John 14:15-21
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."
Chapter 14 of John's gospel is set in an interesting context: the Last Supper. In this long speech (that goes on for several chapters) Jesus seems to be telling the disciples several things he probably told them already, but this is his last chance to make sure it stuck.
Jesus has just told the 11 disciples (Judas has left the table to betray him) that he is leaving to prepare a place for them, and he, the way, the truth, and the life, will lead them there to be with him. In this part of the story, he promises that he will not leave them "orphaned" but that he will come back, AND another Advocate will also be with them.
There is a contrast here between those who are connected with/identified with Jesus (those who keep the commandments) and those who are disconnected ("the world"). Greek cosmology depends on dualism, and we see that creeping into the Christian Testament writings: Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, the flesh or the spirit. Here John labels those who are not connected to Jesus "the world", although of course those who keep the commandments and thus are connected to Jesus live in the world as well.
Christians have sometimes said "We don't need the law, we have Jesus" or "The Hebrew Testament and all those laws don't apply to us, we're saved". Jesus, a faithful and educated Jew, says no such thing; yet in our time, we Christians do not observe Jewish law (except for rather many of them which we know to be good for our life!)
What, do you think, is the role of God's law in the life of a person of faith, today? What does it mean to "keep" a commandment, and what do we do when we fail? How are we known as Christians--is it because we keep God's law, or by something else? Are there some commands that we have to keep, and others that are optional?
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