by Danielle Shroyer
Gospel Reading: John 14:8-17, 25-27
For Sunday, May 19, 2013: Year C—Pentecost
Have you got questions about the Trinity? You’re not alone. The disciples are right there with you.
If you’ve spent any time at all in a religion class discussing the Trinity, you already know the scriptural verses to “back it up” so to speak are few and far between. It’s a mystery, and mysteries aren’t spelled out in chapter and verse. But if you’re looking, this is one of the better examples of a relational Trinity you’ll find. That doesn’t mean it’s not confusing...
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction
If we back up to verse 7, Jesus has just told the disciples if they know him they will know the Father. In fact, he says, you do know him, and you have seen him. So Philip says, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied,” which seems an easy enough request, since Jesus just told them they know him already. Maybe Philip wonders if he’s already met the Father, and didn’t know it? Or that the Father has been hiding in plain sight?
But Jesus’ reply (“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”) is about as clear as mud. It makes (a little) sense if you’ve spent hours trying to figure out the Trinity, but if you’re Philip, and you’re just trying to understand what Jesus means, what on earth would give you the idea that two persons are in fact one person, the same person but distinct persons? Who on earth would ever naturally think that knowing one person means you know a person you’ve never met?
The Second Stranger
But wait, there’s more. Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that he will ask the Father to send them the Spirit. The world doesn’t know the Spirit, but Jesus assures the disciples that they do, because he abides with them.
I am rather certain at this point Philip (and probably some of the others, too) wanted to ask another round of pesky follow-up questions: Who is this “Advocate?” When have we met him again? He abides with us? Where, exactly?
I can just hear Philip’s unresolved question pinballing around in his head again: just SHOW us the Spirit, Jesus, and we will be satisfied.
Well, at least that one gets answered in a more tangible way, although I don’t think Pentecost was the simple showing Philip was hoping for. Pentecost doesn’t exactly clear things up all nice and tidy, does it?
In This Together
I doubt the disciples ever got the clear answer they wanted. None of us do, really, when it comes to the Trinity. So what are we left with? Verse 26 sums it up for us: The Holy Spirit will be sent in Jesus’ name by the Father.
Spend all the time you want trying to figure out how that works, or what each relationship means to the other. The only clear thing we can say about it is that God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit are in this thing together.
The Hardest Question
The question is whether that is enough. Can we be satisfied with all the incomplete answers about the Trinity? Is it enough to say that Father, Son and Spirit are in this together?
Danielle Shroyer is the Pastor of Journey Church in Dallas, TX. She is the author of The Boundary-Breaking God: An Unfolding Story of Hope and Promise (Jossey-Bass, 2009) and blogs at www.danielleshroyer.com. Danielle lives with her husband, two children, and two wild and crazy dogs in Dallas.
