Jesus asks the apostles to show their love for him by being faithful to his teaching: obedience, readiness to do what the other person wants, and putting the other person’s interests first is the true test of love. By his obedience Jesus showed his love for the Father; by our obedience we show our love for Jesus. The kind of love he is asking for is not an easy thing. That is why he is going to send them—and us—another Paraclete, who is the Holy Spirit. Paraclete means someone who is called in to give help in some way. The Holy Spirit is the one who helps us to cope with all the difficulties of the Christian life. Jesus sets us a difficult task, but with the task he is giving also the one who will enable us to know what to do and also enable us to do it. Jesus talks about those who are unable to receive the Spirit, and they are the people who have no time in their lives for God. To receive the Holy Spirit we need to make time for silence and prayer. Most of us either do not realise that it is important or are too busy with other things and think it is a waste of time. If we believed that silent prayer was important we would make time for it, as we make time for other things which seem to be important. Jesus promises that, though he is leaving them, he will come back, and he is speaking of his resurrection. When they see him alive they will also come alive in a new way, because then they will understand that he is indeed the Son of God and that will give them new hope after the disaster of his death. Jesus makes it clear that it is the person who really tries to keep his word and live as he wants him to live to whom he will reveal himself and whom he will bring into close relationship with himself. The more we love God by keeping his word, the more God will help us to understand him. The events of the death and resurrection of Jesus would change the lives of the apostles. Those who have been faithful to him are going to experience a great test of their faith in him. His great promise to send the Holy Spirit begins and ends with his request that they keep his commands as a sign of their love of him and their fidelity to him. It is only in that way that they will be capable of receiving what he has in mind for them. He is leaving them first in his death, then in his ascension, but they will not lose anything by his going, because he will continue to be with them forever in the Spirit of truth who will help them to preserve the truth of his doctrine even though false doctrines will arise. By the time John wrote his Gospel, false doctrine had already begun to arise. This section is concerned with love for Christ: the sign of their love and fidelity is that they keep his commandments. A person cannot really love him and at the same time break his word. Moreover, it is by being faithful to his commandment that they will make themselves able to receive the Holy Spirit. He wants to send the Holy Spirit to them to live in them, and that is the way that he will continue to be with them. Two big things bring us into closer relationship with God—Father, Son and Spirit. One is silent prayer. The other is being faithful to our Lord’s teaching. Both are great characteristics of our Lord’s life. He always found a time and a place to be alone with his Father. He always did the things that pleased his Father. And what about us? What do we do?
In Acts 1:6 we are told that Jesus said, “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” In Acts 8,1 at the death of Stephen two things happened: the Jews in Jerusalem rejected Christianity and Christians began to go out from Jerusalem until, still in the lifetime of the apostles, it reached Asia Minor and Rome. “That day a bitter persecution started and everyone except the apostles fled to Judea and Samaria,” especially perhaps the Jews who spoke Greek and became the first missionaries. In today’s reading we meet Philip somewhere in Samaria. The Samaritans were of mixed race, the descendants of Assyrians and Jews who remained behind after the capture of Samaria in 721. They were of mixed religion, Jewish and pagan, but they expected a Messiah. It was Philip the Deacon who announced the Messiah to them. Clearly Samaria was more open to the message than Jerusalem. Christ had promised his followers the power to heal, and Philip healed those who were sick in mind and body, and that healing was a sign of God’s power and God’s mercy. The Samaritans were baptised. Normally converts received the gifts of the Holy Spirit at baptism. In the case of the Samaritans it was in a special ceremony performed by Peter and John. They had been sent from Jerusalem either because the Christians in Jerusalem were surprised to learn that the Samaritans had accepted Christ or because Philip’s work with them needed to be approved. (Later in Acts 11,21 the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch.) This is the first record we have of what we would now call the sacrament of confirmation, given in the early years of the Church immediately after baptism. (The anointing with chrism at the end of our baptism service is left over from those early days.) The coming of the Spirit on converts in confirmation was made clear by the special gifts, called by the Greek name “charisms,” which people received to help them to work in some special way to build up the Christian life of the community. The readiness of the Samaritans to listen to Philip is itself a sign of the Holy Spirit at work, overcoming the bad heart that for centuries had prevented Jews and Samaritans from associating with each other. We have received the Spirit with his gifts. Therefore we should be active members of the Church, faithful to our daily tasks, trying to know and understand our faith more and more, living according to our faith each day, defending our faith when necessary, bringing others to faith by our words and actions, ready even to die for our faith; but let us not think we are ready to die for our faith if in some way or in some ways we are not ready to live our faith.
Peter has been giving practical advice to his Christians for their daily living with pagans, civil authorities and employers, with husbands, wives and children, with other Christians and in particular with those who make you suffer. 1) In the midst of those who make you suffer, do not fear and do not worry, but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. He must be the firm basis of their life. 2) The belief of Christians in Christ and their hope of everlasting life will make no sense to people who are pagans. But Christians must study and know their faith; they must be able to explain it to those who want to know about it and they must be able to defend it against those who attack it. But it is important to treat all who ask questions, even the hostile ones, with kindness, because more important than the good explanation is the good heart with which you give it, and the friendly way in which you give the explanation may convince people, even enemies—especially enemies—more than the explanation itself. Proverbs says that sharp words stir up wrath but a mild answer turns away anger (15,1). 3) The Christians must always live without mistakes, because first if people spoil their name, the Christians know and those people know that they have done no wrong and the shame will be on those who accuse them; second, they will suffer because of it, but it is better to suffer knowing that you have done nothing wrong than to suffer for doing something wrong; third, they should find peace of mind in the fact that in this respect they are no different from Jesus himself, who did no wrong, came amongst men only for their own good, and yet was falsely accused by them and unjustly condemned. Moreover, he himself had said, “If they have made me suffer, they will make you suffer too.” 4) Finally, the Christians should live without mistakes because the best argument for the Christian faith is the good Christian life. Even the cleverest of us cannot convince people by our arguments, but we could convince them by our lives if our lives were better.
Kefa W. MHM
What you’ll find here is my personal reflection on Scripture. I don’t claim to have all the answers, only a sincere desire to seek truth. Some of the references used are drawn from past study and experience, and I may no longer be able to recall all their exact sources. This reflection is not intended to establish official doctrine, theology, or official teaching. Feel free to leave your comments or personal reflections below as we continue to grow deeper together in the Word of God. I’ll see you next Sunday.
