Church Fathers Commentary John 14:15-17

"If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, [even] the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you." — John 14:15-17 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: After our Lord said, Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, He added, If you love Me, keep My commandments, so that the disciples would not think that simply asking was enough. His meaning seems to be, “And then I will do what you ask.”

Alternatively, when the disciples heard Him say, “I go to the Father,” they were troubled. He tells them that to love Him is not to be troubled, but to keep His commandments. This is true love: to obey and believe in the one who is loved. Since they had expressed a strong desire for His physical presence, He assures them that His absence will be supplied in another way: And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter.

St. Augustine of Hippo: In this, He also shows that He Himself is a Comforter. “Paraclete” means advocate, and it is applied to Christ: We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1).

Alcuin of York: Paraclete means Comforter. The disciples had one Comforter, Christ, who comforted and uplifted them by the sweetness of His miracles and His preaching. DIDYMUS. But the Holy Spirit was another Comforter, differing not in nature, but in operation.

For while our Savior, in His office of Mediator, Messenger, and High Priest, made supplication for our sins, the Holy Spirit is a Comforter in another sense, by consoling our griefs. But do not infer a difference of nature from the different operations of the Son and the Spirit. For in other places we find the Holy Spirit performing the office of intercessor with the Father, as in, The Spirit Himself intercedes for us. The Savior, on the other hand, also pours consolation into hearts that need it, as in Maccabees: He strengthened those of the people that were brought low (1 Maccabees 14:15).

St. John Chrysostom: He says, I will ask the Father, in order to make them believe Him, for they might not have done so if He had simply said, “I will send.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: Yet to show that His works are inseparable from His Father’s, He says later, When I go, I will send Him to you.

St. John Chrysostom: But what more did He have than the Apostles if He could only ask the Father to give others the Spirit? The Apostles often did this, even without praying.

Alcuin of York: He says, I will ask, speaking from His humanity, in which He is inferior, and He says, “My Father,” with whom He is equal and consubstantial in respect to His divine nature.

St. John Chrysostom: He says, That He may abide with you for ever, meaning the Spirit does not depart even at death. He also intimates that the Holy Ghost will not suffer death or go away, as Christ has done.

So that the mention of the Comforter would not lead them to expect another incarnation—a Comforter who could be seen with their eyes—He adds, Even the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him.

St. Augustine of Hippo: This is the Holy Ghost in the Trinity, who the universal faith professes to be consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and the Son.

St. John Chrysostom: He calls Him the Spirit of truth because He reveals the figures of the Old Testament. By “the world,” He means the wicked. By “seeing,” He means certain knowledge, since sight is the most certain of the senses.

The Venerable Bede: Note also that when He calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth, He shows that the Holy Spirit is His own Spirit. Then, when He says the Spirit is given by the Father, He declares Him to be the Spirit of the Father also. Thus the Holy Ghost proceeds from both the Father and the Son.

St. Gregory the Great: The Holy Spirit kindles in everyone in whom He dwells the desire for things invisible. Since worldly minds love only visible things, the world does not receive Him, because it does not rise to the love of things invisible. To the extent that worldly minds expand with the spread of their desires, they become narrower in their capacity to receive Christ.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Thus “the world,” meaning the lovers of the world, cannot receive the Holy Spirit; that is to say, unrighteousness cannot be righteous. The world cannot receive Him because it does not see Him. The love of the world does not have the invisible eyes with which to see what can only be seen invisibly.

It follows: But you know Him, for He dwells with you. And so that they would not think this meant a visible dwelling, like that of a guest, He adds, And shall be in you.

St. John Chrysostom: It is as if He said, “He will not dwell with you as I have done, but will dwell in your very souls.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: To be “in” a place is prior to dwelling there. “To be in you” is the explanation of “to dwell with you,” showing that the latter means not that He is seen, but that He is known. He must be in us so that the knowledge of Him may be in us. Therefore, we perceive the Holy Ghost in us, in our consciences.

St. Gregory the Great: But if the Holy Spirit abides in the disciples, how is it a special mark of the Mediator that the Spirit abides in Him? We can better understand if we distinguish between the different gifts of the Spirit. In respect to those gifts without which we cannot attain salvation, the Holy Spirit always abides in all the elect.

But in respect to those gifts which relate not to our own salvation but to procuring the salvation of others, He does not always abide in them. For He sometimes withdraws His miraculous gifts so that His grace may be held with humility. Christ, however, has the Spirit without measure and always.

St. John Chrysostom: This statement, at one stroke, refutes opposite heresies. The word “another” shows the distinct personality of the Spirit, while the word “Paraclete” shows His consubstantiality.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Apostle applies the title of the Holy Spirit, “Comforter,” to God: God that comforts those that are cast down, comforted us. Therefore, the Holy Spirit who comforts those that are cast down is God. Or if some still claim the Apostle said this of the Father or the Son, they should no longer separate the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son in His unique office of comforting.

But if it is true that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:5), how can we love and keep the commandments of Christ in order to receive the Spirit, when we are not able to love or keep them unless we have already received the Spirit? Does love come first in us? That is, do we love Christ and keep His commandments so as to deserve to receive the Holy Spirit? This is a perverse opinion, for he who does not love the Father does not love the Son, no matter what he thinks.

The correct understanding is that he who loves already has the Holy Spirit. By having Him, he comes to have more of Him; and by having more of Him, he comes to love more. The disciples already had the Spirit whom our Lord promised, but they were to be given more of Him. They had Him secretly; they were to receive Him openly. The promise is made both to the one who has the Spirit and to the one who does not. For the one who already has Him, it is a promise of more; for the one who does not yet have Him, it is a promise that he will receive Him.

St. John Chrysostom: When He had cleansed His disciples by the sacrifice of His passion, their sins were forgiven, and they were sent out into dangers and trials, it was necessary that they should receive the Holy Spirit abundantly. But they were made to wait for this gift so that they might feel their need for it and thus be more grateful for it when it came.