September 12, 2023
Perfect Guidance
“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:25-26 (NASB)
In the old days, when we traveled we used maps to navigate. Today, it is much easier. We can place an address into our navigational system in our car or phone and never get lost. What a blessing for those of us who sometimes get turned around. It remembers every distance to a turn, every road you pass, traffic conditions, how crowded the road is, and the speed limit as well. It even gives you an estimated time of arrival. Then, if you stop, it recalculates the time of your arrival again. It can be quite bossy sometimes though. It normally doesn’t fail you though. I can only remember one time when we used navigation in a car and it sent us into a neighborhood, instead of our hotel. I couldn’t believe it. We realized later, that the address was correct, but there were two addresses and the same number.
“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.” A lot of what the disciples heard from Jesus over the three years was only partially understood. There were three things Jesus wanted them to observe and learn: 1) His death had to occur. God’s wrath against sin needed to be absorbed by Jesus in His crucifixion and death. 2) He had to rise again to show all He was victorious over the grave and sin. His resurrection would allow all who trusted in Him as Savior one day to rise and be with Him. 3) The Holy Spirit had to come. He would come in Jesus’ place, sent by the Father for those who trusted Jesus as Savior. He would also help the disciples in the coming days to remember all Jesus taught. Jesus said, “… the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” Jesus addressed these words to His disciples. The “all things,” was understanding the significance of His completed work. The Spirit of God would remind them of His former teachings, and give them insight into the true meanings. Because of this, the disciples would one day write their gospels with precision and accuracy guided by the Holy Spirit’s presence. Lenski says, “The fulfillment is exhibited in the marvelous record of the four Gospels, most notably in that of John which contains the extended discourses of Jesus. It is humanly impossible to reproduce with fidelity even human words spoken during over three years when all the words are understood perfectly at the moment they are heard. It is vastly more impossible to reproduce with exactness the many words of Jesus which the disciples failed to grasp at the time they heard them.”[1] The promise was made before Jesus even died.
As a young Christian, I witnessed to others. I was scared I would forget something or mess up the Bible verse. I got a little more comfortable sharing over the years when I realized if I stored the verses in my heart, the Holy Spirit would reveal them to me when needed. I often hear folks ask, “If the Holy Spirit resides in me, why do I need to memorize scripture?” I reply, “Yes, the Holy Spirit knows the Word of God, but you don’t.” “Give your memory something to work with and God can produce results.” We have such an untapped resource living within us. He is there to help us for the rest of our days, just like the disciples. For people like my dad (they used to call him ‘wrong way Pope’), it was dealing with maps. I heard a lot of conversations between my mom and dad over the years when they got lost. Mom was holding the map, so it was her fault!
[1] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The interpretation of St. John’s gospel (pp. 1014–1015). Augsburg Publishing House.