I WILL SEND YOU THE ADVOCATE, THE SPIRT OF TRUTH AND LOVE
After Jesus has risen from the dead he stayed with his disciples for another forty days before ascending to heaven, teaching and preparing them for their coming ministry. Jesus has already taught them about the unbreakable bond of love and unity between him and God the Father. Now Jesus introduces to them the Third Person of the Trinity. Jesus have to prepare them and get them ready for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit as the “Advocate and Spirit of truth.” An advocate is one that plays the role of support, encouragement and inspiration. The Holy Spirit ensures that they will be heard, their messages respected and taking seriously. The Holy Spirit will reveal to them the divine realities and ensure that their words are authentic. Another thing that the Holy Spirit will do is to help them understand the true meaning of love and live by loving all humanity. Jesus said that the world cannot accept the Holy Spirit because the world neither sees nor know him. Here the “world” means those who do not have faith in Christ. Since they live only on the level of earthly and material things they cannot see what faith can see or know what faith can reveal. Faith is a spiritual sight. The Holy Spirit guides those who believe and help them to do good things. Are we surprised to see and hear about all the bad things that happens in our world? Is it not the sign that the Holy Spirit is not in the life of some people? In Romans 8, Paul drew a clear contrast between the life of those who live according to the world and those who live by the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus leaves, his disciples will become masters spreading the words and teachings of Jesus Christ and operating by the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the Holy Spirit Philip went to Samaria. He proclaimed the message of the Lord, accompanied by great miracles. His message brought many to the faith. They were baptized by Philip but Peter and Joh went and confirmed them in the Holy Spirit. They were impelled by the Holy Spirit of love and unity to do these things. We remember that it was the Samaritan city that would not allow Jesus and his disciples to pass through. We remember that James and John angrily asked Jesus for permission to call fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans. The same Samaritans who were viewed as unworthy of the grace and blessings of God. The Holy Spirit has changed everything. The Holy Spirit has removed the difference and brought them to Christ. They were no long counted as outsiders. They were children of God too, redeemed by the blood of Christ. The greatest miracle ever performed is the miracle of love. The Holy Spirit guided the disciples not only to perform healings but to perform the miracle of love. Lack of true love is a sign of the absence of the Holy Spirit. No wonder the Bible said that when the spirit of God left King Saul he became possessed by evil spirit that made him develop such great hatred and anger against David. The Bible said, “Where the Spirit of God is, there is love.” Jesus said whoever observes my commandments is the one who loves me. Everything about being Jesus follower depends so much on love. The love that shines out as we live every day according to the words and principles of Jesus. The love makes us see everyone as brothers and sisters, created in the image of God. The love that made the apostles go to the whole world proclaiming Christ to all humanity. Love is the sign of responsible Christians and deeply committed followers of Christ. To love is to have the mind of Christ. The Christian identity is love. Paul would say, “Though we perform miracles and do great things but do not have love, they are all for nothing. As we identify with Christ by our love for all people, Christ will also identify with us. When we truly love we can do wonders in our family. We can do wonders in our society. We can do wonders in the world. The greatest miracle is love. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth and love.