John 16:12-15, The Spirit of Truth

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Think of a time when you were in such an emotional state that you could not bear to receive any more information. This is the state the disciples are in as Jesus keeps telling them about his going away. Jesus has more to say but now is not the time. Yet there will come a time, and they will hear more from him through the Spirit, who will unfold what is yet to come and what humanity needs to know about Jesus.

The “you” of verse 13 does not apply to us but to the apostles he will commission. It will be the Spirit of truth who enables them to write the books and letters that will become the New Testament, including the Gospel of John. We see in this passage the Trinitarian nature of God. The Father gives all things to the Son. The Son speaks these things to the Spirit. The Spirit declares these things to the apostles.

It is the declaration of the Spirit of truth that sets apart the documents that become the canon of the New Testament. When the early church read and discussed the documents that circulated in Christian circles, it was very clear to them what was of the Spirit and what was not. The New Testament proclaims truth because behind the New Testament is the truth about Jesus’ life and teaching that God wants his Church to know given to the apostles through the Holy Spirit.

Father, thank you for your Word incarnated in your Son and written through the Spirit. Amen.