John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 Jesus said to his disciples, ”When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Reflection A grain of wheat falls to the ground, is broken and must 'go away' before it rises a new harvest. A temple is destroyed. A season passes before a new temple is raised up. Both agriculture and religious wisdom find their roots in the truth of maturation over time.
In the Jewish narrative a forty-nine day “growing” season begins with the Waving of a Sheaf of ripe grain and a sacrifice that culminates when the Jews receive Torah at Sinai. The season is called Counting the Omer. Beginning on the second day of Passover Jews count each of the forty nine days leading to the First Fruits Festival, also known as Shauvot or Pentecost. Each of the forty nine days in the Jewish mystical tradition Kabbalah counts as an opportunity to reflect on and develop positive qualities; loving kindness, might, beauty, victory, acknowledgment, foundation and kingdom. Thus do Jews cultivate their minds, maturing spiritually to receive Torah, divine revelation and guidance given by God.*
Likewise in the Christian narrative a forty-nine day “growing” season begins with the waving of palms beckoning Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem and his sacrifice that culminates with humanity receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This is called the Season of Easter which involves more than a forty-nine day celebration following Resurrection Sunday. Much as forty days of Lent prepare Christians new and old to make or renew their baptismal vows, the forty-nine day Season of Easter invites us to mature spiritually, to prepare our minds to receive divine revelation and guidance given by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Are you noticing parallels here? Both Jewish and Christian traditions realize the essential importance of the passage of time for the maturation of human beings. It takes time and deliberate care for us to prepare our minds to receive the transmission of wisdom. We must be spiritually mature to receive the Spirit of Truth, whether through Torah or the Holy Spirit, and this takes effort over time.
The Spirit of Truth is given to all people to transform their consciousness and thereby their lives regardless of ethnicity, language or religious tradition. The Spirit of Truth comes to guide us into all truth. “Us” is not referring to a particular tribe or group. Us is all people. All people tell stories about who and how we are in the world. All of our stories are dressed in the particularities of time and place. At the same time all of our stories are rooted in ubiquitous truths such as that of the grain that must be broken and mature before it can be harvested. Therefore, that which is true undergirds and overarches all that is experienced and expressed in the infinite variety of human culture and creativity.
Recalling Jesus’ words, “Peace I leave with you; my Peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” (John 14:27-28) The First Temple goes away. Jesus goes away. A grain of wheat falls to the ground, is broken, 'goes away' and matures before it rises as a new harvest. Life is a matter of becoming spiritually mature by consenting to the fertile dirt of time and the windy breath of God. And so we count our days on earth, a means of becoming wise.
*https://www.aish.com/h/o/t/48969151.html
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