NOTES for Joh 14:15-24

Another Comforter will remain with the disciples. It is not said that He will remain with everyone, most likely because those who reject the Son also reject the Spirit of Truth. One must accept Jesus, and then those who accept Him will be able to receive both the Father and the Spirit. Christ humbled Himself, but through His self-emptying we can attain the fullness of communion with God.

Christ promises the disciples that He will not leave them as orphans and that He will come again. Which coming does He mean—His Resurrection, the coming descent of the Holy Spirit, or the Second Coming? However these words are understood, He is near His faithful; He loves us and does not abandon us.

The sign of love—keeping the commandments—may seem too simple, and one can easily dismiss it as an expression of formal legalism. But depth begins at the surface. Observing basic rules is neither formalism nor mere discipline, but the pledge and first expression of a profound relationship with God that surpasses everything one could initially imagine.