24th May 2009 (7th of Easter)
John 17:6-19
Ezekiel was an exile in Babylonia, along with all the Jews who had been taken captive by the Babylonians when they destroyed Jerusalem and its temple and protective walls. He predicted that the exiles would return to their land and that they would return to God, no longer worshipping idols, but obeying God from the heart. God would give them his Spirit, and his Spirit would move them to live the way God intended.
When the exiles returned, things did not happen as quickly as some hoped. It took them time to rebuild the temple, and even longer to rebuild the walls (the story is told in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah). From the first they were tempted to follow the religion of neighbouring people. However, there were leaders who reminded them of their relationship with God, and it is largely true that in exile they learnt not to worship idols. But the promised Spirit was not given until after the Messiah, Jesus, had come.
Jesus told his disciples that the Spirit could not come until he had ascended into heaven (John 16:7). There is an important reason for this. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he did not leave his new, resurrection, body behind. He went as a full human being. However, he was not the old model of human, made in the mould of Adam, but the new model, the prototype of the new creation, a human being who will never die, who will never sin, who is equally at home in the earthly realms and in the spiritual realms, a human being who is truly made in the image of God, and who can relate to God face to face. Jesus is the representative of the new humanity, living proof that God is reconciled to us. A human being – Jesus – is living at the heart of God’s heavenly home; so now God the Holy Spirit can live in the heart of human beings on earth. When Jesus lived in Israel, God was with us; when the Holy Spirit comes, God is in us wherever we are, changing our hearts from ‘stone’ to ‘flesh’ so that our hearts’ desire is to love and obey him.
What is more, Jesus has ascended to the right hand of God, and has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He is King of kings and Lord of lords, he is the ruler of the universe today! He is all this not so much because he is the Son of God, but because he represents the new humanity (see Ephesians 1:22). He is exactly what God wants human beings to be – and all who accept his authority and all he has done for us (especially on the cross) have the same destiny. If the Holy Spirit is within us, he moves us to obey Jesus as Lord, he teaches us life-giving, liberating, truth, and his very presence in us is the guarantee of our presence with God and of our place in God’s new creation.
We’re not there yet. Our faith in Jesus shows that new creation life has already begun in us; but for now we still live in a world that is orientated against God, a world where the evil one still does much damage. Jesus’ prayer on earth shows us how special we are to God, and how dependent on his power to keep us safe. It also reminds us that we have work to do. Jesus has sent us out into the world as agents of his transforming power. But we don’t go alone. His Spirit is with us.
Questions:
1) What evidence of the Holy Spirit’s transforming power do you see?
2) Are you aware of the Holy Spirit in your life? What more do you want?