NOTES for Joh 16:12-15

In the verses of today's passage from the Gospel of John, the Lord speaks of the Spirit, who will come and guide us "into all truth." And why will He be able to do this - to reveal the truth, to free us from our inability to receive it (see John 16:12)? Because "He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears He will speak"; He will do the will of the One who sent Him. This alone is the pledge of success - and not of personal success, but of the true attainment of eternity.

It would seem, why is this so? The Holy Spirit is God, and He could speak on His own... But we see that Jesus also does the will of the Father who sent Him. The point, apparently, is that between the Persons of the Holy Trinity there is no such division as there is between us and God, and the very fulfillment of the will - this deepest harmony in the actions of the Trinity - happens in a completely different way. This will is precisely one of those things that bind Them, the Persons of the Trinity, together...

So it is for us as well: the will of God, or more precisely, our free consent to it, is called to serve as the connecting link between us and the Kingdom of Heaven.