John 16
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The Mission
The Mission
Jesus is revealing in these passages:
His departure- I am leaving
The mission of the disciples- to testify
The world’s reaction to this message- you will be hated
The Response:
The Response:
The human response to having been told:
I’m leaving
You’re going to be hated
Bear witness to me
Their response is grief- similar to what we find in chapter 14 Jesus is aware of the emotional state of his followers
In John 14:1
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.
He acknowledges the “troubled” heart- the emotionally stirred up heart of the disciples
Now we see grief-grieving-the loss of what is
What he is inviting them into is the type of relationship that he himself has been modeling from the beginning- oneness with the father, aided/empowered by the Spirit-
The word used throughout John’s gospel is paraklete is translated, counselor, advocate, helper- the one who comes alongside
We ask the question who is the Spirit, what does he do, what their role- we can gain insight into these questions by looking at the words that precede the pronouncement of the parakletos
Go back to John 14:15-17
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
“Another” advocate- another here would indicate that have or have had an advocate before
Who would that have been? It’s Jesus.
The disciples know what this relationship looks like, because for the last 3 years they have experienced it first hand, their helper, counselor, advocate- the one who comes alongside- was physically alongside them- it was the person of Jesus
The physical part of this relationship changes- no longer will they experience the physical walking alongside that they have enjoyed for the last 3 years- but the relationship is very similar:
Look at how Jesus describes the work of the Spirit John 16:12-15
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
To me that sounds a lot like the way Jesus described his relationship to the Father
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
What Jesus is describing for the disciples is not a new relationship but one that looks different- its the type of relationship that Jesus has been modeling to them
That is what we have to remember- Jesus did not come to this earth to model for us what it looks like to be God- that would not be helpful because we are not God, we can never be God
Jesus came to model to us what it looks like to be human- to be human and in relationship with the father, living empowered by the Spirit
So how could we think that we can live any differently?
The Helper
The Helper
The spirit is not given so that we can enjoy an easy life- the spirit comes to help us complete the mission
It’s a supernatural mission that requires supernatural help
The mission- bear witness to me
And by the way- you’ll be hated for doing it
Greater Things
Greater Things
Here I want to go back to something that Jesus says in John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Greater how? Greater can’t mean more spectacular. What is it that the disciples could do that would be more spectacular than anything Jesus has already done?
The works the disciples would do were not more spectacular but they were greater in extent:
Exalting Jesus in John Greater Works
Greater geographically.
This work was not just for the disciples then but for “whoever believes” John 14:12
That being said what we aren’t really contrasting the works of Jesus with the works of the disciples. The distinction is between what Jesus did on earth and what Jesus accomplishes from heaven through people here on earth
People empowered by, guided by, counseled by the Spirit- the one who comes alongside- the mission, the work is to great- its a supernatural work a supernatural mission that requires supernatural power
Fortunately we have not be left on our own, we have be given the parakletos- the one who comes alongside
The Spirits Work vs. Our Work
The Spirits Work vs. Our Work
When the spirit comes we are told that he will do three things John 16:8-11
When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Convicts the world of:
Sin- Jesus said “I am the light of the world” the exposes sin- the Holy Spirit will continue to expose sin
Righteousness- there are two types of righteousness- righteousness apart from God and righteousness that comes from God- these two are in conflict with each other
Judgement- the prince of this world stands condemned- and so do we apart from the righteousness of God
To be clear and state it clearly- the work of the spirit is to convict the unbelieving world of sin, righteousness and judgement.
This word convict has the goal of convincing a person to turn from his or her sin
How does the Holy Spirit do this work? He speaks through the disciples- the disciples are the agents the Holy Spirit uses to call the world to repentance.
And the Spirit does that by empowering disciples to bear witness about Jesus
Here is the relationship- Spirit empowered disciples bear witness of Jesus to the world-one way is by bearing fruit that is consist with the vine-
The Holy Spirit makes that witness spiritually effective by convicting of sin, righteousness and judgement
Exalting Jesus in John The Holy Spirit Will Convict the World of Sin (16:8–11)
John Calvin wrote,
How can someone’s voice penetrate minds, take root there, and eventually produce fruit making hearts of stone into hearts of flesh and renewing the people themselves unless the Spirit of Christ makes the Word alive? (John, 372)
Here is the reality of what we have been called to as believers, as followers, as disciples of Jesus- its an impossible task
The reality is Jesus through the Holy Spirit doing the work from heaven
Let’s stick to our lane- that is to do the work that is ours do do- bear witness to the world, to bear his image to the world and let’s let Jesus and the Spirit do their work
Here’s the other thing about the work of the Spirit it “guides us into all truth” John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Then it was the work of the Spirit to remind the disciples of what Jesus had personally taught them so that the could write it down- Now we are brought to the truth of those teachings by the Holy Spirit
Spiritual truths are only discerned by the Spirit- if you are struggling to understand-wrestling with questions- the parakletos is here- the one who comes alongside, the counselor will lead you into all truth.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
we are invited into a relationship model by Jesus himself- reliant fully on the spirit as helper and guide to bear witness to the father- we are called to do the same.
