DAILY GRACE
May 20, 2020, Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Scripture: John 16:12-15
‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“‘. . . the Spirit of truth . . . will guide you into all the truth . . . and will declare to you the things that are to come . . .”
What could be “the things that are to come”? We ask this question in the COVID-19 context. It’s not simply about getting a glimpse of what will unfold in the coming days, weeks, and months. It’s also about truth. Jesus says here that “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
The Spirit is the bond of unity in the Trinity. That bond has a name: Love. In love the Spirit guides us to all truth, not completely at once but over time. The Spirit reveals only as much as we are capable of receiving. The Spirit knows the right way to touch us, where to touch us, and when to touch us —- when we are ready and just how much light (or truth) we can take.
What Jesus says here is both a comfort and a challenge. Read the text again. How does what Jesus says here about his and the Spirit’s revelation of truth comfort you? And in what way does it challenge you?
Prayer
Spirit of Truth, you are love personified, and in love you want to communicate to me truth. Prepare me to receive truth about the “things that are to come.” Remove the blinders that cover my eyes. Amen.
Contemplation
I await your gift of truth, O Spirit: I long to hear what you have to declare!