Tonight is the final in the series on Jesus and the Spirit in John's Gospel. John 14-17 (the "farewell discourse") has a very important contribution to make to the theology of John. We focus on John 14:15-31, where Jesus speaks of 'another counsellor'. That is a clue to the role of the Spirit - his ministry is shaped by Jesus'. With the prospect of Jesus leaving he assures the disciples that they will not be alone, rather in the Spirit he and the Father will be present in the disciples. I like the parallel of 14:2 "in the Father's house there are many 'dwellings' (Gk. mone) and 14:23 "we will make a home" (same word) "with them": A great reminder that our life is lived in intimate fellowship with God through the Spirit. I didn't say much about the doctrine of the Trinity in the sermon - but this section shows how important the doctrine is.
My focus was on the quality of life we live now. We already share in "eternal life" - which is life with God.This is a similar point to last weeks one of living in the temple, but I think we don't grasp the idea very well
One idea from this section which is fascinating is that Jesus says it is good that he is going to the Father (14:28f, c.f. 16:7). I think we often view the ministry of the Spirit as an "interim" arrangement till Jesus' return, but in fact the Spirit's coming brings us into the New Age which will be consummated on Jesus return.
This was a good topic to think about on a night when we had the Lord's Supper, because the Lord's Supper is not remembering an absent Lord but fellowshipping with the Lord who is present by his Spirit. Follow the link to read Calvin's take on the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper: www.the-highway.com/supper1_Calvin.html.
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Diakrino - the Greek word which means to "judge" or "assess". It is used in 1 Corinthians 14:29 where Paul says that when the Christians meet one or two prophets should speak and then "let the others weigh what is said". I always imagine that this would have led to a vigorous and interesting discussion. I hope this blog will be the same.
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- Night Church (5)
- John's Gospel (3)
- Spirit (3)
- Introduction (1)
- John Owen (1)
- TH 410-610 - Westminster Confession (1)
- worship (1)
Invitation to conversation
When I teach (at church or college or somewhere else) I am interested to hear how people assess what I've said and I hope we can talk more about it. Life is so busy that often we can't discuss things at the time. This blog is an invitation to come back to me about what I've taught.
My plan is that I'll make at least a short comment about each sermon or lecture. Anyone who was there is free to add a comment, tell me what you didn't get or disagreed with; maybe you'd like to take it further or ask a question. I'll reply, but I hope other people will join the discussion.
I am not going to put up full notes for anything, because I want interaction from people who are part of my church and college community.
From time to time I'll probably put up some other interesting bits and pieces. Feel free to comment on them as well.
My plan is that I'll make at least a short comment about each sermon or lecture. Anyone who was there is free to add a comment, tell me what you didn't get or disagreed with; maybe you'd like to take it further or ask a question. I'll reply, but I hope other people will join the discussion.
I am not going to put up full notes for anything, because I want interaction from people who are part of my church and college community.
From time to time I'll probably put up some other interesting bits and pieces. Feel free to comment on them as well.
About Me
- John McClean
- Winmalee, NSW, Australia
- I teach theology, ethics and Christian thought at the Presbyterian Theological Centre in Sydney, and I preach at Springwood Presbyterian Church.
4 comments:
Hi John,
I'm guessing it was a deliberate choice here, but I think it was good and creative to not make the main point of the sermon "Obey Jesus", though the potential for it was certainly there (John 14:15, for example). I think we hear that plenty.
It was good to take us to one of the other thrusts of the passage- God with us, and in us. Us with God and in Him. It's a main point we hear less, and was well applied.
Thanks,
Dan
Just so you know - the colours on this site are really hard to read. The red titles are awful, and the white on blue is not easy on the eyes. Have a look at other blogs/sites that involve lots of text that people are expected to read (like news sites) - to get an idea. These colours may look nice but they're not pleasant for your readers. Please take this in the way its intended.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time! :)
I am not going to be original this time, so all I am going to say that your blog rocks, sad that I don't have suck a writing skills
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