Recently my father passed away. I had been thinking of his passing for some time because he had struggled with a long-term, incurable illness. He was remarkably cheerful and courageous in his six-year journey with that disease. And he also lived a very long life dedicated to the Lord and ministering the Spirit of Jesus Christ to all those around him.
Part of the most recent reckonings I had were about the reality of becoming an orphan. My mother still survives my dad today, but she is quite elderly and it is likely we will lose her earthly presence fairly soon. So, I have been thinking a lot about being an orphan. These thoughts have not been shrouded in dread or overwhelming sorrow because my thoughts are buoyed up by the reality of my life with God in Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit. I have been meditating on John 14:15-21. Verse 18 specifically quotes Jesus saying, “I will not leave you as orphans: I will come to you.” I gladly took hold of that verse for myself again.
For many years as a believer, I have understood that God was my Father. I loved my earthly father and there were times where I needed to forgive him and move forward into a more loving relationship. I was mindful of his variable feelings and failings as a human father, as well as my own, and understood that these human relationships have their highs and their lows. The thing that kept us constant and forgiving and loving is a relationship with the living God who does not have highs or lows, who always loves us no matter what, and holds out forgiveness for every step of our human life. I am so humbled and grateful for this vital relationship that surpasses any human relationship that I hold dear. And so I do know that I will never be an orphan. My heavenly Father is an eternal presence without failings or foibles.
Imagine with me the early disciples who left their earthly fathers and homes to follow Jesus around the area of Galilee. They had given up a lot of things to do this. But we can hope, but do not know. We can hope that they kept their relationships with their earthly parents as important, and forgave them for their failures and foibles, We see in the New Testament where they became members of a new family. And that new family had the divine Parent. Early in Jesus’ ministry we see that he describes this new family.
Matthew 12:47–50
47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
And in the Gospels we read how he taught his disciples to pray by beginning with this reality. Our Father. The following is an excerpt from my book Exploring the Lord’s Prayer.
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God is our Father. There are some important things to acknowledge. 1. Not all of us had good fathering experiences. 2. Some of us have suffered greatly or not had a father available. 3. Some of us have experienced excellent parenting. These things profoundly affect how we view God. Because we were born into community, our little hearts and heads looked to our parents as our first forms of provision and care. If we did not get that, or are not getting that kind of provision and care, it translates directly into how we view God.
For some of us the healing and restoration needed to rightly see God is imperative and it is very available. It may take some time to let the old images of an abusive father, a distant father, or an absent father to fade from your memory. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to heal those wounds if we let that happen. It the work of the Holy Spirit to exchange the bad memories and make new ones that are right and true and holy in regards to God our Father.
In the meantime, hear the truth. God has revealed himself primarily as Father. While he was on earth Jesus affirmed this in how he talked about God and how he talked with God. In Luke 11:11-13 we can read how Jesus taught the disciples about this. Just after he instructed them on the way of prayer, he spoke to them about their understanding of an earthly father. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
When Jesus spoke of earthly fathers as evil he was using a form of speech called hyperbole—an exaggeration used for emphasis or effect. He was not describing all fathers as wicked or abusive. He was simply saying that, in the state of sin from which we are being saved, our actions as caregivers fall very short of the care that God gives. If you are a good parent and you do what you can to make your children safe, provide for their needs in good ways, look out for their interests how much more will God do for them, and you, by giving you the Holy Spirit! When God gives the Holy Spirit as a gift, he gives the most profound fatherly gift anyone could give. The Holy Spirit is a guide, a comforter, a source of power and strength. How much greater a gift is that for your children than anything you could ever provide. And that is one way in which God is our Father.
There are so many other ways God is Father. Psalm 68:4-6 says, "Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the LORD — and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families; he leads forth the prisoners with singing.” Think with me how many times God has given you strength, friends, resources; how he has protected you from ultimate harm, rescued you from dangers you were not even aware of. Friends, let me tell you something, sin and Satan can harm our bodies, can tear apart our families, can destroy, kill and maim. But Romans 8:38-39 reminds us that sin and Satan cannot separate us from the love of God our heavenly Father!
Despite all the bad things in life, we can have confidence that just as Jesus suffered and died and was resurrected, we can also find restoration and resurrection through him—all from the hand of God the Father. In 1 John 3:1 we read, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
As the best and divine Father, he longs to embrace you with a joyous love. He is delighted in you and wants you to know acceptance and joy and peace. Behold, my friend! How great is the love the Father has lavished on you so that you should be called a child of God—never an orphan!
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My father was a planner. And he planned everything from life insurance to the order of service for his funeral. I am very grateful for this. In the same way Jesus spoke of his plans for his followers as family members. Let’s go now to John 14:15-21 to see how Jesus described the plans for the disciples. John 13-17 hold within them some of the final words before his crucifixion and resurrection. These words were spoken in the presence of and to his disciples. All along in their relationship he had indicated that he would be dying. As he drew close to the crucifixion, though, he wanted to give them some assurances. In these important chapters we can read about very specific things that Jesus felt they needed to reckon with and receive by faith. I believe that Jesus understood that even after hearing these words, just as we read the words, there would be some mystery and perhaps some confusion. But he spoke them anyway, knowing that as the disciples moved into a deeper and new type of relationship with him that they would understand more and more as they drew near to the end of their own lives.
John 14:15-17
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 in you.
Matthew Henry wrote: “He promises that he would continue his care of them. His departure from them was that which grieved them; but it was not so bad as they had apprehended, for it was neither total nor final…We are not comfortless, while we know that our redeemer lives.”[1] Jesus demonstrated his care for his spiritual family by giving them further revelation of the triune God as the Spirit of Truth.
So much of the disciples’ relationship with Jesus had been grounded in his physical presence. In some ways that was easier because their eyes could see him, their hands could touch him, and they could hear his audible voice. But those are unnecessary things for an ongoing and vital relationship with God. Many people today require something physical or audible to connect to their spiritual life. This keeps them from understanding and taking the step of faith to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Many people ask for proof. Matthew Henry wrote: “The malignant world thought they had seen enough of him, and cried, Away with him; Crucify him and so shall their doom be they shall see him no more. Those only that see Christ with an eye of faith shall see him forever. The world sees him no more till his second coming; but his disciples have companion with him in his absence.”[2]
The first disciples were blessed with physical proof. And yet Jesus knew that there was so much more available and what they, and we, need! Joseph Mayfield wrote: “Insofar as the Spirit dwelt in Jesus, he was with the disciples. But when Jesus had ascended into heaven and the Spirit had come at Pentecost, he would be in them.”[3] How much closer could disciples be in a relationship?! No longer were they bound by physical limitations. They could know and learn and be guided by the Spirit daily.
One of the chief characteristics of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated in verse 16 where Jesus describes him as the Advocate. An advocate is a person who publicly supports, recommends, or pleads a cause on behalf of another person or group, or a legal professional who represents a client in a court of law. And don’t we need an Advocate. There are many other scriptures in this final discourse (chapters 13-17) that describe further work of the Holy Spirit. But in this particular passage of choice, we see that wonderful verse 18 immediately next to Holy Spirit. “I will not leave you as orphans.”
When we read just these few verses, it can be somewhat jarring to go from concepts of the Holy Spirit as an Advocate to Jesus saying that he would not leave them as orphans. An orphan is a child whose parents have died, disappeared, or permanently abandoned them. Teachers in antiquity would often be considered fathers to their disciples. So, how is verse 18 connected to the previous and the following verses? I believe that in the few words in verses 18 Jesus is declaring the reality of the Triune God—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. If we blink, we might miss that. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary states: “The need of the disciples would be met when Christ came to them in resurrection blessing. This would bring with it the coming of the person of the Spirit. As surely as the Spirit would be with them and in them, so would Christ. It would be impossible to differentiate the two just as the Son and the Father are indivisible.”[4]
When Jesus says that he will not abandon those who follow him, he speaks in the mysterious and wonderful spiritual reality of the Godhead. Matthew Henry wrote: “Though children, and left little, yet they had received the adoption of sons [and daughters], and his Father would be their Father, with whom those who otherwise would be fatherless find mercy. Note, the case of true believers, though sometimes it may be sorrowful, is never comfortless, because they are never orphans: for God is their Father, who is an everlasting Father.”[5] This we can accept by faith. Outside of faith in the one, true God, there is heresy and confusion. There have been many throughout the ages since Jesus Christ’s presence on earth who deny his divinity, make him less than God and call him a good teacher. But he and the Spirit of God are one with the Father that hovered over the earth and filled the new believers in Acts is so much more than that!
Even earlier in this chapter the disciples were struggling with this, as we sometimes do.
John 14:8-11
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.
So, when Jesus seems to get off track in verse 14:18 by saying he will not leave them, he is actually saying that they will never be orphaned!
John 14:19-20 is important to follow this up with the next verses. Jesus assured his disciples 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. On that day likely refers to the days that he revealed himself physically to them just after the resurrection as well as upon his second coming. And then we will fully understand the Trinity and the vast and gracious care of being part of the family of God having never been orphaned. Joseph Mayfield wrote regarding On that day: “There will be no doubt about the mutual and reciprocal indwelling of father, son, and believer.”[6]
The final verse for our study today told the disciples how to keep to the path and what our objective should be until he comes again. So, never-orphans, receive this into your hearts and minds:
21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Amen
“Let this moderate our grief, the Lord is at hand.”
~Matthew Henry [7]
© M.R.Hyde 2026
[1] Unabridged Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, OSNOVA® Bible resources for Kindle and Nook, 2011.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Beacon Bible Commentary, Volume VII John-Acts, Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City, MO, 1965, p.169.
[4] Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Moody Press, Chicago, IL, 1990, p. 1105.
[5] Matthew Henry
[6] Beacon p.169.
[7] Matthew Henry
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