Today's Devotion

Tuesday, June 16, 2026 - John 16:1-16

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

“A little while, and you will see Me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see Me,” says Jesus on the verge of His arrest and passion. He had many other things to say, but His disciples were just not ready, for they could “not bear them” at that time. But Jesus promises “the Spirit of truth” to come and be their guide. And here again, we see the perfect and most holy Trinity working in perfect unity. For “all that the Father has” belongs to the Son, and that which is His, the Holy Spirit “will take… and declare it” to our Lord’s disciples.

Though the Father does not come to earth to die, and though the Holy Spirit does not enlighten the church until the Father and the Son send Him, we see all three persons cooperating as a single essence to accomplish the healing of the universe that He created, but we sinners harmed. The persons of God coordinate without discord, without competition, and without any hint of working apart or at odds with each other. Our Triune God works like a perfect machine with no friction, but with perfect singleness of purpose, and in perfect love.

How this all works, we, of course, do not understand (Rom 11:33). For we are like the disciples in that we cannot “bear” the complete revelation of the truth. Maybe we will in eternity, or maybe not. God owes us no explanations, nor anything else. And yet, in His mercy, He not only reveals much about Himself, He creates us, redeems us, and sanctifies us, even without any innate value in ourselves.

But Jesus does reveal the persecution that will come upon the church – and which did in the lifetime of the apostles, and which continued thereafter. “I have said these things to you,” says our Lord, “to keep you from falling away.” When persecution comes, we should not lose heart, and be shocked, but rather we should – by the work of the Holy Spirit – “remember” that He warned us.

It was to the disciples’ “advantage” that Jesus left them for a while. For that was the plan for the Holy Spirit to come. And when He did come, He strengthened the disciples for their work as apostles, and for the persecution that came as well. And they did remember our Lord’s words, and were strengthened in their resolve to preach the Gospel.

Such is the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the church and to the world, then, now, and even unto eternity!

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.