Skip to main content

Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled (John 14:25-31)

 In simple terms, Jesus is saying, "I'm telling you now, so you're not surprised." And these are the final things that Jesus wants to teach them directly. The Holy Spirit will come, and He will teach us the rest. Sometimes, we forget about the Holy Spirit, because we think a lot about the Father, and the Son. This isn't wrong, but we need to embrace the fullness of God.

We should also remember that while the Holy Spirit will guide each of us, his main purpose is to guide and protect the Church. When the Holy Spirit reminds us of what Christ taught us, he does this in a special and powerful way. We know that we can trust whatever the Church offers to us as a part of faith, because that's what Jesus promised he would do. (See also Matthew 16:18) The Holy Spirit is carrying out a promise that Jesus made to us. The Holy Spirit is indeed powerful, and he does more than comfort us, as we will see. He helps us to think and to understand. We should seek His wisdom always. In fact, many great teachers believe that certain passages in the Old Testament which refer to "Wisdom" are direct references to the Holy Spirit!

Think of how sad you would be, if you followed Jesus for three years, and he says that he's going away, and that he will die. Suppose you put all your hope in him, and you can't quite see the full plan of what God will do. Your heart would tremble; you would rightly wonder if you made a mistake. He's telling them again that his going to the Father is a big part of the overall plan. He's telling them and us to trust in the Father's plan.

Then he says he doesn't have much more to say, because the ruler of this world is coming. We might think that he is referring to God, because God ultimately rules the world, but we remember that "world" for St. John is usually bad, referring to all those who oppose God. Therefore, the "ruler of this world" is Satan.

St. Paul, in one translation of his letter to the Ephesians, calls him "the prince of the power of the air." Some commentators think that when Jesus mentions birds in his parables, the birds are often Satan.

It becomes more clear that Jesus is talking about Satan, because he says, "He has no power over me" in verse 30. On the other hand, when mentioning the Father in verse 28, he says, "for the Father is greater than I."

Jesus is going to obey the Father, and not worry about the plans of the Enemy. Everything Jesus will do is so that the world will know that he loves the Father. Even though Jesus never refuses the worship that comes to him, he never makes anything about him. He is always and forever the one who adores and submits to the Father.

This section ends with Jesus saying that he's done talking, because they are running out of time. It's almost time for everything to take place.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Thoughts On The Harrison Butker Commencement Speech

Update: I read the whole thing. I’m sorry, but what a weirdo. I thought you [Tom Darrow, of Denver, CO] made a trenchant case for why lockdowns are bad, and I definitely appreciated it. But a graduation speech is *not* the place for that. Secondly, this is an august event. It always is. I would never address the President of the United States in this manner. Never. Even the previous president, though he deserves it, if anyone does. Thirdly, the affirmations of Catholic identity should be more general. He has no authority to propound with specificity on all matters of great consequence. It has all the hallmarks of a culture war broadside, and again, a layman shouldn’t speak like this. The respect and reverence due the clergy is *always due,* even if they are weak, and outright wrong. We just don’t brush them aside like corrupt Mafia dons, to make a point. Fourthly, I don’t know where anyone gets the idea that the TLM is how God demands to be worshipped. The Church doesn’t teach that. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dear Alyse

 Today, you’re 35. Or at least you would be, in this place. You probably know this, but we’re OK. Not great, but OK. We know you wouldn’t want us moping around and weeping all the time. We try not to. Actually, I guess part of the problem is that you didn’t know how much we loved you. And that you didn’t know how to love yourself. I hope you have gotten to Love by now. Not a place, but fills everything in every way. I’m not Him, but he probably said, “Dear daughter/sister, you have been terribly hard on yourself. Rest now, and be at peace.” Anyway, teaching is going well, and I tell the kids all about you. They all say you are pretty. I usually can keep the boys from saying something gross for a few seconds. Mom and I are going to the game tonight. And like 6 more times, before I go back to South Carolina. I have seen Nicky twice, but I myself haven’t seen your younger kids. Bob took pictures of the day we said goodbye, and we did a family picture at the Abbey. I literally almost a...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Friend I Once Had, And The Dogmatic Principle

 I once had a friend, a dear friend, who helped me with personal care needs in college. Reformed Presbyterian to the core. When I was a Reformed Presbyterian, I visited their church many times. We were close. I still consider his siblings my friends. (And siblings in the Lord.) Nevertheless, when I began to consider the claims of the Catholic Church to be the Church Christ founded, he took me out to breakfast. He implied--but never quite stated--that we would not be brothers, if I sought full communion with the Catholic Church. That came true; a couple years later, I called him on his birthday, as I'd done every year for close to ten of them. He didn't recognize my number, and it was the most strained, awkward phone call I have ever had. We haven't spoken since. We were close enough that I attended the rehearsal dinner for his wedding. His wife's uncle is a Catholic priest. I remember reading a blog post of theirs, that early in their relationship, she told him of the p...
Post a Comment
Read more