John 14:16-17 … The Advocate within (10/24/16)
“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither Sees It nor Knows It. You Know It, because It abides with you, and will reside within you.” ~ Jesus (John 14:16-17)
It is no small understatement to note that, as far as comprehending human psychology was concerned, Jesus was way ahead of his time – so far ahead in fact, that he was forced to share his Truths via cryptic sermons & symbolic parables (and ultimately by having himself nailed to a cross). And this passage is one of the best evidences of this apparent fact. For here, Jesus is not speaking of an external “Advocate” – not referring to any separate “heavenly being” who would come from somewhere else and in effect possess the bodies of those to whom he was speaking. …
No, as was so often the case, Jesus was speaking here of an internal essence – an essence (that some call the “conscience,” and that others call the “Soul”) that was already in place within his listeners, and that needed merely to be activated by them via selfless acts of Love (see Matthew 10:7+ Matthew 24:12-14).
Sadly, not even his own disciples chose to set aside their self-centered fears & selfish lusts long enough to even faintly comprehend the radically selfless Love of which he was speaking (hence the fact that he became increasingly frustrated with them over the course of his three-year ministry – see Matthew 16:7-11, Mark 9:19, Luke 9:41 et al); hence the fact that he ultimately gave up trying to verbally explain his Way to others altogether – and hence the fact that he ultimately resorted to one final act of Joy-full self-sacrifice on the Hill of Golgotha — hence that he ultimately chose to show others what he meant instead of merely telling them the same.
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