Jn 16:12-15
[Jesus said to his disciples,] 12“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. 13But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. 14He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”
THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE SPIRIT: In the Mediterranean culture like that of Jesus, honor is greatly esteemed, even more than wealth. Without honor, a person is nothing. And honor is often obtained and maintained at the expense of others—opponents or enemies—through secrecy, false charges, or putting others to shame.
Yet Jesus reveals in today’s Gospel that “honor” among the “three divine persons” is characterized by love—by a person “glorifying” another.
We are in the context of Jesus’ “hour”—the time of his return to the Father which entails his passion, death, and resurrection. During his intimate conversation with the disciples at the Last Supper, Jesus reveals his great love for them, a love which has its origin in the Father’s love. The Father’s love for the world (mankind) is manifested in his sending of the Son so that men and women might not perish but might have eternal life (Jn 3:16). The Son shows his love for the Father by doing his command (Jn 14:31); he glorifies the Father’s name by revealing him to those entrusted to him by the Father and by offering his very life for them. The Father, in turn, will glorify the Son by raising him from the dead, thus showing to the world the true “honor” of the “crucified One.”
The return of Jesus, the “paraclete” of the disciples, will signal the coming of the “other paraclete”—the Holy Spirit. He will take the place of Jesus and will do nothing other than what Jesus has been doing. As the “Spirit of truth,” he learns the honorable truth straight from its source—the Father and the Son—and passes it along to the believers. As the “Spirit of love,” he will help the disciples fathom the reciprocal love of the Father and the Son, and empower the disciples to give witness to this love by their love for one another. The Holy Spirit does not work for his own glory and honor: he glorifies Jesus, just as Jesus glorifies the Father.