²⁰ “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

Trilogies occur not infrequently in Scripture. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the most central of course. But here we have the Father, Son and us. We take the liberty here to see ourselves in the “you” to whom Jesus addresses this comment. Certainly, the Upper Room apostles came to discover this truth beginning on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus would be physically leaving, but they would not be left alone as spiritual orphans with a distant, uninvolved God. He, the Creator God of the Universe, the intimate Father of Jesus Himself, would take up residence in us, via Jesus Christ. That needs some thought to appreciate it fully.

That the “day” in question refers to the time of the Spirit coming, beginning at Pentecost, has been addressed earlier. In Acts 2:3, the Spirit’s coming was symbolized by the flames of fire that came down on the disciples. It is written that they were “filled with the Holy Spirit,” and it happened to them individually (“on each one of them”). This presence would be distinct and personal. But, more specifically, not just the Spirit, but also the Father would take up residence in them as well, along with the Son–the Father by virtue of being in the Son (see also John 10:38). That makes the entire Trinity. What an amazing thing. The Triune God being “in” us!

Now what is meant by “in?” Since God is spirit, and clearly physical-spatial considerations are not in view, there must be something other than the image of our physical bodies carrying around the presence of God (like the Shekinah glory resided in the tabernacle of Israel, though even Solomon admitted that no house on earth could contain the God of the universe, 1 Kings 8:27). The Greek word can be translated “with” or “among.” We understand this to mean that God would be with them spiritually. No less real than His physical presence, it is far better, as we have already seen. Christians live in the spiritual realm as well as the physical, eternally attached and irrevocably intertwined with God. There is a unique, special union of the Christian with God that can only be described as God being “in/with/among” us in the fullest sense.

But notice also, the Christian is also in Christ. Although hard to imagine in concrete terms, the sense is that we are aligned with the life and purpose of Christ. As Paul says, “For me to live is Christ …” (Phil 1:21). “… Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God … (Gal 2:20).

Lord, Your presence in my life motivates me to align my purposes with Yours.