Commentary on John 16:12-15

Holy Trinity Sunday is an invitation to consider the mystery of God’s expansive nature as seen through the dance of the Trinity: God (Divine Parent), Jesus (Son), and Holy Spirit (Advocate). It is important to consider Holy Trinity Sunday within the context of its proximity to Pentecost, where we are introduced to the third party, the Holy Spirit. This Sunday highlights the gift of the triune God and the particularity of each entity, even as they work and operate together as one.

Trinity as an invitation to abiding community

The disciples have been an intimate group of friends, sojourners, comrades, and co-conspirators as they have journeyed along with Jesus through his adult life and ministry on earth. They have known him in the flesh—able to eat with him, laugh with him, hear his teachings, and walk alongside him and one another. To have a teacher and friend that you trust enough to lay down the life you knew and pick up one that has more questions than answers is intimate and requires a deep relationship. So, to then hear repeatedly that the one you know and love is leaving by his own declaration would kick up grief, fear, and questions about what it means to be a community beyond Jesus, especially when they have only known community around Jesus.

Throughout John, Jesus has been repeatedly telling the disciples of this departure and of the coming of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to be with them. While the fullness of the story of Jesus has not yet been realized, the disciples are consistently being told that the one they love is leaving. This text is not the first time they have heard this, yet each time has its own nuance and is Jesus’ attempt to prepare them for what is to come. Here Jesus describes the Spirit as one that will “guide you into all the truth” (verse 13). The Spirit in John’s accounts is a wisdom, a guide, and a protector and defender who will journey with those Jesus has to leave behind, but who reflects the teachings and commandments of Jesus.

Jesus teaches them that community, and the work of their community, is even beyond his time here on earth; that the coming of the Spirit offers them access to what they have known and, most importantly, a guide to continue to do the work of Jesus. The gift of the Trinity as delivered by the Spirit is that the disciples are never left alone and that they as a community can and must continue even after Jesus is gone.

The Spirit as a gift of familiarity

“[The Holy Spirit] will take what is mine and declare it to you” (verse 14).

As I tried to put myself in the disciples’ shoes, one of the questions that came up was: “Who is this Spirit?”

The disciples all came from different backgrounds, access points, and communities, so I imagine that even their coming together was a journey of growing in trust and camaraderie. By this point, they knew Jesus and knew that he could be depended on, but for him to leave and send someone else—that would kick up some questions.

• Who or what is that someone else? 
• Do they know what they are doing? 
• Do they know the truth? 
• How can we trust this guide? 
• Where will the guide be? 
• You, I know … but this other one? I am not sure.

In the wisdom of continuity and care of familiarity, Jesus promises that the Spirit knows him. There’s something deeply pastoral and kind in this. Jesus tells them, “He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” I imagine this being comforting. Jesus is not just leaving them alone or leaving them with something wholly disconnected from him. The Spirit that is sent is doing so from the teachings, the guidance, the wisdom of Jesus. They know Jesus. They trust Jesus. They have been talked to about the God Jesus prays to, and now they will know the third part of this triune God, the Spirit. They can trust the Spirit, declaring from the truth of Jesus, because they are familiar with Jesus and trust him.

Sometimes in the presence of deep change, the gift of familiarity and continuity is a practice of care and trust-building for what is new and to come.

Stay tuned …

John’s Gospel often points to a further revelation or a mystery that is unfolding. I often think of this Gospel as the “Stay Tuned” Gospel, where Jesus is giving just enough to keep the disciples curious and attentive but not giving the whole story away. A tension in this text is at the beginning: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (verse 12). I imagine the disciples thinking, “Well, you have already said a whole lot, so what is worse than this?! You are leaving!”  

But rereading that in the context of the unfolding mystery, Jesus is offering a reminder for them to stay tuned. “Things will unfold that build upon what you know now. There are lessons you will learn, teachings you will receive, help that’s on the way that will fortify you for the work and life ahead.” Jesus didn’t say, “I will never tell you,” but “The timing of right now is not aligned with what will be best for you.”

In that, Jesus reminds the disciples and those of us witnessing now that so much of faith is staying attuned to what is coming, and trusting in its unfolding. It is receiving the gifts of wisdom from the Spirit and walking through the uncertainty, even as we trust the certainty that we are not alone and that the Trinity (above, around, within us) is guiding us to the truth that looks like love.