John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;”
The context of John 14 helps us get the fullness of what Jesus said in verse 16. It is something like this: “When I go back to My Father, I will ask Him to give you another Helper, who is the same as Me, so that He may always be with you to help you love Me, obey My commandments, love one another in My name, and thus bear fruit for the glory of God.” Can you imagine what a comfort and hope this statement produced in the disciples? Jesus answered the questions that probably all of them were asking in their minds. “How is this going to happen? How are we going to love like He loves? How are we going to believe in Jesus when our hearts are troubled? How are the works of Jesus going to be done in us? How are we going to live in the abiding place Jesus is going to prepare for us? The answer: You will not be left alone to do life in your own strength and knowledge. If Jesus asks the Father to give us a Helper just like Him, then He’s asking in the name of the Father. The Father will do it because it is the Father’s will that the Son bring us to Him. The Son is obeying the commandment of the Father to love us like the Father loves Him. He loves the Father and is keeping His Father’s commandment because the Father’s life is in Him doing the work so that He may be glorified in the Son. Today, let’s take great encouragement that Jesus has and is interceding for us according to the Father’s will. We can expect help today from the Father to love with Jesus.
Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com
