law, they swear an oath to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Jesus said that the Spirit would "guide you into all the truth." Bible commentator David Guzik writes, "In one sense, this was fulfilled when the New Testament writings, divinely inspired by God, were completed. In another sense the Holy Spirit continues today to personally lead us into truth, but never in opposition to the Scripture, because God’s supremely authoritative revelation is closed with the New Testament."
When you compare John 14:26 with 16:13, you see the wonderful way that God arranged for the writing of the New Testament Scriptures. The Spirit would remind them of when Jesus had taught them; this gives us the four gospels. The Spirit would also "guide" them into all truth, and this would result in the Epistles. "He will show you things to come" refers to the prophetic Scriptures, especially the book of Revelation (Wiersbe).
2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." It was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Paul wrote these words. Paul was inspired to point us to God, as the word of God has the effect of glorifying God. When we memorize Scripture, we act as a church spire, to point people to Jesus.
This passage also affirms the Trinity. Jesus says in verse 14 that He (the Spirit) will glorify Me (the Son). Further, the Spirit will take the truths that belong to Jesus and share it with us. All that God (the Father) has belongs to Jesus--all truth, all insight, all knowledge, for God is omniscient. Jesus said that the Spirit would take this gift from the Father to the Son and give it to us.
Jesus goes on:
"A little while, and you will see Me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see Me." So some of His disciples said to one another, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I am going to the Father'?" So they were saying, "What does He mean by 'a little while'? We do not know what He is talking about." Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him, so He said to them, "Is this what you are saying, 'A little while and you will not see Me, and again a little while and you will see Me'? Truly, truly I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." (John 16:16-22)
Jesus' prophetic words were not well received at this particular moment. NT Wright puts it this way:
This isn't just a matter of Jesus saying, "there's trouble coming, but it will be all right afterwards." It's a matter of seeing that when we find ourselves, a few chapters from now, at the foot of the cross, and then when we find ourselves after that with Mary Magdalene in the Easter garden, we shouldn't miss the significance of these events. They are not merely strange, shocking and even unique. They are the visible sign that God's new world really is coming to birth. It's hardly surprising, then, that Jesus has another warning as well. There are all sorts of things He would love to talk to them about which they aren't ready for, which they couldn't cope with. As it is, they are no doubt sleepy at the end of a long day and a festive evening, and He is facing them with warnings and encouragements the likes of which the world has never heard before or since. It's already too much. The funny little dialogue in verses 16-19, with the disciples tossing Jesus' words to and fro, makes that clear enough. No: they won't understand much of it just now. But part of the job of the Spirit, the 'Helper', will be to lead them into all truth. The Spirit will remind them of what Jesus had already said to them. The Spirit will also guide them, nudging their minds and imaginations into ways of knowing, and things to know, that Jesus would like to have said but couldn't at the time (John for Everyone).
When a baby is first born, one of the first signs of life is respiration. Being able to breathe in and vocalize shows that new life has begun, and growth is starting. In the same way, when we are born again, one of the major signs of the Christian life in us is being filled with the Spirit of God, breathing in His words and vocalizing them to others who have not yet heard.
There is joy in heaven when a sinner comes to faith in Christ (Luke 15:7-10). There was much joy in the disciples' hearts when they saw the resurrected Jesus. The events leading up to the Resurrection were like labor pains--hard to go through but soon forgotten when we see His face.
No comments:
Post a Comment