Sixth Sunday After Easter (Year A)

Jesus had just told his disciples about his coming ascension. He warned them that they would be left without his physical presence, as the Son of Man, their visible Messiah and teacher [John 13:33]. In today’s Gospel reading John 14:15-17, Jesus recognized their distress and their urgent need of comfort, spiritual discernment and the knowledge of Truth.

In John 14:16, Jesus assures his disciples that as the risen Son of God, he will intercede on their behalf, before his Father. He said that God will give them another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He said that the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete and the Spirit of Truth, will dwell within the believer. He will reveal the risen Christ as the way, the truth and the life [John 14:6, 20].

Jesus also gives his disciples the assurance that as the risen Christ, the fully orbed image and likeness of God, he will always be within and available to his disciples. This promise is the heart and mystery of the Gospel of Christ [Colossians 1:26-27]. Jesus declared, “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 I am in my Father and you in me and I in you” [John 14:18-20].

Jesus again assured his disciple of his indwelling presence as the risen Christ and the Son of God. Just before his ascension in Matthew 28:20, he declared, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age”. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews also declares that Jesus Christ is the Son of Man, and at the same time the changelessness, eternal spiritual being, the Son of God, going through a temporary, incarnate human experience. In Hebrews 13:8, the apostle Paul proclaims, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.”

The Bible declares that the Holy Spirit annointed and enabled Jesus Christ to fulfill God's will and complete his saving, healing and redemptive ministry as Son of God and Son of Man [Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18-19]. In the same way the Holy Spirit will also enable the Christ-centered, Spiritually awake body of believers to discern and experience the full impact, divine empowerment and authority to effectively proclaim the Gospel of Christ. This new and abundant life in Christ can be fully realized through faith, repentance, Christ consciousness and daily practical application of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth [Luke 9:23-27].

The gifts of the Spirit, as outlined by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:6-11, have been described in this way. The gifts of inspiration include tongues, interpretation of tongues and prophesy. The gifts of revelation include knowledge, wisdom and spiritual discernment. The gifts of power include faith, healing and miracles. The life and ministry of Jesus Christ as the Son of Man fully demonstrated not only these gifts of the Spirit, but also the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control [Galatians 5:22].

Jesus declared that the world cannot discern nor accept the Holy Spirit and Its revelation of the risen Christ, as the individualized presence, image and likeness of God, within the spiritual cores of Jesus of Nazareth, all humankind and in our midst [Genesis 1:26-27, John 14:17]. This human state of spiritual blindness continues to persist and prevail throughout our planet. In today's Gospel, Jesus focuses on the presence of the Holy Spirit in his disciples to comfort, discern, guide and empower them in overcoming this spiritual blindness of the mind of the flesh [Romans 8:1-11].

In John 14:19-21, Jesus told the disciples, “Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. On that day you will realize I am in the Father and you are in me and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father also and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Jesus assures believers that Christ, as God’s individualized presence, dwells within the spiritual core of all people. The Holy Spirit who also dwells within the spiritual cores of all humankind is the Spirit of Truth. The Holy Spirit facilitates and empowers the continuing sacrificial and redemptive ministry of Jesus Christ, in bringing humankind back to God, as the body of Christ, here on earth [1 Peter 3:18].

Are you willing to embrace the truth that the Holy Spirit has been sent by God to reveal that in God, we all live, move and have our being [Acts 17:28]? Will you embrace the comfort, spiritual discernment and Spirit-based knowledge provided for you and all humankind by the Holy Spirit? Are you wiling, like Paul, to share this Good News of the Gospel of Christ with others? Are you willing, with God's help, to repent daily and turn from sin daily? Will you daily turn to Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit, dwell in alignment and union with Jesus of Nazareth, the Father and the risen Christ, as an effective witnessing member of the body of Christ?

Virtue of the week: Discernment