WITH YOU FOREVER

Jesus was preparing His disciples for one of the most difficult experiences of their lives. They would have been aware of the threats and animosity toward Jesus, but they seemed to have missed His warning and could not have imagined how these would play out so dramatically and suddenly over the following twenty-four hours.

The thing Jesus wanted them to know was that this would not be the end of their story with Him. Even when everything seemed to be going wrong, and all their hopes about Jesus had turned to tragedy, with real fear about whether they might be next, they would not be left alone. There were two important ways that Jesus promised that He would still be with them. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth” (John 14:15–17).

First, His teaching would continue to resonate and unfold in the way they would live. When they followed His teachings, they would continue to walk with Him as an expression of their love and faithfulness. He had taught them enough for His presence to continue to shape them and the world around them by their presence and work.

Second, the Father would send His Spirit to dwell within them as an abiding and eternal presence. The Spirit would be the guiding voice of help, comfort, and instruction in the disciples’ lives. What this would mean would become clearer after Jesus’ resurrection and would be manifested fully at Pentecost, but they were given this promise while Jesus was still with them. As fearful as the next hours would be, they did not have to feel like orphans, abandoned by their Teacher and Lord. Even as He prepared for His own ordeal, He was thinking first about them.