Son-Centered Revelation: How Our Triune God Communicates with Us (Jn 16.12-15)

Introduction

Have any of you felt that the last few years have put a strain on our relationships? In response to a global pandemic, we’ve endured limitations on our in-person communication. At that same time, we’ve seen online communication falter under the weight of increased polarization (especially in political discourse). It’s been really challenging to watch both in-person and online communication take a huge hit; after all, friendships and relationships are already tricky enough.

A recent psychological study published in Personality and Individual Differences interviewed over 100 participants about challenges they have maintaining adult friendships. Here are a selection of the 40+ reasons given: notice how often the challenge relates to communication:

In contrast, how amazing is it when you know someone wants to spend time with you, when they proactively reaches out to communicate with you, when you can trust their consistency? That longing we feel for that ideal communication - God satisfies that longing. Let’s listen in now as Jesus, during the last supper in the upper room, tells his disciples about the trinitarian work of communication in Jn 16.12-15:

12 “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
~ John 16:12-15

In Jesus’ words, we learn that our triune God communicates with in three ways: closely, compassionately, and consistently.

Our Triune God Communicates with Us Closely

God’s desire to be close to us is evident in Jesus’ statement, “I have many things to say to you” (12). You can’t say many things to someone unless you’re close. God wants to communicate closely, to move near and be with us.

As amazing as this sounds, many of us may immediately register a bit of suspicion: does this feel too good to be true? How is God so high above us, so holy and far away, and yet intentionally close with us? As in Isaiah 6, when God is enthroned above the earth among angels crying “holy, holy, holy,” we may immediately agree with Isaiah by saying “Woe is me,” and not think, “Neato! Let’s be close to this God.”

For as long as humans have known God, we’ve felt the tension between the seemingly competing truths of God’s “transcendence” (God is immeasurably higher than humans and beyond the limits of our finite comprehension) and God’s “immanence” (in humble condescension, God gets close to humanity). This theological balancing act first appears in Genesis 1-3: the almighty God speaks into existence the entire physical world, then humbly takes daily strolls in a garden with some people. The ideal state we see in Eden tends strongly toward immanence, but sin shows up and really complicates things.

The tension continues into the era of the tabernacle and then temple. The narratives of that portion of Israel’s history pose questions like

The entire Hebrew Scriptures wrestle with God’s transcendence/immanence, and they leave us with a deep longing for the answer.

Then Jesus arrives! He’s immediately named “Emmanuel” - God With Us. With a name like that, we’re not surprised to see Jesus’ complicated relationship with the physical temple, the most tangible expression of “God with us” before Jesus showed up. In fact, John introduces Jesus as the one who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (1.14) - the word John chose for “dwelt” means that Jesus “tabernacled” among us. When Jesus visited the temple, he cast out those who’d corrupted the building with commerce, greed, and dishonesty (2), including a very clever wordplay (“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” 2.19) hinting that he would be fully “God with us” in a way that a mere building never could.

Revelation concludes the Bible’s story with visions of God’s unmediated, uninterrupted, unbroken presence with redeemed humanity: immanence. The images of “kingdom” and “temple” (summarizing the old communication hierarchies of Israel’s history) are replaced by the perfect presence of Jesus. The Bible’s story begins and ends with God directly among us.

What’s most beautiful to me in that story is the centrality of Jesus. It’s not just that he showed up after a few thousand years, initiated a change in a bigger story, then left for a while, and will return someday to wrap things up. No! The whole story is his story. Jesus is the ultimate, final, complete, perfect answer to tension of God’s transcendence and immanence. Jesus is both fully God and fully human: the complete otherness and infinity of God and every bit of true humanity, all in one person.

As the perfect intersection of all the transcendent majesty of deity and immanence experienced as humanity, Jesus is one-of-a-kind. So much so that John introduces Jesus with a truly arresting statement: “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known” (1.18). John knew the Bible’s many stories of people seeing God: Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham & Sarah & Hagar, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, Job, the prophets (especially Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel)! So what was he thinking? Did a whole bunch of people see God, or has no one ever seen God? If we reject the ideas that John forgot or contradicted most of Israel’s story, then we’re left to conclude that John’s statement is hyperbolic contrast: all those people who saw, spoke with, or walked with God back then, their experience was nothing compared to how clearly Jesus makes the Father known to us now.

So to return to our question, “how does the God of the universe get close enough to communicate with us,” we find the answer is most emphatically, “through Jesus.” There is no clearer way to understand God than to look at Jesus, to let the Son “make the Father known to us.” Paul confirms this: Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1.15), and “all the fullness of deity dwells bodily in him” (Col 2.8). The author of Hebrews is even more emphatic: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son … [who] reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp [exact imprint] of his nature” (1:1-3). Are there any statements in the Scripture that ascribe such close, clear communication to anyone or anything but Jesus? In my reading, there are not.

In response to statements like “if you want to know God, look at Jesus,” one might cautiously object, “but Jesus is just one person of the Trinity, so do we really have a full view of God until we understand the whole Trinity?” Or, “if we focus on the Son, aren’t we shortchanging the Father and Spirit a bit?” Not only is that a reasonable concern, but it’s actually answered by the last thing Jesus says in our text today. So we’ll put a pin in it for a moment, and move into our second consideration.

Our Triune God Communicates with Us Compassionately

After telling his disciples that he still has “many things to say to you” (IOW, that God wants to be close to us), Jesus actually refrains from saying all those things because “you cannot bear them now” (12). Jesus knows how much they can and can’t handle: he respects our human limitations. Thus, our Triune God communicates with us compassionately. As a Psalmist wrote:

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
~ Ps 103.13-14

As Jesus demonstrates this same compassionate awareness of our limitations; in the same way God communicates with us by stooping down to the level of our human weakness and limitation.

Theologians call this “stooping” accommodation, and have often compared it to"age-appropriate communication with children." In fact, third-century church father Origen used phrases like “baby talk” and “little language” to describe God’s accommodation. In his Institutes, Calvin wrote that

God … lisps with us as nurses are wont to do with little children[.] Such modes of expression, therefore, do not so much express what kind of a being God is, as accommodate the knowledge of him to our feebleness. In doing so, he must, of course, stoop far below his proper height (1.13.1).

Those who are or have been parents, or who have worked closely with children understand that a 3 year old can’t be expected to behave with the cognitive ability, emotional regulation skills, or impulse control of a typical 33 year old. Truth be told, 33, 63, and 93 year olds often falter in those areas as well! Nobody’s perfect, and that’s the point. Out of compassion, God bends low to communicate with us in ways we imperfect humans can understand.

This informs how we invite children and adults with cognitive limitations into the church. God doesn’t make anyone pass an aptitude test or a theology exam before they can get close. If you can listen to stories like a child, great! The Gospels use stories to show what Jesus is like, and Jesus is God stooping close to show us what God is like.

Our Triune God Communicates with Us Consistently

At our first observation from today’s reading, we noted that Jesus is the closest and clearest demonstration of who God is. Then we saw Jesus is the primary way God communicates compassionately. Now we’ll return to our pinned question, “Jesus is just one person of the Trinity, so do we really have a full view of God until we understand the whole Trinity?” As Jesus’ final statements will show, the Trinity works together perfectly to communicate through the Son: our triune God communicates with us consistently.

Looking at verse 13, Jesus asserts that the Spirit “will not speak on his own authority,” instead (v14) “he will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” Thus, the Spirit’s role in divine communication is intentionally designed to make Jesus the center of attention. The Spirit will communicate “what is Christ’s.” The phrase “take what is mine” has an almost physical sense to it. Picture a box labelled “property of the Son” and watch as the Spirit reaches in, takes things out of that box, and shows them to us. That’s the Spirit’s role; what about the Father?

In verse 15, Jesus says “All that the Father has is mine.” Are you curious what’s inside that box labeled “property of the Son?” It’s “all that the Father has.” Jesus is clearly assuring his disciples (and us) that there’s no division within the Trinity. Therefore, we don’t need to be concerned that “there might be more to learn about the Godhead from the other Persons.” Jesus has everything. The Father hasn’t withheld anything from the Son; he’s not harboring any secrets or saving any details for himself. The Spirit hasn’t added anything extra to that communication; there’s no additional appendices or bonus content. It’s all the same revelation. In light of that unity, we can safely conclude that the work of “revealing God to us” is one of the Son’s special functions within the Trinity.

In the first point, we heard the testimony of John, Paul, and the author of Hebrews: “if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.” Jesus adds his voice in agreement: the Son fully and uniquely reveals the Godhead to us because that’s what the Trinity agrees the Son should do.

Conclusion

So what should we do in light of these things? Since God (in Jesus) communicates with us closely, compassionately, and consistently, what’s next for us?

Look at Jesus

First, look at Jesus. Just spend time seeing what he’s like. As you do, be captivated by him & adore him.

Look at Jesus in Scripture. You might spend focused time reading the Gospels. You may want to spend a few months or longer reading a Gospel repeatedly. If you have the privilege to get away for a day, try “binge-reading” a Gospel. At an average pace, you can probably read any of the Gospels in less the three hours. If reading pace is a challenge, try Mark (the shortest Gospel) or use an audiobook.

While the Gospels show us Jesus’ life, his actual words and actions, don’t stop there. Acts, the New Testament Letters, and Revelation all continue Jesus’ story. You can even look for Jesus in the Old Testament! Notice how New Testament authors find Jesus in their Scriptures and follow those patterns.

Of course, you might feel stuck or like you’re not seeing Jesus like you want. In that case ask for help. The Spirit’s joyful job is to reaching into the “property of the Son” box and show us things. Ask the Spirit to make Jesus clear to you!

As you see Jesus and read Scripture, your brain will organize all the things you think about God. Call that theological systems or doctrines or whatever fancy words you like. Just make sure Jesus is visible through the whole things. Don’t put Jesus in a little compartment in the corner, isolated from all the other things you think about God and the world and everything. Let him saturate the whole system.

Trust the God you see revealed in Jesus

Look at Jesus’ responses to people around him. Observe how he treats people who are hurting, who have been sick or injured, who have been marginalized or ignored in society. See the kindness on his face as he sits with sinners, victims, outcasts, and friends. That’s God’s kindness. See his tears over death, disease. God feels the same. See his passionate action in the face of injustice and corruption. That’s how God acts.

When you are sick, hurting, thirsty for God, yearning for justice, experiencing isolation or abuse, or in any other need or longing, look at Jesus and trust: that’s who God is. The God we see revealed in the Son is close at hand, relates to you compassionately just like the Son stooped to become human, and (through Jesus) is consistent and reliable through all of our challenges. Look at Jesus; trust the God you see revealed in Jesus.