John 16:12,13 - The Spirit of Truth

16:12

One might have thought that Jesus had already said more than the disciples could bear, but there was more to come. It could mean “more than you can understand”. Whatever the case, He had more to teach them. This implies that as far as Jesus was concerned, He would continue speaking to them through the Holy Spirit after He had left them, though it would also refer to what He would tell them in time between the resurrection and the ascension.

There is also a general lesson for all of us. We don’t have to give someone all of the truth at once, most of the time none of us can take all of the truth at once.

16:13

Jesus then makes it explicit that the Holy Spirit would continue the teaching ministry of Jesus. Throughout the gospel of John the Holy Spirit is seen as a continuation of Jesus’ ministry. The Holy Spirit is a person, any views which see the Holy Spirit as a force are completely misguided.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Jesus earlier has said “I am the truth”. Truth here is not merely facts that are correct, but a whole understanding of life, and we might add “the universe and everything”. It is a whole world view and a view of ourselves. Who we are, and most importantly who we are in relation to God.

Jesus said that He only did what the Father did, and only spoke what the Father said. Likewise the Holy Spirit would only teach what He heard, not on His own authority. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit work together in perfect unity. They are one God, three persons.

When Jesus says He, or the Spirit, only speak what they hear, this does not mean in an autonomon way. They were not robots merely repeating what the Father said. Rather, it means they were in perfect unity with the Father, doing His will. We see something of this oneness in a good marriage. In a good marriage the husband and wife are one, but they are distinct as well. One is not the slave of the other, but they work and live together in unity. Sometimes God will speak directly to us, but He also works on our characters so that we naturally think and act the way that He thinks and acts.