The Spirit’s Convicting Work
TRANSLATION
(1) “I have told you all these things to keep you from falling away. (2) They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the time is coming when whoever kills you will think that they are offering service to God. (3) These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor me. (4) But I have told you these things so that, when the time comes, you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you. (5) But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
(6) “But because I have told you these things grief has filled your hearts. (7) Very truly I tell you that it is for your good that I am going away, for if I do not go, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. (8) And when he comes, he will convict the world regarding sin and righteousness and judgment: (9) regarding sin because they do not believe in me, (10) regarding righteousness because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer, (11) regarding judgment because the ruler of this world now stands condemned.”
OBSERVATIONS
The knowledge that Jesus would soon leave them understandably distressed the disciples who had learned to love him and depend upon his presence. Jesus did what he could to prepare his followers for what they would face once he was gone. The phrase, “I have told you (all) these things,” occurred three times in these verses (vss. 1, 4, & 6). The verb, “going/going away,” is found six times in three verses (vss. 5, 7, & 10). In contrast, the verb “come(s)” is found twice (vss. 7 & 8). Four related phrases regarding the work of the helper (Holy Spirit) are found in verses 8-11 built on the following words: “regarding sin and righteousness and judgment.”
OUTLINE
I. Jesus told these truths to his disciples to keep them from falling away in persecution. (1-4)
II. Jesus promised that, when he left them, the Holy Spirit would come to be their helper. (5-10)
IDEA STATEMENT
In preparing the disciples for his departure, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would take his place to protect them from falling away and proclaim through them his convicting message to the world.
APPLICATION
Jesus’ statement, “It is to your advantage that I go away,” has long puzzled believers. We ask, “Would it not have been better for Jesus to have remained personally with us rather than to leave us on our own?” The answer to that question is both “yes” and “no.” We who love the Lord yearn for the day when we will see him face to face and remain in his presence forever. That hope is what sustains us in all that we have to endure in this life. The lyricist, Charles Gabriel, captured this hope in the last two lines of his well-known hymn: When by his grace I shall look on his face, that will be glory, be glory for me.
However, it really was better for the disciples and for us that Jesus left us here to carry on his work without him because, instead of his personal presence, he has sent us the Holy Spirit to indwell each of us and to minister powerfully through everyone who depends on him. The Spirit is the one who, through our testimony, convicts unbelievers of their sin, of their need for Christ’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment everyone apart from the Savior will inevitably face. He can accomplish far more than Jesus ever did in his earthly ministry because he works through each of us, thus multiplying what can be accomplished by mobilizing a multitude of disciples throughout the world. Our part is to allow him to fill us and use us wherever we are for God’s glory.