“As Disciples of Our Glorified Savior…”
(John 14:15-26 – Easter 6 – May 10, 2026)
John 14:15-26 – 15“If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – 17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. 25These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
Dear Redeemed, children of God in Jesus Christ:
Sometimes, we need to prepare loved ones for important changes that are coming. Maybe a family is about to experience big changes with a move to a new place. As they leave familiar people and things behind, wondering what life will be like, the parents may comfort their children by speaking of those things that will not change – their love for them, their family ties, the things they like to do together that they will still do.
Jesus spoke these words to His disciples to prepare them for important changes. It was the night before His death. Soon they would see Him go away to be crucified on a cross. Then forty days after His resurrection, they would see Him ascend into heaven. The disciples would no longer see Him as they had each day for the past few years. Yet it would not mean He had abandoned them. Jesus assures them: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (vs. 18). He comforts His disciples with those things that would never change – His love for them; the family ties He gave them with Himself, His Father, and the Holy Spirit; and His continuing work among them.
In all the changes of life, Jesus speaks these words for our comfort too. In all the unknowns and uncertainties that may threaten daily life, our living Savior reminds us of those things which do not change. He who gave His life for us and rose again assures us of His unchanging love, the family ties He gives us as children of God, and His continuing work among us. Therefore, “As Disciples of Our Glorified Savior…” as stated in our text: 1) We love Him and His Word, 2) We are blessed by the Spirit and faith, and 3) We are united with the Triune God in eternal life.
1) We love Him and His Word
A few times here, Jesus speaks of the love between Him and His disciples. Each time, He describes our love in terms of keeping His Word: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (vs. 15). “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me” (vs. 21). “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word” (vs. 23).
When it comes to our relationship to God, how have we done at loving Him? How have we done at keeping His commandments and His word? As sinners, our love and obedience to God is imperfect. We have not always loved Him above all and put Him first in our lives. Sometimes it shows when we get bored with being in His Word, or when we keep forgetting to pray. We try to cope with life’s changes and challenges by trusting our own strength instead of His. Then when we cope poorly, we take our anxiety and stress out on others; and we fail to obey God’s command to love others as ourselves. Sometimes, all our troubles and trials in life, as well as all our sinful failures, overwhelm us. We may start to wonder if God has abandoned as orphans, leaving us to fend for ourselves. If we have not loved God perfectly, why should He love us?
But here, as Jesus describes our relationship with God, the word He uses for love is Agape. This love is not based on feelings or convenience. As an act of the will, it seeks the highest good of others, whether or not they deserve it. This is God’s love for us. 1 John 4:9-10 says: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Why has God not abandoned us as orphans? Why has He not left us in our sin and misery? He loved us so much that He was willing to give His Son to save us. Jesus kept the perfect law of love for us by His life of obedience. Then He gave His life on the cross as the sacrifice for all our sins. By His blood and righteousness, He presents us cleansed and forgiven and clothed in His holiness before His Father.
As His disciples, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). That is how it is with faith. When we know the Savior who loved us and gave Himself for us, faith responds by loving Him back. Specifically, our faith acts on His Word. So we understand as Jesus says: “If you love Me, keep My commandments… If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word” (vs. 23). By faith, we want to keep all He has commanded and taught us in His Word. We want to take to heart all He has spoken in Scripture, as the words that give us true repentance and faith, life and salvation.
2) We are blessed by the Holy Spirit and faith
In this way, as disciples of our glorified Savior, we are blessed by the Holy Spirit and faith. For it is the work of the Spirit, through the Word of Christ, to give us faith and to continue to strengthen it.
To this end, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit. As He prepared His disciples for His ascension to the right hand of His Father, He said: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (vs. 16-17).
The unbelieving world does not receive the Spirit and the truth He brings, any more than it received Jesus and the truth He taught. The corrupted heart and will of fallen man get in the way. But by the grace of God, the disciples had been given the Spirit. As Jesus taught them, the Spirit worked in their hearts by His words, which are spirit and life (John 6:63), giving them faith. So the Spirit dwelt in them.
When Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “Helper,” the word is Paraclete. It means a person who is called to one’s side to help them. The word is also translated “Counselor” or “Comforter.” At the request of Jesus, His Father sends the Holy Spirit to help, counsel, and comfort us through His Word of Scripture. Jesus calls the Spirit “another Helper.” For as long as Jesus walked on earth with His disciples, He was such a Helper as He taught them directly. As they listened to His Word, their faith was strengthened and they were comforted by His Word of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
Now as Jesus prepared them for His ascension, He would not leave them without help. He says: “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (vs. 25-26).
This is the work of the Holy Spirit who now dwells in us. He does not replace Jesus; He leads us to our Savior. The Spirit applies Jesus’ finished work of redemption to us, by His truth in Word and Sacrament. It is the Spirit who brought us to faith in Christ so that we have the forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life He won for us. When we struggle with our guilt and failures as sinners, the Spirit reminds us of Jesus’ Word in Scripture: “Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you” (Matthew 9:2). When we feel alone in the face of unknowns and uncertainties of life, the Spirit reminds us of Jesus’ Word in Scripture: “Do not be afraid; only believe” … “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mark 5:36; Matthew 28:20). When we feel afraid in the face of death, the Spirit reminds us of Jesus’ Word in Scripture: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25). The Spirit brings us true help, counsel, and comfort by the words of our living Savior. We are truly blessed by the gift of the Holy Spirit and the faith He gives.
3) We are united with the Triune God in eternal life
Finally, as disciples of our glorified Savior, we are blessed as we are united with the Triune God in eternal life. By faith, we have been united with the Father, Son, and the Spirit in the closest kind of relationship, now and forever.
Jesus refers to this relationship throughout our text. We have already heard that God the Father, at His Son’s request, sends the Spirit to dwell with us and in us forever. Jesus goes on to say that He Himself also comes to dwell with us and be in us. We read: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (vs. 18-20). As our risen, living, and glorified Savior, Jesus never leaves nor forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5). With the eyes of faith, trusting His Word, we see Him beside us. Even more than that, He says we live in Him and He lives in us; and this is for eternal life. Colossians 3:3-4 says: “Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
As we live in the Son by faith, we are also given the closest kind of relationship with the Father. As Jesus says: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (vs. 23).
Our relationship with the triune God cannot get any closer! As our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, God is with us. As His new creation in Christ, by the faith His Spirit gives, we live in Him. He makes His home with us, and He even lives in us!
So no matter what changes may come in this life, no matter what trials we may face, no matter what unknowns and uncertainties may threaten us, we need not fear. As disciples of our glorified Savior, He does not leave us to fend for ourselves as orphans. As beloved children of God, He comforts us with those things that will never change – His infinite love for us as our Savior, the close family relationship He gives us with His Father, and His continuing work among us by His Spirit. As we are united with the Triune God in eternal life, nothing can ever separate us from His love for us (Romans 8:35-39).
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.