April 17, 2012

Reflecting on John 14: 18-31

I have always liked the “Advocate” in chapter 14 of John’s gospel.  “Advocate”--in English, the synonyms are: supporter, backer, promoter, believer, activist, campaigner, sponsor.  And since I first encountered this passage in English as a boy, I’ve always thought that “Advocate” sounded a lot better than “Holy Spirit.”  An “Advocate” was someone who likely had your back; the “Holy Spirit” seemed and still does seem a lot less certain.  

So it’s “good news” in my mind that the “Advocate” Jesus promises, “will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”  Because the measure for loving Jesus is keeping his commandments--which sometimes seem a little less direct than the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone tablets!  Jesus says, “don’t let your hearts be troubled,” I think in part, because the Advocate has our backs.  

But that doesn’t get us entirely off the hook.  There’s still the matter of keeping the commandments.  Don’t worry, says Jesus, you have the Advocate to teach and remind.  But still... the commandments.  

This passage ends with Jesus saying: “ ...the ruler of this world is coming.  He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father."  I don’t know who “the ruler of this world” is; it could be Pilate or the religious authorities--maybe both.  But though the ruler of this world is coming, Jesus says, “he has no power over me.”  Still, “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.”  In other words, the ruler of this world doesn’t have the power to make him keep the commandments or love the Father, but Jesus does as he was commanded--”so that the world may know he loves the Father.”  

Jesus wants the world to know that he loves the Father; Jesus wants us to love the Father--and he tells us that when we keep his commandments, we love him, and when we love him, we love the Father.  And then I begin to see it more clearly--the ruler of this world is what’s in my way.  Not Pilate, not the religious authorities of Jesus’ day--the ruler of this world.  And there are many who rule this world.  

The culture.  Political leaders.  My own sense of right and wrong.  My desire for money, wealth, success, prosperity; my demand for freedom to do as I want, my selfishness, the selfishness of others--and the list goes on and on.  On any given day there’s a lot that affects my willingness or my desire to keep Jesus’ commandments in the face of worldly rulers.  

And that, too, is why I like this “Advocate”--who not only is going to have my back, but who is determined to help me do what I am not always prepared and/or willing to do for the sake of someone or something else.  Or, for the sake of loving the Jesus and the Father.