Skip to main content

Tag: John

Spirit of truth

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in John, What’s new?.

Who is the Spirit of truth in John 14:17?

In John 14:17, Jesus says, “Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (ESV). Because the ESV capitalizes Spirit, modern readers can easily infer that the spirit in question is the Holy Spirit. To understand why Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of truth,” let us review the context of John 14.

John 14 is part of the Upper Room Discourse (John 13—17), a collection of teachings delivered by Jesus to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion. In these final moments, the disciples were greatly distressed about the impending departure of their beloved friend, Jesus (John 14:1). For this reason, Jesus took an extended moment to calm their troubled hearts and reassure them that “another Helper” was on the way (John 14:16, ESV).

The Greek term translated as “Helper” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) is paráklētos. The form of this word is passive and means “one who is called alongside.” At the Son’s request, the Father will send another Helper to encourage and exhort the disciples.

John’s use of the term another implies that the disciples already had a helper—the one who would soon depart from the earth. Although the Gospel writers never explicitly refer to Jesus as a paráklētos, the term is applied to Him in 1 John 2:1. Thus, in the context of John 14:16, Jesus promises to send His disciples a helper of the same type, and that helper would continue the ministry that Jesus began.

In John 14:17, the identity of the helper is now revealed: He is the Spirit of truth (cf. John 15:26; 16:13). The Spirit of truth is God the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity. The Father will send the Spirit to come alongside the disciples. He is called the Spirit of truth because He bears witness to the truth of Jesus Christ (see John 14:6).

In contrast to the work of the Holy Spirit is the work of the devil, a being who does not hold “to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Because the unbelieving world remains ensnared by satanic falsehoods, they cannot receive the Spirit of truth (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14). Tragically, unbelievers prefer to walk by sight and not by faith, failing to understand that sight guarantees nothing.

At the moment of His baptism, Jesus received the Holy Spirit: John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him” (John 1:32, ESV). So, in a sense, the Spirit of truth was already with the disciples. Following the departure of Jesus, however, the disciples will know the Spirit more intimately because He would be in them (cf. Romans 8:9–11 and Ephesians 1:13–14).

Before the disciples began their ministry, Jesus instructed them to remain in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit: “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4‭–‬5, ESV). Once the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were fully equipped to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ (verse 8).

‬ Believers should be thankful that the Spirit of truth is with us, in us, and upon us. For, without His guidance and light, we could not distinguish truth from error.

Breathed receive the Holy Spirit

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in What’s new?.

What does it mean in John 20:22 that Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit?”

During one of His post-resurrection appearances to the disciples, Jesus declared to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Then, in the next verse, “He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). This is similar to the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20 in which Jesus promises, “Surely I am with you always,” and Acts 1:8 in which He proclaims, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” In John 20:21–22, Jesus is sending the disciples out on mission, and He is providing them with the power they will need. That power is found in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The question arises, however, as to why Jesus breathed on the disciples to give them the Holy Spirit in John 20:22 when the disciples would later receive the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:4: “All of them [the disciples] were filled with the Holy Spirit.” Did the disciples need to receive the Holy Spirit twice? If so, why? The Bible does not directly answer this, but there is enough information provided to derive a plausible explanation.

Acts 1:3 records, “After his [Jesus’] suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” The events recorded in John 20:21–22 occurred during this forty-day period. According to John 20:19, this appearance of Jesus occurred “on the evening of that first day of the week.” This places Jesus’ breathing the Holy Spirit onto the disciples at the very beginning of the forty-day period in between His resurrection and ascension.

There are two views of Jesus’ breathing on the disciples in relation to their receiving the Holy Spirit. One view is that Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit onto the disciples in John 20:22 to empower them until the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:4 when they would receive the Holy Spirit permanently. The reception of the Holy Spirit in John 20:22 was a temporary filling of the Holy Spirit, preparatory to the permanent indwelling to come later. In John 20, the disciples were filled in a manner similar to how Bezalel was filled in Exodus 31:2–3. The reception of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:4, then, was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which resulted in the disciples being indwelt by the Holy Spirit permanently (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

The other view is that Jesus’ breathing on the disciples in John 20:22 did not impart the Holy Spirit at that time; rather, the breathing was a promise—an anticipation of the coming Pentecost. The Spirit did not come upon them at that moment, but Jesus gave them a pledge that they would soon be endowed with the Holy Spirit and with power from on high.

Son of perdition

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in What’s new?.

Who is the son of perdition?

The title “son of perdition” is used twice in the New Testament, first in John 17:12 and again in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The phrase simply means “man doomed to destruction” and is not reserved for any one individual. In fact, there are two people to which the title “son of perdition” is applied. In context, John 17:12 is referring to Judas Iscariot, while 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is referring to the “man of lawlessness”—the Antichrist—who will appear in the end times before Christ’s return.

The word perdition means “eternal damnation” or “utter destruction.” It can also be used as a synonym for hell. When a person is called “son of perdition,” the connotation is that of a person in an unredeemable state, someone who is already damned while he is still alive. Jesus mentions the “son of perdition” in His high priestly prayer in John 17. While praying to the Father for His disciples, Jesus mentions that He “protected them and kept them safe” and that none of them were lost except the “son of perdition,” that is, the one who was already in a damned state. The fact that the phrase is used again to describe the Antichrist shows us that forgiveness was not planned for Judas. God could have saved Judas—moved his heart to repentance—but He chose not to. He was indeed “doomed to destruction.”

A good picture of a person who is a “son of perdition” appears in Hebrews 6:4–8, which describes a person who, like Judas, has experienced a certain closeness to God and has a good understanding of salvation, but then denies it. Instead of bearing good fruit, he bears “thorns and thistles.” This is a person who sees the path to salvation, which is trusting in God’s grace to cover sin (Ephesians 2:8–9), and instead either flatly denies the existence of God or denies God’s gift of salvation, preferring to pay his own debt. Judas chose the second path, punishing himself by suicide instead of accepting grace.

However, Judas and the Antichrist are extreme cases. It is never right for a human being to label another person a “son of perdition” because only God knows the ultimate future of each human soul. Only with these two individuals did God choose to reveal His plan for their eternal damnation. With every other person, no matter how lost or evil he may seem, we are to hope and pray for his redemption (1 Timothy 2:1).

The woman at the well

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in What’s new?.

The woman of Samaria (the Woman at the Well)

Samaritan woman at the well

Jesus and The woman of Samaria (the Samaritan Woman) at the Well.

The woman of Samaria

The woman of Samaria or the Samaritan woman at the well is a figure from the Gospel of John. John 4:4–42 relates her conversation with Jesus at Jacob’s Well near the city of Sychar in Samaria.

Who Were the 12 Disciples?

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in John, Luke, Mark, Matthew, What’s new?.

The Names of the 12 Disciples (twelve apostles.)

We find the names of the disciples in the Gospel books of; Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:14-19 and Luke 6:13-16. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. (John 14:16)

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus (James the Less), and Thaddaeus (Judas, son of James); Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him. (Matthew 10:2-4, emphasis added)

  • The first, Simon, who is called Peter
  • Andrew his brother(Simon 1.)
  • James the son of Zebedee
  • John his brother (James)
  • Philip
  • Bartholomew (Nathanael)
  • Thomas
  • Matthew the tax collector
  • James the son of Alphaeus (James the Less)
  • Thaddaeus (Judas, son of James)
  • Simon the Zealot
  • Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him(Jesus).