Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for August 15, 2010
Series on The Nature of Scripture
“Jesus had nothing original to say” – John 14:10-18; 15:26-27
The entire Christian canon of scripture from Genesis through Revelation is the word of God.
One reason you can trust the words of Jesus is that He had nothing original to say.
John 14:10-18, 24
Jesus says that the words He speaks are not only His own but the words of the Father. He also says that anyone who has faith in Him will do even greater things than what He is doing, but keep in mind that Jesus is not talking to you or me; He is talking only to the disciples who are present with Him at the moment; chapter 14 is for the apostles only. The reason Jesus has nothing original to say is because He is the Son; and what sons do is report and represent their fathers. Jesus is not appearing as a unique individual, but as One who represents the Father, and He never gets to be God the Father. Everything that happens in the world from God is a Trinitarian reality. All things are from God the Father, through God the Son, by means of God the Holy Spirit. God speaks to us through the Son by the Holy Spirit. God the Father created everything in the heavens and the earth through the Son by the Holy Spirit. God reveals Himself to His creatures through the Son by the Holy Spirit. God redeems His creatures through the Son by the Holy Spirit. God the Father resurrects us through the Son by the Holy Spirit. Nothing is original with the Son. When the Son speaks you are hearing a common message that originates with God the Father. When the Holy Spirit speaks you are hearing a message which is passed down through the Son but which originates with God the Father.
John 15:26-27
The Holy Spirit does not testify about Himself; the Spirit does not make Himself the center point of history. The Holy Spirit comes to counsel and comfort the apostles by testifying to them about the Son. Neither does the Son come to magnify Himself; the Son comes to convey to the world the Father, to manifest the Father to the world, to point the world to the Father. The Spirit comes to magnify the Son and to point the world to the Son. Everything goes back to God the Father.
John 14:17
Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth because no scripture is in error. The Holy Spirit also does not speak anything that is original with Him; rather He reminds the apostles of everything which Jesus has said.
Ephesians 2:17
Jesus preached “peace to you who were far away” (the Gentiles) and “peace to those who were near” (the Jews). Through the Son, Jesus, we all have access to the Father by one Spirit. No one has immediate access to the Father, but our access is mediated by God the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus the Son by the Holy Spirit. All prayer is a Trinitarian reality as well. As Christians, everything for us is a Trinitarian reality.
John 17:6-10
We love no member of the Trinity to the exclusion of the Others.
We must believe, speak, and teach as Trinitarians. Why does Jesus spend so much time emphasizing to the apostles that the words are not originally His and the words of the Spirit are not originally His? Everything originates with the Father.
