Thoughts on the Gospel of John (137) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
John 14:15–18

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (137)
The Lord Jesus was about to leave the earth. But His love for His disciples would never cease – He loves them “to the end” (ch. 13:1). And His disciples – would they love their Lord and remain faithful to Him? They have His word, His commandments. So they can prove their love by keeping these commandments.

Then the Lord opens to His disciples that He wants to give them a very special blessing for the time of His absence. The Holy Spirit would come to earth as a person and dwell in believers. He calls Him “Helper”, “Advocate”, “Comforter” or “Counsellor”, according to various translations.

Until then, the Lord Himself stood by His disciples. He took care of the disciples’ needs and supported, encouraged and comforted them in every way. After Jesus’ ascension, this task would additionally be taken up by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would never leave them – unlike Jesus, who was only visibly with them for a limited time and is now the “Advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1).

Two more things are different with the Holy Spirit: He is and remains invisible, because He did not become man, and He “will be in you”, so that He is intimately connected with believers.

Thus, the Lord Himself has ensured that His own are well taken care of during His absence: the Holy Spirit unites them with the glorified Christ.

Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-21 · Ephesians 5:1-7