“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” (John 16:12 NIV)
Our Jesus was getting ready to take leave of His disciples and He’d spent the last several chapters giving final instructions. Honestly, it was highly unlikely that the disciples would immediately recall much of what their Master had said; trauma has a way of wiping the mental slate clean, at least initially.
I love this verse, though, this idea that Jesus still has so much more to tell us but our reception is limited by our humanity. This scripture encourages me because I have so many questions. I never open God’s Word without asking a few. I spend a good bit of every day wondering. Week after week, my Apple screen usage report documents ‘research sites’ as a huge percentage of data spent. I’ve always felt, though, that the room available in my head is not nearly large enough to contain the answers to the questions I still want to ask.
I appreciate Jesus’ compassion for the physical and emotional limitations of His disciples. They’d been up all night and it had surely been a busy day before that. What’s more, Jesus knew what was about to happen; the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion. He knew He could keep giving information but there was a point where the disciples would not recall another iota of it.
In hindsight, I find it remarkable that the Bible contains so many chapters of last supper teaching. Middle of the night learning is not my strong suit and it reads like the disciples barely had a grasp of what Jesus was saying. I wonder if Holy Spirit brought back these memories at a later date? (another one my questions, of course.) Jesus eluded to this in the verses that followed:
“But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will only speak what He hears and He will tell you what is to come. He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you.” (John 16:13-14 NIV)
The Holy Spirit helps us remember and guides us forward in truth. He is our Teacher, leading us along the path to all knowledge; one startling revelation at a time. Jesus told His disciples – and us – that it was better that He was going away because the Holy Spirit would be with us instead. There is no interruption in our time with the Advocate – we are only limited by our attentiveness.
We’ll learn a little bit if we’ll just listen, but we’ll learn a lot if we discipline ourselves with God’s Word. Being in scripture daily boosts our education from occasional training to a far more comprehensive and submergent classroom experience. It’s kind of like the difference between a continuing education course and a foreign exchange program. The exchange student is going to learn through every experience, conversation and class lecture. If we are truly serious about following Jesus and glorifying God, then it makes sense that we would sit under His tutelage as often as possible.
One of the things I love about walking with God is how the Holy Spirit will bring back experiences years later and grant us fresh perspective. Have you had this happen yet?
In the months while my mom was dying, the Holy Spirit woke me up with a hymn each day. It was nothing short of supernatural. I had been out of a traditional Sunday service for almost two decades and I have a historically terrible memory. But for that season, the words of old hymns came back to me with startling clarity and fresh revelation. The time-tested tunes were so encouraging; a lifeline from heaven for every twenty-four hours, fresh mercy each morning.
I suspect this sort of supernatural recalling occurred when the disciples story slowed enough to allow them to sit down and put pen to paper. The Holy Spirit helped them remember the teachings of Jesus – though twenty years prior – and gifted them with additional insight as well. I’m so glad He did; countless believers have benefited from the chapters and chapters of last supper sermon. The gospels were written some twenty years after the fact, yet the attention to detail and accuracy across the narratives is stunning!
What about our story? We still have questions. Remember, we will learn a lot faster when we are submerged in God’s Word and sensitive to His teaching. Make a commitment to open up the pages of scripture each and every day. If you struggle to connect with a paper bible, consider adding Bible app to your phone. YouVersion is a free app with thousands of scripture reading plans to choose from and prompts to keep you on task. Open the Word, but conscientiously open your heart as well. Ask the Holy Spirit to be your teacher and then pay attention and take notes. God has so much more to share with us, more than our grey matter can grasp. We can let that truth intimidate us or we can let it ignite our enthusiasm and begin our more extensive spiritual education today.
Lord, we thank You for Your life on earth and Your Word documenting Your ministry. We thank You also, for Your Holy Spirit, who leads our hearts into truth. We want to cooperate in that education. Show us where and how we can grasp on to more of Your truth. Open our hearts and minds to Your teaching. Give us good minds to grasp Your gospel message. Amen.