Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, March 24, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I have always loved this first verse. It’s so deeply poignant to me. Jesus still had many things to tell his friends, but not only was his time at an end, but his friends couldn’t possibly bear whatever truth Jesus had yet to impart. In his brief and breakneck-paced ministry, Jesus handed down an unbelievable amount of truth—world-changing, turn-everything-on-its-head truth. A lot of times his friends were baffled, particularly about his foretelling his own death on several occasions; that made no sense to them whatsoever. A lot of things came clear at the resurrection, but there was no way Jesus could convey to a bunch of humans—no matter how eager—the full nature of God. That truth could only come forth over time through the work of the Holy Spirit, the grappling of those following the Way with the Spirit’s help, and the practice of discernment over years, decades, centuries and millennia. Probably we still can’t bear all the truth Jesus has to teach us, but with the Spirit’s help, we can dig ever deeper and draw ever closer to that truth.
How do I discern God’s truth in my day-to-day life?
