John 14:15-21, If you love me, Lectionary Gospel for Sunday May 14, 2023

John 14:15-21, If you love me (Version: NRSV)

15 ‘If you love me, you will keep* my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,* to be with you for ever. 17This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in* you.

18 ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’

Alternative translation: John 14:15-21, If you love me (Version: The Gospels for Hearers)

15 If you love me you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father
and He will give you another Helper to be with you always -
he is the Spirit of truth whom the world can't receive
because it neither sees him nor knows him.
You know him because he is with you and will be in you.

18 I won't leave you orphans -
I'm coming to you.
In a little while, the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me because I live and you will live.
In that day, you yourselves will know that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I am in you.
The one who has my commandments and keeps them
is the one who loves me.
The one who loves me will be loved by my Father
and by me as I will reveal myself."

From “The Gospel of John”, Chapter 14, verses 15-21, in The Gospel for Hearers
(Translated from the Koine Greek by Elizabeth B. Edwards, Formatted by the Rev William A. Johnston), 2013, Diangellia Press.

Some questions raised by the text:

  • Who is Jesus talking to?
  • Who was the evangelist talking to?
  • Note that in this passage from John's Gospel, love comes before keeping commandments. We don't obey commandments out of fear: we love first. If we love first, everything else follows.
  • What is the "spirit of truth", and why can't the world receive it? The passage suggests that it's a matter of clear sight. There is a spirit of truth. We all believe that the world will be a better place if there is more truth-telling. And yet truth seems to be a commodity hard to come by. We are immersed in a social system where untruth seems necessary. Why is that?
  • Is there a relationship between love and truth? Does truth depend on love, or does loving fully only become possible in a loving environment?
  • How, in our lived experience, does Jesus reveal himself?

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