
Friday 14/02/2025
John continues to record for us further aspects of the ‘Farewell Discourses’ – the title sometimes given to this final conversation Jesus had with his close friends. There is much here for us to ponder as he tells them more about WHO the Holy Spirit is (nb NOT what!) and the particular work he does in the world and in the lives of those of us who love and follow Jesus. Whilst we might occasionally think, ‘wouldn’t it have been great to have met Jesus in the flesh?’ and whilst the disciples certainly were very clear that they didn’t want Jesus to leave them, Jesus himself stresses that it will be better for them when the Spirit comes. I think it’s reasonable to assume that he’d say the same to us!
The emphasis on the Spirit in chapters 15 and 16 might seem a little disconnected from Jesus’s teaching about ‘the Vine’, one of the most familiar of the famous ‘I am’ sayings in John’s gospel – but there is in fact a strong connection!
Jesus teaches about the relationship we have with him and his Father, our ‘chosen-ness’, the challenge of ‘being pruned’ and perhaps the even bigger challenge of our calling to be fruitful. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last (John 15:16). May the Spirit work in and through us to make us fruitful in this coming week.
The Ven. Andy Piggott