John 14:22–26

Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

At first, it doesn’t sound like Jesus is answering Judas’s question. The beginning of His answer is context. But then He says, “My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” Now we’re getting somewhere. This is about God’s presence in our lives.

After repeating His point about loving Him and keeping His word, He details how the Holy Spirit will manifest Jesus to them, and not to the world.

In other words, the answer to Judas’s question is that they’ll know the Holy Spirit, but the world won’t.

Jesus keeps calling the Holy Spirit the Helper. Now He details some of the help. “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

This just reinforces what was said back in John 14:16b–17a. He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, who will teach you all things. That’s the answer to Judas’s question. The truth taught by the Holy Spirit will manifest Jesus to us, and not to the world.

There’s another great truth taught in this passage—the trinity. Judas asks about how Jesus will make Himself manifest. Jesus answers that the whole trinity will make itself manifest through the Holy Spirit.

But how about us? How is Jesus manifest in us?

The answer is still the Holy Spirit. But how can we know we have the Holy Spirit? What can we detect?

This is an important, tough question. There are many views on this subject, but this passage clearly says that the Holy Spirit teaches and reminds. In combination with the name, “Spirit of truth,” in John 14:17 we see that the Holy Spirit’s presence in us is spiritual and mental. He enlightens us.

That enlightenment is the manifestation. Look back. Are you a different person than you used to be?

That’s the Spirit’s influence. That’s how you know.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.