^14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments. (1908)
^14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you forever. (1910)
^14:17 The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, nor knows him: but you will know him; because he will abide with you, and will be in you. (1914)


1907. Above, our Lord consoled his disciples over his leaving by promising that they would be able to approach the Father (C. 14, L. 1). But because it might seem that this was in the distant future, and in the meantime they would still be in sorrow without their Teacher, he here soothes their sorrow by promising them the Holy Spirit.

First, we see the preparation needed to receive the Holy Spirit;

second, the Holy Spirit is promised, he will give you another Paraclete.

Third, this promise is clarified, that he may abide with you forever.

Preparation for receiving the Holy Spirit was necessary both for the disciples and for Christ.


1908. The disciples needed a twofold preparation: love in their hearts and obedience in their work. Our Lord assumes they have one of these, for he says, if you love me. And it is clear that you do because you are sad over my leaving: you will give testimony, because you have been with me from the beginning (John 15:27). The other he commands for the future, keep my commandments. This is like saying: you do not express your love for me by tears but by obedience to my commands, for this is a clear sign of love: if any one love me, he will keep my word (John 14:23).

Thus, two things prepare one to receive the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is love, he is given only to those who love: I love those who love me (Prov 8:17). Likewise, he is given to the obedient: to this we are witnesses (Acts 3:15); I have put my Spirit upon him (Isa 42:1).


1909. Yet is it true that it is the obedience of the disciples and their love for Christ that prepare them for the Holy Spirit? It seems not, because the love by which we love God is from the Holy Spirit: God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us (Rom 5:5). Further, our obedience is from the Holy Spirit: for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Rom 8:14); I have run in the way of your commandments when you enlarged my heart (Ps 119:32).

One might answer that it is by loving the Son that we deserve to receive the Holy Spirit, and having him, we love the Father. But this is false because our love for the Father and the Son is the same love.

Accordingly, we should say that it is characteristic of the gifts of God that if one makes good use of a gift granted to him, he deserves to receive a greater gift and grace. And one who badly uses a gift, has it taken from him. For we read in Matthew that the talent which the lazy servant received from his master was taken from him because he did not use it well, and it was given to the one who had received five talents (Matt 25:24). It is like this with the gift of the Holy Spirit. No one can love God unless he has the Holy Spirit: because we do not act before we receive God’s grace, rather, the grace comes first: he loved us first (1 John 4:10). We should say, therefore, that the apostles first received the Holy Spirit so that they could love God and obey his commands. But it was necessary that they make good use, by their love and obedience, of this first gift of the Holy Spirit in order to receive the Spirit more fully. And so the meaning is, if you love me, by means of the Holy Spirit, whom you have, and obey my commandments, you will receive the Holy Spirit whom you will have with greater fullness.


1910. Another preparation was needed for Christ, and as to this he says, and I will ask the Father, and so forth. Note that our Lord Jesus Christ, as a human being, is the mediator between God and humankind (1 Tim 2:5). And so as a human being he approaches God and asks heavenly gifts for us, and coming to us he lifts us up and leads us to God. And so, because he had already come to us, and by giving us the commandments of God had led believers to God, he still had to return to the Father and ask for spiritual gifts: approaching God by himself he is able to save forever (Heb 7:25). He does this by asking the Father; and he says this, I will ask the Father: when he ascended on high he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men (Eph 4:8).

Note that it is the same person who asks that the Paraclete be given and who gives the Paraclete. He asks as a human being, he gives as God. And he says I will ask in order to banish their sorrow over his leaving them, because his very leaving is the reason they can now receive the Holy Spirit.


1911. Now we see the promise of the Holy Spirit. The word ‘paraclete’ is Greek, and means ‘consoler’. He says, he will give you another Paraclete, that is, the Father, although not without the Son, will give the Holy Spirit, who is the Consoler, since he is the Spirit of love. It is love that causes spiritual consolation and joy: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy (Gal 5:22). The Holy Spirit is our advocate: we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words (Rom 8:26).

The fact that he says, another, indicates a distinction of persons in God, in opposition to Sabellius.


1912. An objection is that the word ‘paraclete’ suggests an action of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, by saying another Paraclete, a difference in nature seems to be indicated, because different actions indicate different natures. Thus the Holy Spirit does not have the same nature as the Son.

I reply that the Holy Spirit is a consoler and advocate, and so is the Son. John says that the Son is an advocate: we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1). In Isaiah we are told he is a consoler: the Spirit of the Lord has sent me to comfort those who mourn (Isa 61:1). Yet the Son and the Holy Spirit are not consolers and advocates in the same way, if we consider the appropriation of persons. Christ is called an advocate because as a human being he intercedes for us to the Father; the Holy Spirit is an advocate because he makes us ask. Again, the Holy Spirit is called a consoler because he is formally love. But the Son is a consoler because he is the Word. The Son is a consoler in two ways: because of his teaching and because he gives the Holy Spirit and incites love in our hearts. Thus the word, another, does not indicate a different nature in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Rather, it indicates the different way each is an advocate and a consoler.


1913. Now the promise of the Holy Spirit is given:

first, we see how it is given;

second, what the gift itself is;

third, those who receive it, if you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:17).


1914. The Spirit is truly given because it is given forever. Thus he says, that he may abide with you forever; the Spirit of truth. When something is given to a person only for a time, this is not a true giving; but there is a true giving when something is given to be kept forever. And so the Holy Spirit is truly given because he is to remain with them forever. He is with us forever: in this life he enlightens and teaches us, bringing things to our mind; and in the next life he brings us to see the very reality: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward (1 Sam 16:13). Although Judas had received him, the Spirit did not remain with him forever, because he did not receive him to remain with him forever, but only for a temporary righteousness.

According to Chrysostom, one could say that our Lord said these things to dispel a certain physical interpretation they might have. They could have imagined that this Paraclete, which was to be given to them, would also leave them after a while by some kind of suffering, like Christ. He rejects this when he says, that he may abide with you forever. This is like saying: the Spirit will not suffer death as I do, nor will he leave you.


1915. We saw above that it was said to John the Baptist: he upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, it is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33). It seems from this that it is peculiar to Christ that the Holy Spirit remain with him forever. Yet this is not true if he also remains with the disciples forever.

According to Chrysostom, the solution is that the Holy Spirit is said to remain in us by his gifts. Certain gifts of the Holy Spirit are necessary for salvation; these are found in all the saints and always remain in us, as charity, which never falleth away (1 Cor 13:8), since it will continue into the future. Other gifts are not necessary for salvation, but are given to the faithful so they can manifest the Spirit: to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (1 Cor 12:7). With this in mind, the Holy Spirit is with the disciples and the saints forever by the first type of gift. But it is peculiar to Christ that the Spirit is always with him by the second type of gift, for Christ always has a plenitude of power to work miracles and to prophesy, and so on. This is not true of others, because, as Gregory says, the spirits of the prophets are not under the control of the prophets.


1916. The Spirit is a most excellent gift because he is the Spirit of truth. He is called the Spirit to show the subtlety or fineness of his nature, for the word ‘spirit’ is used to indicate something which is undiscoverable and invisible. And so what is invisible is usually referred to as a spirit. The Holy Spirit also is undiscoverable and invisible: the wind blows where it wills; and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes (John 3:8). He is also called the Spirit to indicate his power, because he moves us to act and work well. For the word ‘spirit’ indicates a certain impulse, and that is why the word ‘spirit’ can also mean the wind: for all who are impelled by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Rom 8:14); let your good Spirit lead me on a level path (Ps 143:10).

He adds, of truth, because this Spirit proceeds from the truth and speaks the truth, for the Holy Spirit is nothing else than love. When a person is impelled to love earthly things and the world, he is impelled by the spirit of the world: now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God (1 Cor 2:12); and when one is impelled to works of the flesh, he is not impelled by the Holy Spirit: woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit (Ezek 13:3).

But the Holy Spirit leads to the knowledge of the truth, because he proceeds from the truth, who says, I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6). In us, love of the truth arises when we have conceived and considered truth. So also in God, love proceeds from conceived truth, which is the Son. And just as love proceeds from the truth, so love leads to knowledge of the truth: he will glorify me; because he will receive of mine and will show it to you (John 16:14). And therefore Ambrose says that any truth, no matter who speaks it, is from the Holy Spirit. No one can say: Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3); when the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth (John 15:26). It is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth because it is love which impels one to reveal his secrets: I have called you friends; because all things whatsoever I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you (John 15:15); he showed it, the truth, to his friend (Job 36:33).


1917. The ones who receive the Holy Spirit are those who believe; he says, whom the world cannot receive.

First, he shows to whom the Spirit is not given;

second, to whom he is given, you will know him.

First, he shows that he is not given to the world;

second, he mentions why, if you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:17).


1918. As to the first he says, whom the world cannot receive. Our Lord is here calling those who love the world, the world. As long as they love the world they cannot receive the Holy Spirit, for he is the love of God. And no one can love, as his destination, both God and the world: if anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15). As Gregory says: the Holy Spirit inflames everything he fills with a desire for invisible things. And because worldly hearts love only visible things, the world does not receive him, because it does not rise to the love of what is invisible. For worldly minds, the more they widen themselves with their desires, the more they narrow the core of their hearts to the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful (Wis 1:5).


1919. In regard to the second, why he is not given to the world, he says, because it sees him not, nor knows him. For spiritual gifts are not received unless they are desired: she, divine Wisdom, hastens to make herself known to those who desire her (Wis 6:14).

Now there are two reasons why they are not known. First, because one does not want to know them; and second, because one is not capable of such knowledge. These two reasons apply to the worldly. In the first place, they do not desire this, and as to this he says, because it sees him not, that is, does not want to know him: they have fixed their eyes on the ground (Ps 16:11). Further, they are not capable of knowing him, and as to this he says, nor knows him. As Augustine says: worldly love does not have invisible eyes which alone can see the invisible Holy Spirit. As is written: the sensual person does not perceive those things pertaining to the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:14). Just as a tainted tongue does not taste sweet flavors, so a soul tainted by the corruption of the world does not taste the sweetness of heavenly things.

Here is the interpretation of Chrysostom. I say that he will give you another Paraclete . . . the Spirit of truth, but he will not assume flesh, because because it sees him not, nor knows him, that is, it will not receive him, but only you will.


1920. Now he mentions, first of all, to whom the Spirit is given; second, he gives the reason.

The Holy Spirit is given to believers: he says, you, who are moved by the Holy Spirit, will know him: now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God (1 Cor 2:12). This is because you scorn the world: we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen (2 Cor 4:18).

The reason for this is, for he will abide with you. Note, first, the familiarity of the Holy Spirit with the apostles, for he will abide with you, that is, for your benefit: let your good Spirit lead me on a level path! (Ps 143:10); O, how good is your Spirit, O Lord, in all things (Wis 12:1). Second, note how intimate his indwelling is, will be in you, that is, in the depths of your heart: I will put a new Spirit within them (Ezek 11:19).