Saturday, 1 March 2025

What Jesus said about ... (series)

 

What Jesus said about ... The Holy Spirit (The Holy Trinity).

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, because He abides with you, and He will be in you.

I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." John 14:15-21

Most probably the disciples of Jesus were confused when they heard this; as many of us are today.

Jesus here is speaking of the Holy Spirit. The third person in the Trinity. 

Christians believe that God, the Creator, always existed. He spoke to the world through the prophets and the writers of the Old Testament, and He gave His people the Commandments by which to live.  

When the time was right, Jesus sent His Son to the world. He was/is a human like us but at the same time He was/is God. Jesus did not start to exist when He was born on earth. He always existed as a Spirit with God in Heaven.

At the time of Jesus the people noticed that He spoke with authority and conviction, and all that He said made sense. They watched how He lived and the way He related to people. He showed compassion for the sick, the destitute and those forgotten by society. He cared for the hungry and the poor and showed kindness for everybody. When anyone was rude or insulting to Him, He did not answer back in anger. He lived His life on a high moral plain but showed sympathy and understanding for those who were stained and scarred by sin. 

He taught them about His Father who was/is God and that He was the Son of God. One day, when He asked them who they thought He was, Peter was quick to answer, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven." Matthew 16:13-20

What Jesus said here is very important "... this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven." This is affirmation, by God, through the Holy Spirit, that Jesus is His Son. 

For three years the people saw Jesus perform many miracles. They saw Him die and then alive again after the Resurrection, and knew He had conquered death and the grave. Time and again they saw Him after the Resurrection, spoke with Him and ate with Him.

It was impossible for them to think or talk about God without thinking and talking about Jesus. They had come to know God their Father through His Son.

When Jesus was taken up to Heaven after the Resurrection the disciples were distraught. What are they to do now? Their Leader whom they saw and trusted all these years had gone. They were afraid, so they hid in houses secretly, wondering what to do next.

As promised, Jesus sent His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, upon them nine days later. Acts 2:1-4

Their eyes were opened and they believed, and understood, that He was the Third Person of God.

To the early disciples, the Holy Spirit was real indeed. They had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. They received Him at Pentecost in tongues of fire and they were able to speak to the crowds that gathered in different languages. Peter explained to the crowd that the disciples had received God's Holy Spirit.

The disciples, and early Christians, now knew for certain that the one and only living God they believed in, whom Abraham, Moses, and the prophets had spoken of, had sent His only Son Jesus to earth. Because they had met Jesus. They also knew that Jesus had sent His Holy Spirit upon them, because they had experienced the Holy Spirit.
 
To them this was all a reality. Something they had seen, experienced and understood. Because the disciples had experienced the Holy Spirit, He became such a force in their lives, giving them strength to spread the Good News that Jesus had taught them, enabling them to live as Jesus had lived. t was they who handed on to us the mystery of the Holy Trinity that in one God there are three Persons.
 
Apart from Pentecost, there are two other occasions when the Holy Spirit appeared to the people:
 
"As soon as Jesus was baptised, He came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and lighting on Him. Then a voice said from heaven, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased." Matthew 3:16-17
 
The second time was at the Transfiguration:
 
"While he (Peter) was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. Luke 9:34-36
 
Today, many people don’t understand the Holy Spirit. Somehow, over the years the message has been diluted. Miss-understood. Or perhaps deliberately confused to obfuscate the message of Christianity.
 
But the Holy Spirit still can and does descend on people today. And He does transform their lives. If people believe, and if they ask and invite Him earnestly into their soul.

25 comments:

  1. NOTE: This post is part of a series of articles entitled "What Jesus said about ..." If you click the label "What Jesus said" at the end of the article you'll be able to access all the articles.

    If there are any topics you would like discussed in this series please write to me by clicking the "Contact us" tab at the top right of this page.

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  2. Bless you, Victor.

    "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." John 14:15-21"

    I love these words!

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  3. ...I must say that this has always confused me.

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    1. I hope I have clarified things a little, Tom. If not, please let me know. God bless.

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  4. Not until "meeting" you (and Pastor Janet, too) could I begin to grasp the Holy Ghost/Spirit. Sitting over our cups of coffee one morning, she suggested I think of it(Him? her?) as my best friend. Your explanations have strengthened my belief, for which I'm enormously grateful.
    No longer an afterthought, the Holy ghost/Spirit!

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    1. Thank you Mevely for your kind words. It is difficult for many to visualise God Jesus and The Holy Spirit together for eternity always in Heaven. The Trinity is a mystery which we will never understand - not in this life at least. We need to accept it as fact through believing in good faith that Jesus was not a liar. He said it - so it must be true.

      Yes, the Holy Spirit is a friend available now to any believer who invites Him in their soul. St Hilary of Poitiers, a Bishop in the 3rd Century AD, described the Holy Spirit as “the Gift”. He is the gift given to us by God after Jesus ascended into Heaven.

      God bless you always.

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  5. The Holy Spirit is real and works in and through us today, Victor. I know some people have a difficult time understanding the third part of the Trinity, but I can feel Him in my soul. Blessings always!

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    1. Amen Martha. Yes, He is in our soul if we invite Him in. The gift - the helper.

      God bless.

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  6. I read everyone's comment, and I agree with them. I know the Holy Spirit is real and comes to you if you ask. I know that I have never been left alone, and I am so thankful for that.

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    1. Thank you Sandie for this good testament. It will encourage many.

      God bless you.

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  7. You explained it well, Victor.

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  8. Love and kindness always. ❤️

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  9. thecontemplativecat here. thank you for setting out the understanding about the Holy Spirit. when I was a kid, He was called the "Holy Ghost". that scared us, so we never realized that relationship.

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    1. True , Susan; when we were young He was called the Holy Ghost. It then changed to Holy Spirit.

      God bless you and yours.

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  10. The Holy Spirit indwells in all believers. We are never alone and for that I am truly thankful. :)

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  11. Excellent last paragraph Victor.

    All the best Jan

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    1. A lot of people don't believe that, Jan; or understand it even. But the Holy Spirit can descend on people today; and often does; at our invitation.

      God bless you my friend.

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  12. We need the Holy Spirit to pour out on us in mighty ways now, to revive Believers into spreading the Word. The world needs it so much!

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  13. There is a praise song that says (speaking of the Holy Spirit): "You are the air I breathe, Your Holy Spirit, living in me."

    I like to meditate on and take comfort that the Lord is as close to me as the air in my nostrils, in my lungs, on my breath.

    When my late husband died and I was ushered into the hospice room to see his body, I knew immediately that Tom was not there. The air in his nostrils was gone. What remained was his "earth suit" (as one of my pastors used to say). The Holy Spirit had taken Tom to Heaven.

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    1. Thank you for such a touching comment, Barbara. Yes, the Holy Spirit can be within us, to guide and help us, if we invite Him in our souls.

      God bless you always.

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