(Audio)
“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”
The reason that Jesus does not reveal himself to the world is because the world does not love him. The world ignores or refuses his invitation to enter by faith into a relationship of love. The world fixed ways of thinking and acting that are deeply at odds with the commandments that Jesus gives. The world has commandments of its own. They are about power, prestige, and pleasure. But the commandments of Jesus are about humility, service, and love. Love is the characteristic of his revelation. It isn't that he doesn't want to give this revelation to the world. It is rather that the prior commitments of the world cause him to be ignored until he makes too big of a deal about this revelation and then ultimately to be crucified.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
It sounds as though Jesus is saying keep his rules and he'll consider that love. But it is not exactly that. His commandments are not arbitrary. His words reflect the mode of existence that he himself embodies. We can accept both or neither. Indeed the only possibility of keeping the words is united with Jesus himself. Love for him connects us to his own obedience. It spirals up into love for the Father.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
We tend to forget the words and commandments of Jesus and slip back into the ways of the world in which we live. We take on the behaviors of those alongside whom we spend our days. We need to be reminded of the Word and his invitation to love radically. The one who reminds us is the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.”
As we approach Pentecost let us invite the Advocate into our hearts more and more. Let us ask him to help us to abide in the Word, to remain united to Jesus, and to live the life of love to which we are called. He wants to do this for us in a very practical way that not only reminds us of words we have heard before but shows us how they apply to the new particulars of circumstance in which we find ourselves.
He listened to Paul speaking, who looked intently at him,
saw that he had the faith to be healed,
and called out in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet.”
He jumped up and began to walk about.
According to Saint John Paul the Great, "Whenever the Spirit intervenes, he leaves people astonished. He brings about events of amazing newness; he radically changes persons and history."
The Holy Spirit operating in our own lives often has this effect on others. Whether his action is obviously miraculous or no, people recognize something different from the worldly paradigm at work. It is so vitally important that we let him act through us. The world is desperate for what he has to offer. As we do so, let us remember that the credit is never to us, but to him.
Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.
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