Jesus was a teacher.

That’s how it was with Jesus and his followers. They looked at him and said “He’s not like the other Rabbis. He teaches with authority.” It would have been amazing to live in Jesus’ day and to have heard him teach–to have seen his miracles, witnessed the compassion he had for people, experienced his manner of caring for the most vulnerable and needy around him. It would have been amazing to have been there on the Mount of Olives or along the banks of the Sea of Galilee. But we didn’t live back then.

With a big but, however, Jesus pointed forward–there would be an even greater teacher to come.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Knowing that He was leaving, Jesus promised his followers, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of Truth.”

This Counselor will teach all things. This Counselor will remind Jesus’ followers of all that he said. This Counselor is the Holy Spirit–of God the Father, and Christ the Son.

All that Jesus was as a teacher to the followers of his day, that and more the Holy Spirit can be to us today.