Day 1130: Who is the gospel for? - John 14 vs 15 -24

15-17 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18-21 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.” John 14:15-24 English Standard Version

We come today to the third question which Jesus was asked. It's from Judas (not Iscariot), and he asks a question which would have tremendous implications for those who had never met Jesus in person. “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Jesus had just been telling them a wonderful truth. He'd spoken of the ministry of the Holy Spirit who would be given to the disciples after He had petitioned the Father. He refers to the Spirit as being 'another helper', and the Spirit of truth. 'Helper' translates the word 'parakleton', and is the same word used in 1 John 2:1 where we read: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an 'advocate' (parakleton) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

The word literally means 'to call to ones side', and was used in a legal sense of calling someone as an advocate. Someone who will speak on our behalf. And, says Jesus, He is someone who will guide them into the truth. Christ's going away would not leave them as orphans! They would not be leaderless and helpless in the world. The Holy Spirit would come, and would make the person of Christ a reality to them.

But this was not something that everyone would enjoy. Jesus appears to hint at His coming crucifixion when He says: “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.” He was going to rise again, and because He was alive forever, they would live too. Which leads to the question Judas asked.

Judas knew that Jesus was going to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit. But Jesus had also said of the Spirit: “Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” The Holy Spirit had already been present in their midst through the life of Jesus, but He was going to soon make His residence within their very lives. So was this just for the apostles? What was the answer Jesus gave to that question? (vs 23)

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” How wonderful those words of the Saviour are, and what joyful comfort they should give to every man, woman, and child, who has truly believed on Jesus Christ for salvation, and taken the message of the gospel to heart. The Holy Spirit makes real the presence of the Father and the Son in their lives.

Would we know more of that reality? Then let's not just give lip service to Jesus Christ, but let us love Him, and keep His commandments. 1 John 1:3 says: “That which we've seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” The gospel was not just for the apostles, it’s for us too.