Progressive reflections on the lectionary #67

Monday 2nd June 2025

John 14:8-17, (25-27) Pentecost

A strange conundrum was at play by the time the writer of John’s gospel put pen to paper - how to explain the enduring nature of a Messianic sect, when - several decades after his crucifixion - the Messiah in question was no longer present?

An answer had been found in the prophetic writings of the Axial Age prophet Joel, and his cryptic declaration that: “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” (Joel 2:28)

Here then was an explanation for the ongoing nature of the Jesus movement, it was no longer reliant on the presence of the Messiah himself, instead the Spirit of God was with them, animating their lives and activity.

But just how did this come about? For the writer called Luke the key event takes place after Jesus’ death, despite the slightly messy join between Luke and Acts (it takes a bit of work to make it fit well) he has the disciples all together in Acts 2 when they are gifted with supernatural powers, including linguistic abilities that symbolically reverse the scattering of tongues in the tower of Babel story.

John on the other hand brings the impartation of the gift forward, to the moments preceding Jesus’ death. As usual he leans on a call back to the book of Genesis and has Jesus ‘breathe’ into his disciples just as God breathed life into the first humans.

“When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit….” (John 20:22) No signs, no ecstasy, no strange happenings, just a promise of the enduring nature of the Church and its ministry.

In our passage today the disciples are promised ‘The Advocate’ - a peculiarly legal idea which contrasts intriguingly with the older idea of ‘The Adversary’ or ‘The Accuser’ - which is the similarly legal sounding literal translation of ‘the Satan’. The one intercedes on behalf of humanity, the other makes the case against them/us.

Perhaps this, of all days/weeks in the year, is the day/week when the gospel passage plays second fiddle to the companion reading from Acts 2 which tells the story of the ecstatic Pentecost experience. It is the ‘birthday of the church’ after all.

John, though, is worth some exploration - as the only of the gospels to try and bring together something of the synoptic tradition (the story of Jesus’ life) with the theology of the spirit, it sits unique as a bridge into the future of the Church. It is the ‘not yet’ gospel, the document which encourages a view that the end is still to come; the story is not over yet.

Part of the value of this is that it demonstrates the diversity of the church, even at its early stages. Pentecost offers a good opportunity for ecumenical unity, but it also helpfully highlights the reality that there are diverse traditions emerging even at the proto-Christian level.

Just as the story of the paradise garden is one of fecundity and profound creativity, so too the story of the church from the early days of the second temple through until now is one of adaptation and diversity. Different approaches to theological ideas, stories, heritage and appearance shouldn’t stop us from finding common cause: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments…” (John 14: 15) says Jesus. Key among them, of course, is that new commandment of the preceding chapter “love one another, as I have loved you...” (John 13:34)

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Image: Photo by Paul Bulai on Unsplash