The God Who Comforts : A Forty-Day Meditation on John 14:1—16:15

The God Who Comforts is a spiritual reading of Jesus' upper room discipleship sermon. What started out as a Passover meal became an inspiring and spiraling manifesto of comfort and challenge. Jesus propels the conversation forward into our hearts and minds. When Jesus got up off his knees and resumed his place of authority, he framed this strategic discourse in the Truth that cannot be packaged as a consumer product or programmed to fit the secular mind. Four distinct comings shape Jesus' sermon in the upper room: his final coming, the Parousia; his gift of the Spirit, the Paraclete; his death and resurrection, the Passion; and his abiding fellowship, the Presence. These four comings are the ways in which Jesus draws near to his disciples, reassuring them that they are not alone. Throughout this conversation we are in the company of the eleven, hearing Jesus speak to us as he spoke to them. This discourse continues to reset twenty-one centuries of discipleship according to the revelation of Jesus Christ.