The Holy Spirit: The Revealer
‘My truth is my truth, and your truth is your truth. Who am I to force my truth on you.’ This is a perspective we hear often these days.
But on the other hand, when a life is in danger, and finding ‘the truth’ could save that life, most of us treat truth differently. When we are searching for the true diagnosis of a severe medical complaint, then there is only one truth that we must deal with. What is really causing those medical symptoms and how therefore should they be treated?
Enter Jesus’ teaching on the Holy Spirit, the Revealer (John 16.12-15). The church’s access to the truth about God, eternal life, is given to us by the Spirit. Truth in which we find our eternal life- something greater even, than physical healing.
Jesus’ teaching on the Holy Spirit, the Revealer, is good news. According to Jesus, the truth is not something the church earns or figures out. Knowing God’s truth is a gift, so we can’t be proud. And secondly, the truth comes to us from a good God, so it must be good for us. The Spirit reveals the truth about the Father and the Son, and his gift of eternal life, to the apostles. This teaching is now deposited for us in the Scriptures. And that same Spirit makes us the kind of people that can live in this revealed truth.
Reflection Questions
- Can you think of a circumstance where ‘my truth is my truth, and your truth is your truth’ is an inadequate approach to a problem? In what kind of circumstances do we usually insist on discovering ‘the truth’?
2. In John 16.12-15 Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, who he will send, ‘The Spirit of Truth’ (v13). How was Jesus a truth teller in his ministry on earth? What does this suggest about the work the Spirit will go on to do, in Jesus’ name?
3. In John 16.12-15 Jesus teaches us about the Spirit’s ministry of revelation. In other words, the Spirit will pass on the truth that belongs to the Father and the Son. The truth of God’s identity and the way of salvation. What role do our good works, or our human intelligence, play in accessing this truth?
4. The Apostles will receive the Spirit’s truth and in turn pass this truth on to the church through the Scriptures of the New Testament. Finally, then, on what grounds can we be confident about the authenticity of the New Testament?
5. How can we become the kind of people that can ‘bear’ the truth (v12)?
