Are we seeing the Trinity in John 16:12 – 15?
Are we seeing that all that the Father has the Son also has, and that the Holy Spirit takes from what the Son has and discloses it to us, communicates it to us, gives it to us? Throughout the Upper Room we are not only given visions of the Trinity, but we are called into the very koinonia of the Trinity, into the Holy of Holies. When we live in the koinonia of the Trinity, we are able to say with John, “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have koinonia with us; and indeed our koinonia is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
To have koinonia with the People of God is to have koinonia with the Trinity, to have koinonia with the Trinity is to have koinonia with the People of God.
Have we, along with John, “seen and heard” so that we may proclaim? Or have we only been told about Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit? Can we say with the Samaritans, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world” (John 4:42)?
One of the mysteries of the Trinity is found in Jesus’ words concerning the Holy Spirit, “He will not speak on His own initiative.” We see this also in our Lord Jesus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19; see also John 5:30, 6:38, 8:28, 12:49, 14:10).
As we saw when we explored John 15:1 – 5, this Way of Life in the Trinity is also to be our Way of Life, in that we are called to live life in the Vine, and in living in the Vine we no longer live by our own initiative or wisdom or strength – but we are completely dependent on Jesus Christ and His Life. Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. This is our foundational Life principle, our ground, our non-negotiable Breath of Life (1 Corinthians 1:30 – 31; Galatians 2:20).
Jesus says, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Do we believe this?
Do we live like this?
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