John 16
Jesus is preparing the disciples for his death. He is also preparing the disciples for the time when he will no longer be present in the same way. Jesus says he will leaven them. And the Holy Spirit will come to them. Jesus leaves. The Spirit comes. In the narrative, Father, Son, and Spirit participate together in revealing God and enabling faith. Jesus does not present a flat picture of God as one dimensional, but here God is made known in the interplay of Father, Son and Spirit. Trinity can seem like a difficult subject, but another way of talking about Trinity is simply the narrative of how Father, Son and Spirit give us a fuller engagement with God. God is about sending: the father sends the son, the son sends the spirit, the spirit sends the disciples. God is about deep fellowship in the mutual relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit, and that God names a similar deep fellowship with disciples. Is such a deep fellowship attractive or unsettling to you? Where do you see God’s fellowship at work in your church?
