Jesus Announces the Mediation of the Spirit

Homily for Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Easter

In the passage we read from St. John’s Gospel today, Jesus turns to the topic of future activity of the Holy Spirit. The remaining verses in this chapter are a mosaic of words and ideas introduced in the earlier passages about the Paraclete and affirm the earthly ministry of Jesus. In short, the work of the Paraclete will be to continue the work of Jesus after Jesus has returned to the Father. Careful attention to the description of the activity of the Holy Spirit identifies the Spirit acting the same way that Jesus acted; namely, doing and saying only what the Father says and does.

This passage was written about two and one-half centuries before the doctrine of the Trinity was declared and explained at Nicaea and Constantinople, and the fourth evangelist would probably not have recognized the philosophical language of the fourth century church fathers. Nevertheless, this text is part of the raw material from which the doctrine of the Trinity was fashioned, for it speaks of all three persons of the Trinity and of their interrelationship. The text affirms that just as Jesus embodied the presence of God among humans while he lived on earth, so the Holy Spirit communicates that presence to us today by reminding us of what Jesus said then and by teaching us what God has to say to us now.

Living as we do two millennia after Jesus, the Holy Spirit provides us the living voice of Jesus. In the Fourth Gospel, his voice is mediated through the words of the evangelist. Today the voice of Jesus is mediated through those who continue the work of evangelization – teachers and preachers who continue to interpret the teachings of Jesus for the consideration of the body of believers. Through our baptism, we inherit this role of mediation as we continue to explore the words of Jesus through our prayer, meditation, and reading. The mystery of God living among us continues to unfold as we constantly break open the Scriptures when we gather to break the bread that is Jesus.