This is a question that should be directed to the adherents of the various Christian religious sects. Jesus in John 16:12 already said that: “I would say many things to you but you cannot bear them now…” This statement already should tell us everything that we wish to know in answer to the above question.

This verse cannot be interpreted in any other way than that Jesus did not and could not say all that He wished to say to His disciples. In other words He could not teach the disciples all He wanted to teach them because He found such yawning spiritual immaturity that there would have been no use in explaining other concepts in Creation to them.

Hence concepts like reincarnation and the knowledge about the elemental or nature beings and so on could not be explained to the disciples because given their state of maturity they would have been unable to understand Him. The little He taught them they could not fully grasp in any case as attested to by their questions and also by Jesus’ frustrations with them.

It is therefore interesting to find it asserted everywhere these days that the Bible contains everything that mankind needs to know for their spiritual ascent. How could that possibly be the case given the statement above? It is nothing more than the well-known stubbornness and rigidity of mankind to keep asserting what is obviously wrong as an apologia for their established religion and for their own positions in that religion.

The same happened with the Jewish religion during the time of Jesus when many of their leaders closed themselves to the possibility of spiritual enlightenment through Jesus. To assert that the knowledge of the disciples was completed when they experienced the Pentecost and that that experience bridged the yawning gaps in their spiritual maturity and ability to know things does not correspond at all to the truth.

The promise of the Coming of the Spirit of Truth which we find in John 16:13 does not correspond to the experience of the disciples at Pentecost. The promise of the Coming of the Spirit of Truth is a personal fulfilment whereby a Person called “The Spirit of Truth” would personally come and teach us and complete and tell us what Jesus could not do at that time. This Spirit of Truth will reveal what Jesus could not reveal to the disciples because it would then be time to do so.

So then it is a question of a new teaching which would not only complete the Teaching of Jesus but also consolidate and harmonise completely with it. This Spirit of Truth will guide us onto all Truth; He shall show us the things that are to come; He will glorify Jesus for He will take of what is of Jesus and show it to us again. Note the pronoun that Jesus used. He used “he”.

The disciples’ complete lack of understanding for Jesus is already shown in verse 18 when they asked amongst themselves “…what is this that he says…”

This Spirit of Truth is a Person Who would come and fulfil this promise made by Jesus of Nazareth. It just cannot be interpreted in any other way! This Spirit of Truth is the Comforter Who would come and reprove the world of all sin and of righteousness and bring the Judgement.

This Chapter in John is a great prophecy and promise made by Jesus the Son of God which until now has never been recognised and seen in this light. It has never been interpreted aright.

The disciples experienced Pentecost when they gathered in Jerusalem. The Power they received at Pentecost allowed them to fulfil their promises as disciples and do the great things they were destined to do and spread the Word of Jesus to all, but that collective experience did not reprove the world of any sins nor did it bring the Judgement nor did it bring about any of the things that Jesus promised which can only be fulfilled personally by a single individual destined for this.

Pentecost is a yearly event in the whole of Creation which marks the renewal of Power by God for the entire creation. The disciples were spiritually open to this Power through their experiences in the vicinity of the Lord. Being open spiritually allowed them to consciously experience the effect of this Power which otherwise would not have been the case. In the future we too, if sufficiently open spiritually may also be in a position to experience what the disciples experienced and absorb of the Power of the Lord at Pentecost that would also allow us to fulfil our destinies and live as human beings who are pleasing to God.