Introduction
Again, I’m going to jump straight into interpretation and preaching possibilities here as we continue in the Farewell discourse of John’s Gospel. I wrote a commentary on Pentecost (2023) for last year as well that still holds up if you’d like additional ideas.
Preaching Possibilities
Hindsight 20/20
Jesus looked at his disciples and said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
For 4 weeks we have been hearing about Maundy Thursday in the Gospel of John. We have been listening to Jesus talk to his disciples about Love and this new commandment. We have heard Jesus pray for his disciples. And now this week, we hear this promise.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Have you ever experienced that hindsight moment when maybe days, months, or even years after the fact, you realize that someone told you something was going to happen, and it did?
Probably the most common experience in my childhood was my parents telling me that a watched pot never boils. If I just take my mind off it for a few minutes, it’ll boil relatively quickly. Only relatively recently I realized that I do that with a lot of things. Take my mind off it for a minute and then poof it’s magically done moments later. Who knew making ramen as a youth would so profoundly impact my work life today? It’s not rocket science or magic; it was a practical lesson that I picked up along the way. But it can be somewhat astonishing to see the impact of these small lessons.
But I’ve had some transformative moments in my life too where these words in hindsight have allowed me to view my history and my future in powerful new ways.
As many of you know I’ve been in recovery from alcoholism for about 9.5 years. And recovery is an interesting phenomenon when it comes to hearing things in hindsight. In fact, much of our recovery process is hearing other people’s stories, that express hope for the future for ourselves (even though it might not seem attainable at the time).
For me, when I was in my early stages of sobriety, my sponsor was walking me through the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous as well as through the step process every week. He would share insights and advice, most of which resonated with me exactly in the right time.
Typically, it was very practical advice.
1) Get out of bed quickly every morning so you don’t have a chance to dwell on things.
2) Change your commute to avoid bars or liquor stores that you used to frequent in the past.
3) Cease contact with those who used to enable your addictive behavior.
Very simple and practical steps that would aid my recovery process and aided my ability to make healthy life changes that would keep me safe and sober in times of emergency. Typically, all of this was right on time for me to hear.
Then there were days when my sponsor gave me insights that I couldn’t possibly understand in the moment.
When I was about 5 months sober, my sponsor told me, “Someday soon you’re going to wake up and you’re going to feel good for the first time in a long time. Take a moment to celebrate it, but then get yourself to a meeting. Because the day we start to feel good, might be the day that we think we’re not actually an addict.”
For me I never really thought I was going to feel good again. Even though my body was starting to heal from the damage that I had done to it, cognitively my brain always felt fuzzy. Just a little off.
But about four months after my sponsor said this to me, long enough that I was not actively thinking about those words anymore, sure enough, I woke up one morning in the fall, and the Sky had never been bluer. The colors on the trees had never been more beautiful. The reds, and yellows, and orange, were gorgeous in contrast to the vibrant blue sky and white cumulus clouds. And the crisp autumn air filled my lungs. I felt good.
A smile crept onto my face. My brain was moving faster than it had in a long time. I felt healthy. I felt good. So good that I began to wonder… “Am I really an addict?”
My sponsors words came flooding back to me. A little bit of fear hit me. But I remembered his advice, “Go to a meeting.”
I quickly looked for a local meeting for as soon as possible in the day. I took my seat in the room, and once again heard stories from other people that would give hope for my future and caution for complacency.
That life lesson that my sponsor gave to me 4 months prior maybe saved my recovery and is a lesson that I have shared many times afterwards. “The day that you don’t feel like you need a meeting, is the day that you need to go to one.”
Probably more than any other life processes the journey of recovery has taught me about this hindsight 20/20 experience. That there are things that you are told… and there are things that you hear, but they don’t always happen at the same time. In my experience on the road of recovery, these experiences can be life changing or even lifesaving. So, I have a deep respect for them when I hear them especially in scripture.
Jesus said to his disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
Reminder that we are in Maundy Thursday in this gospel text. In just moments Jesus will be arrested, in less than a day Jesus will be crucified, and in just a few days Jesus will rise again from the dead.
With all that Jesus has been saying to them, we as the listeners and readers of this gospel might think that the disciples should have understood it all along. Jesus told them that he would die but then rise again. Shouldn’t they have just understood it all along?
“You cannot bear them now” Jesus said.
Pastor Lura Groen phrased it in a helpful way for me a couple years ago in our weekly text study.
“You know, seeing a resurrection, someone coming back to life after being dead, is a pretty life changing experience… to the point that disciples might hear what has been said in new ways.”
So, thinking back to our gospel text from the past couple weeks, what has Jesus been telling his disciples that they will need to hear but couldn’t in that moment?
The command to love and forgive one another (just before they will all run away). The command to serve one another (just before they will become the leaders of the faith). The command to trust in the Spirit (when Jesus will no longer be physically present). Being told of the resurrection (and then seeing it with their own eyes).
They couldn’t hear it then, but after everything happens…
The trick with hindsight is, we cannot know it in advance. For whatever reason in these instances, we cannot see the possibilities, the call, or the mission in front of us until after we’ve begun to experience it.
But what is always true about hindsight is there’s a root underneath. Something to look back on, words from a teacher, a friend, a loved one, or from scripture, that comes up for us in those life experiences giving new insight, new learning, that could potentially be life changing or maybe even lifesaving.
When we root ourselves in scripture and the word of God, we leave space for the Holy Spirit to move among us to create these opportunities for life changing experiences. When the Living Word of God, moves within us, the Holy Spirit can open our eyes to see life in a new way. We too can look at this world after witnessing resurrection, and our eyes may be opened to find new life for the future.
Maybe it is a new calling. Maybe it’s a new vocation. Maybe it’s an invitation to rest. Maybe it’s a call to justice. Maybe it’s a call to repentance. Maybe it’s a life lesson for someone in recovery who will learn to stay sober for another day.
Transforming clarity from the roots of our lives that allow us to see something in a life changing way.
It never happens in our time. It will always be God’s time. But God is always speaking to us through scripture, and in time, through the transformative power of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, we will hear things anew.
And in those moments like Peter and the disciples, standing in the square surrounded by hundreds of others, we will see where God is leading us with clarity and purpose.
Until that day, we hear this promise from Jesus: The Holy Spirit has been given to us, moving around us, and breathing into our lives. And with the commandment of love from Jesus rooted within us, like an ember in our soul, in time clarity will come, guiding us into all truth and our ministry burn bright.
Micah Krey 
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