"He will Glorify Me"

“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 authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:12-15)
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes….”
Jesus hasn’t yet gone through his baptism by fire. He hasn’t yet been crucified, died and buried, nor has he been resurrected. Only then will the full picture start to come into view for the disciples. Only then will they have the confidence to hear the many things Jesus has yet to tell them. For sure, Jesus will explain and tell them many of these things in the forty days between his resurrection and his ascension, but he will also send the spirit of truth.
Jesus continues to speak of the work the Holy Spirit will do through them. He will not speak on his own authority. Surely the Spirit has authority of his own. But he holds his subordinate to that of Christ who died for your sins, and rose again from the dead for your justification. He speaks what is given to him from the resurrected one. And then Jesus says, “He will glorify me.” He will glorify Jesus. He doesn’t glorify himself, and he doesn’t glorify you. If anything he does the opposite for himself and for you. The Holy Spirit isn’t there for your glory, to give you such wonderful gifts to run around bragging about and taking inventory of. The Holy Spirit is a humble Spirit. He doesn’t speak on his own authority. He speaks out of love, out of love for the one who has loved you with his blood. And love is not arrogant or rude, it does not boast. The Holy Spirit doesn’t brag about himself, and neither does he give Christians reason to brag. Rather he equips us for the hard work ahead. He strengthens us and encourages us to continue in the work that has been given to his church. No, the Holy Spirit doesn’t glorify himself or you, but he glorifies Jesus. This he does primarily through the disciples who knew Jesus, who followed Jesus to Jerusalem with fear and trembling. The Holy Spirit works through them to retell the story, to give form and word to the atonement. It is through the Apostles that the spirit paints, but not a self-portrait, but a portrait of Crist, and him crucified.