But what is the relevance of these promises to us today ? We have the scriptures, God’s word, and, as Jesus said to his Father, “your word is truth” (John 17. 17). Why, then, do we need the Spirit to “lead us into all truth”? Yes, the meaning of scripture is generally plain, and “he who runs may read”; but the truth of scripture is a mystery: spiritual truth can only be perceived spiritually, and that requires the help of the Holy Spirit. Two passages from Matthew make this clear. In 11. 25 we are privileged to hear Jesus praying to his Father (as in John 17, just quoted): “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and clever, and revealed them to children”. If God’s truth could only be grasped by the exercise of intelligence, then the unintelligent would be shut out of God’s kingdom; whereas it is often those whom the world would call ‘simple’ who have the simplest faith, and so the strongest faith, which they often live out with a simple obedience which shames many of the “wise and clever”. Then in 13. 11 and 13 Jesus tells his disciples why he teaches in parables: “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (the crowds) it has not been given. This is why I speak to them in parables, because, though seeing, they do not see, and, though hearing, they do not hear”. It is fatally easy to read and understand the words of scripture without understanding the word of God, and so the truth of God. It is fatally easy, too, to be led into error by the devil, whom Jesus described as “a liar, and the father of falsehood” (John. 8.44). So every time we open our bible and read and study God’s word, we need to claim this promise of Jesus, and call the Holy Spirit to our side to help us and to lead us into the truth.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
PARAKLETOS 3 (b) The Holy Spirit the Teacher (ii) reading the scriptures
But what is the relevance of these promises to us today ? We have the scriptures, God’s word, and, as Jesus said to his Father, “your word is truth” (John 17. 17). Why, then, do we need the Spirit to “lead us into all truth”? Yes, the meaning of scripture is generally plain, and “he who runs may read”; but the truth of scripture is a mystery: spiritual truth can only be perceived spiritually, and that requires the help of the Holy Spirit. Two passages from Matthew make this clear. In 11. 25 we are privileged to hear Jesus praying to his Father (as in John 17, just quoted): “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and clever, and revealed them to children”. If God’s truth could only be grasped by the exercise of intelligence, then the unintelligent would be shut out of God’s kingdom; whereas it is often those whom the world would call ‘simple’ who have the simplest faith, and so the strongest faith, which they often live out with a simple obedience which shames many of the “wise and clever”. Then in 13. 11 and 13 Jesus tells his disciples why he teaches in parables: “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (the crowds) it has not been given. This is why I speak to them in parables, because, though seeing, they do not see, and, though hearing, they do not hear”. It is fatally easy to read and understand the words of scripture without understanding the word of God, and so the truth of God. It is fatally easy, too, to be led into error by the devil, whom Jesus described as “a liar, and the father of falsehood” (John. 8.44). So every time we open our bible and read and study God’s word, we need to claim this promise of Jesus, and call the Holy Spirit to our side to help us and to lead us into the truth.
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