Heavenly 3-Party Line

May 22, 2016 Year C

John 16:12-15

Do you remember the days of the “party line”? I don’t mean a line at the party. I mean the days when a phone could be used by more than one household. The party line was a shared line used by more than one household. When one person in a household were on the phone, another person on the “party line” could listen in and even talk.

Here, Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit. He calls Him the Spirit of truth (John 16:13), who will guide Christians to do the right thing. The Holy Spirit does not speak on His own, but will speak whatever He hears. He communicates to us as Christians what we should know. The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus (John 16:14). Here is when Jesus describes a “heavenly 3-party line” of communication. The Father tells Jesus, and the Holy Spirit listens in on the conversation (John 16:15). The Holy Spirit takes that conversation and makes another call to tell me and you what we should do.

Jesus tells us about how the Trinity communicates with one another. The Father passes down the words to the Son. The Holy Spirit picks up the words from the Son and tells you and me what to do. Since the communication between the Father, Son, and Spirit are perfectly aligned, we don’t get a miscommunication. The Spirit is not passing on rumors or misleading information. He speaks the truth (John 16:13).

This is great news for Christians because it means that we can know for certain that God shows us in His Word, and communicates by His Spirit is truth. We can be certain that the communication lines are clear.

Prayer: God, thank You for Your Heavenly 3-Party line and how you can clearly communicate to me what You want me to do.