Deeper Thoughts - The Trinity

This morning I have been reading a bit of John's Gospel.  I probably spend more time in his Gospel then the others, and I guess its due to all the revelation Jesus provides about deeper things, like His relationship with the Father.  In the verses today, Jesus is providing some context for understanding the Trinity - John 14:23-31 NIV:

[23] "Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. [24] Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 

[25] “All this I have spoken while still with you. [26] But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. [27] Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 

[28] “You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. [29] I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. [30] I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, [31] but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me." 

“Come now; let us leave."

As I do spend so much time in John's Gospel, these verses are familiar to me, and lately I have been trying to really stop and reflect on familiar passages, as often times there are hidden gems of revelation that are available, if I dig a little deeper.  As I was reading these verses this morning, the thought that dropped into my mind was concerning the difficulty Jesus must have had in describing the deep mystery of His relationship to the Father, using human language.  We have here the translation of John's original Greek (although there is some debate in scholarly circles that it was written in Aramaic first) and that translation makes some assumptions as well.  It is so interesting that we have so many different translations that we can access, all of which are translations based form the same basic source.  We see in these multiple translations the difficulty of perfectly communicating what was said from one language to another language.  

In this same way, It seems that Jesus was describing His relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and providing the best description possible in the language that was available to Him.  However, I am sure Aramaic is not the language of Heaven, so many of the nuances and even some of the significance could be lost in translation.  Take for example verse 31 from above, Jesus says, "...so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me."  When we read these words we have an understanding of what love and command mean, and while love denotes intimate relationship, command has more of a duty associated with it, almost a following of orders.  The Greek word is entéllomai, and it is defined as: to order, command to be done, enjoin.  In my modern American mind these two words don't go together very well, but Jesus used them often, and thus there is something that He is communicating that is important.

Just looking at these three paragraphs, we see Jesus describing a unity with the Father, living together with Him, in us.  A subservient nature of speaking the words of the Father, that His words are not His own, but rather come from the Father.  In the next paragraph he speaks of being replaced by the Holy Spirit, who is being sent in His name, and will remind and teach what He said, which, if we think about it, is what the Father told Him to say.  This could all seem very authoritarian, but we also know that God defines Himself as love, and Jesus says He does all this to show the world that He loves the Father!  I see why the great theologians have spent so much time trying to understand the mysteries of the Trinity, for it is not clear exactly how they all are one and yet work together separately.

This morning, I am encouraged to broaden my mind, and my thinking, recognizing that there is much more to the Trinity, much more to the relationship between Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit that we can readily grasp and understand.  In the same way, there is an invitation to deeper relationship available to me, as described by Jesus in verse 23, and the doorway to this deeper life is opened through love and obedience.  

Lord, I want to know You more, I want to know Your ways, Your words, Your intimate love and fellowship.  I want to grasp these deeper things, and push beyond my present knowledge and understanding. 

Amen!