The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit
It is the mission of both the Holy Spirit and believers to bear witness to Jesus (cf. 15:26–27).
A brief survey of ancient Christian tradition reveals that Peter, Andrew, and James the son of Alphaeus were all crucified; Bartholomew was whipped to death and then crucified; James the son of Zebedee was beheaded, as was Paul; Thomas was stabbed with spears; Mark was dragged to death through the streets of Alexandria; and James the half brother of Jesus was stoned by order of the Sanhedrin. Philip was also stoned to death. Others, including Matthew, Simon the Zealot, Thaddeus, Timothy, and Stephen, were also killed for their unwavering commitment to the Lord. As Clement of Rome, a contemporary of the apostles who died around A.D. 100, observed, “Through envy and jealousy, the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the church] have been persecuted and put to death” (First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, 5).
Godly leaders like John Huss (c. 1369–1415), Hugh Latimer (c. 1485–1555), William Tyndale (1495–1536), Patrick Hamilton (1504–1528), and George Wishart (1513–1546) were among those martyred for the faith. When the chain was put around John Huss, securing him to the stake where he would be burned, he said with a smile, “My Lord Jesus Christ was bound with a harder chain than this for my sake, and why then should I be ashamed of this rusty one?” When asked to recant, Huss declined, saying, “What I taught with my lips I now seal with my blood” (John Fox, Fox’s Book of Martyrs [Philadelphia: J. J. Woodward, 1830], 634). He died singing a hymn as the flames engulfed his body.
Although the content of this section is similar to that of chapter 15, there is a subtle difference in emphasis. In chapter 15, Jesus instructed the disciples as to what they were to do (e.g., vv. 4, 9, 10, 12, 14, 17–20). But in chapter 16 He focused on what God would do for them through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit (e.g., vv. 1–4, 7, 13–15).
Why does the gospel of grace elicit such violent opposition from both religious and non-religious segments of society? Grace is disruptive before it is redemptive. The gospel sabotages all forms of self-salvation. Our need is so great that it took the death of the Son of God to save people like us. The good news is that Jesus went willingly and gladly to the cross for us.
The earliest Christians were Jews (Acts 2:11, 14, 22), but quite soon after the church began to grow and spread, it was quickly thrust outside the synagogue (ca. A.D. 90). Persecution unto death occurred in the case of Stephen (Acts 7:59), James (Acts 12:2), and others (Acts 9:1–4). Some people throughout church history have been motivated to persecute believers because of a misguided zeal for God. They think they are offering a service to God (cf. Rom. 10:2).
The teaching of the Spirit through the Apostles was not different from the teaching of the Spirit through Jesus Christ. Some theologians like to contrast the “Christianity of Christ” with the “Christianity of Paul.” They claim that Paul “ruined” Christianity by making it so theological and complicating the “simple message” of Jesus Christ. What a sad interpretation this is. What Jesus said in John 14:26 and 16:13 completely refutes this false teaching. The same Holy Spirit communicated the truths found in the four Gospels, the epistles, and the Book of Revelation; and He also wrote the history and doctrine found in Acts.
To be made outcasts from the synagogue meant far more than merely being forbidden to attend religious services. Those who were excommunicated from the synagogue were cut off from all religious, social, and economic aspects of Jewish society. They were branded as traitors to their people and their God, and faced the likely consequence of losing both their families and their jobs. Not surprisingly, being unsynagogued was greatly feared (cf. 9:22; 12:42).
Persecution would surely come, since “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12; cf. Acts 14:22).
Because Jesus had said these things (about the coming persecution) to them, sorrow had filled the disciples’ hearts. Their thoughts were not centered on what this moment meant for Jesus, but only on what it meant for them. But instead of being consumed with anxiety, they should have been filled with joy to know that Jesus’ earthly mission was almost over and His return to heavenly glory near. As He had earlier chided them, “If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father” (14:28).
Note that in 16:5 Jesus speaks in the present tense: “No one is asking.…” His interest here is that in light of his disclosures about persecution, no one is pressing him about his departure. This question thus must be linked to 16:6. Sorrow has so swamped the disciples’ lives that they have forgotten that Jesus’ death is not the end of everything, it is the beginning. They are concentrating on the wrong subject. “No one is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ ” Peter’s earlier question was about the reasonableness of the cross. Thomas was asking about the way of Jesus’ departure. But now, Jesus says, these are secondary. The point is the goal of his glorification, namely, the Father’s presence.
Jorge Rodriguez was a Mexican bank robber who operated along the Texas border around the turn of the century. He was so successful in his forays that the Texas Rangers assigned an extra posse to the Rio Grande to stop him. Late one afternoon one of the special Rangers saw Jorge slipping stealthily across the river, and he trailed him at a discreet distance as he returned to his home village. He watched as Jorge first mingled with the people in the square around the town well, then went into his favorite cantina to relax. The Ranger slipped into the cantina as well and managed to get the drop on Jorge. With a pistol at Jorge’s head, he said, “I know who you are, Jorge Rodriguez, and I have come to get back all the money you have stolen from the banks of Texas. Unless you give it to me, I am going to pull the trigger.” But there was a problem—Jorge did not speak English, and the Texas Ranger did not know Spanish. The two adults were at a verbal impasse.
About that time an enterprising villager said, “I am bilingual. Do you want me to act as a translator?” The Ranger nodded, and the villager proceeded to put the words of the Ranger into terms Jorge could understand. Nervously, Jorge answered, “Tell the big Texas Ranger that I have not spent a cent of the money. If he will go to the town well, face north, and count down five stones, he will find a loose one there. Pull it out, and all the money is behind it. Please tell him quickly.” The little translator assumed a solemn look and said to the Ranger in perfect English, “Jorge Rodriguez is a brave man. He says he is ready to die.” What we do not know most assuredly does hurt us!
This long section—John 15:18–16:16—is tied together by two important themes: the opposition of the world against the church, and the ministry of the Spirit to and through the church.
Before we study this passage and see the threefold ministry of the Spirit to the church in the world, we must pause to remind ourselves just who the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit of God is a Person; Jesus referred to the Spirit as “He” and not “it.” The Holy Spirit has a mind (Rom. 8:27), a will (1 Cor. 12:11), and emotional feelings (Gal. 5:22–23).
In John 15:26 all three Persons of the Godhead are mentioned: Jesus the Son will send the Spirit from the Father. Because the Holy Spirit is a Person, and is God, it means that the Christian has God indwelling his body! If we did not have the Holy Spirit within, we would not be able to serve the Lord in this present evil world. We are to walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), worship in the Spirit (Phil. 3:3), and witness in the Spirit (Acts 1:8).
How incredible his words must have sounded in that historical context. Judas has already slipped out into the night. The Lord has predicted Peter’s denial. Outside, the world is plotting his death. Jesus knows that sorrow has filled the disciples’ hearts, that there is a growing panic among them. Now he says, “It is for your good that I am going away.”
Foremost on Jesus’ mind is the gift of the Holy Spirit, which he promises five times in chapters 14–16. He even supplies a unique name for the Spirit, the “Paraclete” (see comment on 14:16).
The role of this helper is to testify or witness concerning Jesus. But the disciples are also given the same task of witnessing. So it is imperative to note with Hoskyns and Davey at this point that the work of the Spirit (v. 6) is “not for one moment thought of as independent of the disciples of Jesus” (v. 27). The point is not that there are two different patterns of witnessing. The Spirit works in the disciples (cf. 14:17), and they have the same mission: namely, giving witness to Jesus. The Spirit therefore does not operate independently of the Gospel concerning Jesus because the Spirit has been sent from the Father by Jesus. Moreover, it is not that the Gospel message is incomplete and that the Spirit needs to complete it. The basic message of the gospel is available, and both the Spirit and the disciples are together agents of communicating the same gospel. The role of the Spirit here, then, is likened to that of a supporter for the disciples in witnessing to a hostile world. This statement, of course, does not mean that where there are no disciples present the Spirit is unable to work. Such a suggestion would mean that God is bound totally by human frailty. Rather, the meaning of these verses points to the intended harmony of humans and the Spirit working in mission.
With these stern words of warning concerning the immanent arrival of their “hour” of persecution, John concluded this section. Persecution is certain, but there is not the slightest hint that the disciples should retreat into safe havens and cease witnessing about Jesus. In fact, just the opposite is expected. And to make their witnessing effective the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth or authenticity, is promised to them to support them in their witnessing.
To people in anxiety, comfort and direction probably are the more likely meaning of this expression. This meaning, I suggest, would seem to be supported by the unusual use of bastazein (“to bear”) here. In the three other uses of the verb in John it can mean “take up” stones (10:31), “take” money referring to Judas (12:6), and “take away” the body of Jesus (20:15). Here, however, whatever Jesus still had to say would have been too much for them to accept at the time (arti, “now”). Such further information would more naturally be information about their forthcoming unbearable persecution and even death (cf. Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ prediction of his death, and that came after Jesus’ resurrection; 21:21). It is hardly necessary, therefore, to suggest that this verse reveals the hand of a different editor of the Gospel or that the Spirit was to bring a major addition to the basic message of salvation.
he Paraclete is here given an initial identification as the Spirit of truth. Among the most important attributes of Jesus for John is that he speaks the truth and that he is the truth (1:14, 17; 8:30, 45–46; 14:6). Followers of both Jesus and God are thus expected to follow the truth (4:23–24; 8:32; 18:37; cf. 1 John 3:18–19; Rev 14:5). But the devil is categorized as a liar, and his nature is opposed to the truth (John 8:44). For John liars and lying are to be rejected (8:55; 1 John 1:10; 2:4, 22; 5:10; Rev 21:8, 27). The Paraclete therefore can be nothing other than an agent of truth.
Jesus told the disciples that his separation from them was in their best interest. As long as he was with them in person, his work was localized; and it would be impossible to communicate with them equally at all times and in all places. The coming of the “Counselor” would equip them for a wider and more potent ministry.
Jesus uses an unusual term in 14:16 for the Spirit. The NIV “Counselor” translates the Greek parakletos, often transliterated “Paraclete.” This word is unique to John in the New Testament. Of the five Spirit promises in this discourse (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 16:12–14), four of them include this title (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). A fifth (and final) use occurs in 1 John 2:1, where Jesus is called a parakletos.
Extensive scholarly debate as well as every commentary on John tries to probe the meaning of this word. It comes from a verbal root that describes someone “called alongside”12 and occurs in secular Greek literature for an advocate in a court of law, who comes “alongside” a person to speak in his or her defense and provide counsel. The Greek term became popular in the first century and was even a loan word in Hebrew and Aramaic for a similar judicial setting (P. Aboth, 4:11). The word does not mean “comfort” (as in the KJV “Comforter”) except in the old English understanding of someone who strengthens (from Latin, confortare, to strengthen; fortis, strong). “Counselor” (RSV, NIV) is a popular translation, but today its therapeutic connotations can be misleading. Rather, one must think of a “legal counselor.” Thus the best translation is “Advocate” (NRSV), so that Jesus is pointing to the Spirit’s judicial or legal service (see comments on 15:18–27; 16:7–11). Many scholars prefer to leave the word untranslated (though no modern translation has done so).
It is interesting that Jesus calls the Spirit another Paraclete. This should not be taken to mean that the Father will send “another person, namely, a Paraclete.” First John 2:1 makes clear that John views Jesus also as a Paraclete (“But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,” NRSV, italics added)14 Jesus is thus a Paraclete, who is now sending a second Paraclete. This means that the ongoing work of the Spirit will be a continuation of the work of Jesus during the disciples’ lifetime.
Obviously, apart from Jesus’ propitiatory, sacrificial death on the cross, there would be no atonement for their sins. But beyond that, if Jesus did not go away, the Helper (the Holy Spirit) would not come to them. But if the Lord left, He would send Him to them. Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit came, He would give them eternal life (7:37–39), indwell them (14:16–17), instruct them (and through them all believers [14:26]), empower them in their witness, and activate for them the promises of God (see 15:26–27
Their preoccupation with their own problems prevented their understanding the crucial nature of the time (“now”) and the momentous significance of the events (His death, burial, resurrection, and Ascension).
The Spirit is the consummate Helper. He frees us from trying to live the Christian life in our own power. The gospel is not “do more and try harder”; rather, it is “see Jesus and surrender to the Spirit.”
It is better to live after Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation than it is to live during his earthly ministry (see 14:12 and note). The Spirit continues Jesus’ ministry worldwide in the age of the new covenant, which the OT anticipates (e.g., Joel 2:28–32; Acts 2)
Again, the promise of the Holy Spirit being sent is given to comfort the disciples. See note on 15:26, 27. The first emphasis was on His life-giving power (7:37–39). The next featured His indwelling presence (14:16, 17). The next marked His teaching ministry (14:26). His ministry of empowering for witness is marked in 15:26.
John’s Semitic type of word-picture thinking would allow for more breadth in the definition. It is because of such breadth that translators have struggled to find the right word to render this Greek verb in John (e.g., note the following: “reprove,” KJV; “convince,” RSV/NLT; “prove,” NRSV; “convict,” NIV; “prove wrong,” TEV, none of which carries the full meaning).280
No one can be saved apart from the Spirit’s convicting and regenerating work. The Bible teaches that all people are by nature rebels against God and hostile to Jesus Christ. They are “dead in [their] trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1); “by nature children of wrath” (v. 3); “darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart … callous [having] given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness” (Eph. 4:18–19); “and alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds” (Col. 1:21); blinded by Satan so that they cannot understand spiritual truth (2 Cor. 4:4; cf. Luke 8:5, 12). In that condition, they are helpless; they are unable to believe the truth and are even guilty of suppressing it (Rom. 1:18–32). In John 6:44 Jesus declared, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” In a graphic description of fallen man’s utter inability to seek God on his own, Paul wrote,
There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Rom. 3:10–18)
The message of the church is not only about a “better product” or a better life that might entice the unbeliever. The message of the church is also prophetic: It incriminates the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of the world around us. The world lives under the judgment of God; its institutions are infirm and impotent. When the church announces its indictment in the power of the Spirit, there will be trouble.
The Spirit’s function is like that of Nathan the prophet, who said to David, “You are the man” (2 Sam 12:7), and compelled him to acknowledge his misdeeds. David was so convicted that he was reduced to a state of complete penitence: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Ps 51:4).
(1) The Holy Spirit will convict people of sin. When the Jews crucified Jesus, they did not believe that they were sinning; they believed that they were serving God. But when the story of that crucifixion was later preached, they were pricked in their heart (Acts 2:37). They suddenly had the terrible conviction that the crucifixion was the greatest crime in history and that their sin had caused it. What is it that gives people a sense of sin? What is it that makes people humble before the cross? In an Indian village, a missionary was telling the story of Christ by means of slides projected on the whitewashed wall of a village house. When the picture of the cross was shown, one man stepped forward, as if he could not help it: ‘Come down!’ he cried. ‘I should be hanging there—not you.’ Why should the sight of a man crucified as a criminal in Palestine 2,000 years ago tear open the hearts of people throughout the centuries and still today? It is the work of the Holy Spirit.
In the New Testament, elencho occurs seventeen times and in most cases describes an instance where someone’s sin is exposed (leading to the related idea “to convict”). Thus John the Baptist exposes and convicts Herod of sin (Luke 3:9). Similarly, prophecy has the power to convict (1 Cor. 14:24), and we are charged to convict or rebuke sinners (1 Tim. 5:20; James 2:9; Jude 1:5) and antagonists to the faith (Titus 1:9). Therefore the meaning of the verb has to do with exposing sin and its guilt.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of one particular sin, the sin of unbelief. The law of God and the conscience of man will convict the sinner of his sins (plural) specifically; but it is the work of the Spirit, through the witness of the believers, to expose the unbelief of the lost world. After all, it is unbelief that condemns the lost sinner (John 3:18–21), not the committing of individual sins. A person could “clean up his life” and quit his or her bad habits and still be lost and go to hell.
Apart from the Holy Spirit, human beings do not understand spiritual realities. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to bring to the world’s consciousness three things—a correct perception of sin, a correct perception of righteousness, and a correct perception of judgment. Verse 9: “ in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me.” Verse 10: “in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer.” Verse 11: “in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” The saying “What you don’t know won’t hurt you” is certainly not true here!
convict. This word has two meanings: 1) the judicial act of conviction with a view toward sentencing (i.e., a courtroom term-conviction of sin) or 2) the act of convincing. Here the second idea is best, since the purpose of the Holy Spirit is not condemnation but conviction of the need for the Savior.
16:9 sin. The singular indicates that a specific sin is in view; i.e., that of not believing in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. This is the only sin, ultimately, that damns people to hell (see note on 8:24). Though all men are depraved, cursed by their violation of God’s law and sinful by nature, what ultimately damns them to hell is their unwillingness to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior (cf. 8:24).
word elenxei, “to present or expose facts, to convince of the truth.” The Spirit works on the minds of the unsaved to show them the truth of God for what it is. Normally this process includes human aid (cf. 15:26–27).
The three clauses given in 16:9–11 each offer important descriptions of the errors of the world and the bases of its conviction. (1) The first error (16:9) is the refusal to believe. That this is a primary sin is clear (1:11; 3:19; 15:22). It does not refer to ignorance, as if at issue is a problem of intellect; it is a problem of will and so implies rejection (cf. 5:43–47; 9:39–41).
(2) The second error (16:10) thinks that through Jesus’ death his unrighteousness will be demonstrated for all to see. But God plans to reverse this and make the cross a place of glorification in which Jesus’ innocence and righteousness are proclaimed. The surprising reversal is that it is the world that lacks true righteousness (see 3:19–21; 7:7; 15:22, 24). So when the world celebrates “the end of Jesus” at the tomb because he cannot be seen any longer (16:10b), the disciples can celebrate the true circumstances of his absence: He has been enthroned with the Father. This is the essence of the church’s Easter proclamation.
The second element of the triad is the standard against which the charge is leveled. That standard is righteousness. It is none other than the standard expected by God because the judgments of God are both true and righteous (cf. Ps 19:9). Here and in the prayer of 17:25 are the two places in the Farewell Cycle where the dikaios family of words is used. The only other places in the Gospel are in the Festival Cycle where Jesus emphasizes his own righteous standard for judgment (5:30) and questions his critics’ ability to apply the same righteous standard (7:24).
The world has a relative view of righteousness, like ascending degrees on a thermometer. For example, a convict’s deeds are held to be largely unrighteous, although he may have a little good in him (say, 20 percent). Better men have a little more righteousness (possibly 50 percent). Still better men have more righteousness (maybe even up to 80 percent), while God has the most righteousness of all (100 percent). The logical outcome of this is the unfortunate assumption that there is a degree of righteousness that will be acceptable to God, and if man attains it, he will attain Heaven. This is the Avis syndrome: “We try harder.”
But Jesus demonstrated and taught an entirely new standard of righteousness, as is crystal-clear from his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ made repeated statements revealing the profoundness and depth of the inner righteousness necessary to enter the kingdom of God, made in order to bring men to the end of themselves. The Beatitudes are at the same time extremely inspiring and discouraging. After giving them, Jesus astounded his hearers by saying, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). What a discouraging pronouncement to the common man because the Pharisees were the spiritual superstars of the day! The sum of the Sermon, in Christ’s own words, was: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The only righteousness acceptable to the kingdom is perfection!
The Spirit also convicts the sinner of righteousness, not unrighteousness. Whose righteousness? The righteousness of Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God. The world would not receive the Son of God (John 1:10), so He has returned to the Father. When He was here on earth, He was accused by men of being a blasphemer, a lawbreaker, a deceiver, and even a demoniac. The Spirit of God reveals the Saviour in the Word and in this way glorifies Him (John 16:13–14). The Spirit also reveals Christ in the lives of believers. The world cannot receive or see the Spirit of God, but they can see what He does as they watch the lives of dedicated believers.
(2) The Holy Spirit will convince people of righteousness. It becomes clear what this means when we see that it is Jesus Christ’s righteousness of which they will be convinced. Jesus was crucified as a criminal. He was tried; he was found guilty; he was regarded by the Jews as an evil heretic, and by the Romans as a dangerous character; he was given the punishment that the worst criminals had to suffer, branded as a felon and an enemy of God. What changed that? What made people see in this crucified figure the Son of God, as the centurion saw at the cross (Matthew 27:54) and Paul on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1–9)? It is amazing that men and women should put their trust for all eternity in a crucified Jewish criminal. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who convinces people of the sheer righteousness of Christ, backed by the fact that Jesus rose again and went to his Father.
The third area of the Holy Spirit’s convicting work concerns judgment. The death and resurrection of Jesus were a condemnation of Satan (12:31; Col. 2:15), the prince of this world (cf. John 14:30). By Jesus’ death, He defeated the devil, who held “the power of death” (Heb. 2:14). (Though defeated at the Cross, Satan is still active [1 Peter 5:8]. But, like a condemned criminal, his “execution” is coming [Rev. 20:2, 7–10].)
People in rebellion should take note of Satan’s defeat and fear the Lord who holds the power to judge. As the fact of coming judgment (both Satan’s and man’s) is proclaimed, the Spirit convicts people and prepares them for salvation (cf. Acts 17:30–31).
The third error concerns judgment (16:12). Jesus has not been judged by his trial; rather, the world has been judged. Jesus has described the world’s ability to judge as perverse and darkened (7:24; 8:16), and therefore it is incapable of making correct decisions about God. In 12:31 and 14:30 Jesus identifies the source of this error to be the “prince of this world” (no doubt Satan). While the absolute hold of Satan has been broken and he has been judged through the cross, he still has power over the present world (1 John 5:19; cf. Eph. 2:2; 6:12). Thus as the hour of glorification approaches, Jesus realizes that it is the world’s “hour” as well: “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out” (12:31). This Jesus who has been rejected and who now sits enthroned has become the world’s chief judge.
Some years ago a certain young woman sat in church. She understood these great doctrines, but she considered herself unworthy of God’s salvation. “She was almost in despair and hardly heard the words of the elderly man who was speaking. Suddenly, right in the middle of his address, the preacher stopped and, pointing his finger at her, said, ‘You, Miss, sitting there at the back, you can be saved now. You don’t need to do anything!’ ” His words struck like thunder in her heart. She believed at once, and with her belief came a wonderful sense of peace and real joy. That night Charlotte Elliott went home and wrote a well-known hymn.
Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
The Spirit will relate to the disciples as Jesus has (15:15), so that believers’ relationship with Jesus in John’s day (and in subsequent generations) should be no less intimate than relationships with him were before the cross.
Three important points must be noted here. (1) When the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide the disciples into all truth. What Jesus had said in 8:31–32, “If you continue to follow my teaching you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” will ultimately be realized in the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit to the disciples after Jesus’ departure.
It is essential that we see that the work of the Spirit of God is never divorced from Jesus Christ or the Word of God. “He shall testify of Me” (John 15:26); “He shall glorify Me” (John 16:14). People who claim that the Spirit of God led them to do things contrary to the example of Christ or the teaching of the Word are mistaken and are being led astray by Satan. Jesus is the truth (John 14:6), and the Word is truth (John 17:17), and the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of Truth.” Where the Holy Spirit is at work, there must be truth.
Historic revelation must always be the measure by which new revelations are tested. Revelations that fail to glorify Jesus (16:14), that fail to recognize Jesus’ preeminence and glory, dishonor the Father since it is he who is the source of everything Jesus has (16:15). The Father is at work in the Son, the Son is at work in the Spirit; any revelation that disrupts the glory of these is not from God.
The Spirit and revelation. The book of Acts records a remarkable story in chapters 10–11, which we often refer to as the conversion of Cornelius, but I think of it as the conversion of Peter. It was not missionary passion or liberal theological views that led Peter to travel from Jewish Joppa to Gentile Caesarea in order to convert the Roman military centurion. Lesslie Newbigin writes:
It was the Spirit that put him there, and it was the Spirit that shattered all of Peter’s strongest religious certainties by giving to Cornelius and his household exactly the same experience of deliverance and joy as the apostles themselves had received. In the presence of that fait accompli Peter, and—later—the whole church, had simply to follow where they were led.
Peter was forcefully directed by the Spirit to move into new theological territory that must have seemed completely uncertain. This is what Jesus describes in John 16:12–14.
Let’s summarize what we have seen so far. The world cannot know the Spirit-Paraclete because it does not know or love God (14:15–17). Amidst the hostilities of the world, the Spirit-Paraclete will defend believers, strengthening their witness (15:26–27) and their recollection of the things Jesus has taught (14:26). All of this is defensive. Now in 16:8–11 the Spirit-Paraclete “passes to the attack.”
In the reality of this sort of world, Jesus says “Take heart” (16:33b). The Greek verb used here is the same one Jesus used for his men in the boat during the Galilee storm (Mark 6:50). More accurately, it means to “have courage.” It means taking stock of the circumstances and still prevailing. But the basis of this encouragement is important in the balance of the verse. Jesus does not say, “Have courage—you will overcome the world.” The Greek sentence structure is emphatic: “Have courage—I have overcome the world.”
You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:2–3)
When He speaks, He speaks through the Scriptures that He inspired. After all, to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) begins with letting “the word of Christ richly dwell within you” (Col. 3:16; compare Eph. 5:18–6:9 with Col. 3:16–4:1) since the “sword of the Spirit” is “the word of God” (Eph. 6:17).
Those who have trekked through wildernesses, as I have done in the Sinai desert and elsewhere in the world, know that the role of a guide is crucial to one’s survival. Without a guide, everything in the vast unpopulated expanse seems to be unwelcoming. The guide is the security blanket. Your guide is a resource of information and insight when there are no roads and the faint trails that are there seem to crisscross without rhyme or reason. In situations like that, one knows the ultimate significance of a guide.
When you ponder this image of the Spirit, remember the significance of a guide in an unknown territory. That is where the disciples were headed as Jesus was departing.
To people in anxiety, comfort and direction probably are the more likely meaning of this expression. This meaning, I suggest, would seem to be supported by the unusual use of bastazein (“to bear”) here. In the three other uses of the verb in John it can mean “take up” stones (10:31), “take” money referring to Judas (12:6), and “take away” the body of Jesus (20:15). Here, however, whatever Jesus still had to say would have been too much for them to accept at the time (arti, “now”). Such further information would more naturally be information about their forthcoming unbearable persecution and even death (cf. Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ prediction of his death, and that came after Jesus’ resurrection; 21:21). It is hardly necessary, therefore, to suggest that this verse reveals the hand of a different editor of the Gospel or that the Spirit was to bring a major addition to the basic message of salvation.
This spiritual guide’s task then is pointedly summarized as receiving that which comes directly from Jesus and passing it on or messaging it (cf. vv. 13–15 for a communication triad) directly to the disciples.
Thus Jesus is predicting a prophetic anointing similar to that known to Paul (1 Cor. 12:29; 14:21–23; Eph. 4:11; 1 Thess. 5:19–20). First John 2:26–27 implies that the Johannine churches used this gift as well. But note a very important limit on this “charismatic” activity: the Spirit will not diverge from the historic revelation of Jesus Christ (16:13, 14). The Johannine church understood this necessary reflex back to its original moorings. Note the number of times that John points his readers back to what we knew “from the beginning” (1 John 1:1–3).