Today's gospel is one of a long series of teachings
that the gospel writer John records
after the washing of the feet at the last supper
and before Jesus' arrest.
Jesus death is very near.
There must be no mistake that that is not the end,
so we have wonderful promises:
promises that look beyond that short special period of the appearances of the risen Lord;
promises for every Christian in every time;
promises for us.
The Father will send the Holy Spirit in my name
who will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.
The Holy Spirit is at work in you and in me,
keeping us in touch with,
and deepening our understanding of,
who Jesus is.
This is not a static, one-off thing.
We are offered, in this promise,
a lifetime of the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit,
allowing us to listen afresh to Jesus each day,
as we bring together what he said and did
and our own circumstances.
This is a promise of a lifetime of growth in our relationship with Jesus.
Every time something about Jesus strikes us afresh,
and every time our conscience alerts us
to a mismatch between ourselves and Jesus,
it is the Holy Spirit at work.
These we can notice and thank God for.
But that is by no means all.
The gift of the Holy Spirit to us is permanent:
it is not limited by what we notice;
the Holy Spirit's work goes on
even when we are not aware of it.
Then we hear Jesus say:
Peace I bequeath to you,
my own peace I give to you...this is my gift to you.
Notice the 'bequeath'; Peace I bequeath to you.
this is a handing over, a transfer, linked in to Jesus' death.
The peace Jesus promises is the peace he himself possessed in his life on earth.
The peace that is bequeathed flows from knowing Jesus
and becoming like him.
Jesus' peace did not mean that he was never sad,
disturbed, distressed, or in anguish:
the gospels tell us he was.
Human life contains uncertainty, difficulty, pain, loss, and death:
the peace that Jesus bequeaths does not abolish these.
We have to look deeper to appreciate the nature of Jesus' peace.
Jesus' embrace of the human condition was total
and his human life was for others, in communion with his Father.
In this is his peace, which he shares with his followers.
It is a deep seated peace
that comes from a wholehearted embrace of our individual human life, with its highs and lows,
as a wonderful opportunity to be there for others.
We are promised the Holy Spirit to keep us alert to who Jesus is,
we are promised the peace of Christ,
we are promised the abiding presence of the Father and the Son within us: we shall come ...and make our home...in you
Promises that speak of God's gift of Himself to us individually
and to us communally.
Promises of a new life lived in the presence of the risen Lord.
Promises that are being fulfilled here and now, today, in this place.