John 14:15-20 (NIV)
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
At the Last Supper (the meal Jesus had with his disciples just before he went to the cross), when Jesus told his disciples that he would soon die on the cross, while they would betray him and flee, they understandably got very upset and sad. Jesus comforts them by explaining that soon the Holy Spirit would come. Today’s reading explains one of the chief blessings of receiving the Spirit: it gives us real fellowship with God in this life. Reflect especially on the promise of verse 23, “we will come to them and make our home with them.”