THE WORD IN SEASON

THE HOLY TRINITY

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”  John 16: 12-15

On this Holy Trinity Sunday we focus on the three ways we understand the triune God. It is easy to get stuck in the details of the Trinity-what, how, why, when, who?  The doctrine of the Trinity is not clearly defined in the Bible, yet it is a crucial formational belief for Christians. John 16 describes the Spirit of truth, connected with the Father and the Son  (the speaker). Still, it would be hard to draw a flowchart of movement of the Trinity from this passage.

Though we sometimes verbalize the Trinity in static terms (Father,Son, Holy Spirit), the dynamic movement and interwoven relationship of Mutuality and interconnectedness is a good way of thinking about the Trinity. This dance of the Trinity illustrates a God who is bigger, greater, and fuller than we can comprehend.

God, Known in three persons

yet on god, I love you. Amen