Jesus has told his disciples that his hour has come. They were expecting him to enter his glory, as the son of David--the glorious king who would triumph over all their enemies. And that is exactly what is going to happen. But not in the way that they had thought. Jesus gloriously triumphs over his enemies through his death. It is only if he is lifted up on the cross that he will draw all peoples to himself. There is a glory in the cross for those who have eyes to see it.

In John 15 Jesus has told his disciples that their hour is also coming. A servant is not greater than his master. If the world persecuted Jesus, then the world will persecute you. This doesn't sound very comforting. You are going to suffer! The world will hate you! "The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God." Does that sound comforting?

By itself? No. That is not very comforting.

But Jesus does not stop there. Because even as your hour will come, so also the Holy Spirit will come. Your hour of trial and temptation is also the Spirit's hour to help and assist you by speaking the word of Christ.

Chapter 16 is all about the Word. Verses 1-15 are about Jesus speech to us, and verses 16-33 are about our speech to the Father. Jesus is talking about talking. "I have said all these things to you" (v1) "I have said these things to you" (v4) "I did not say these things to you from the beginning" (v4) "But because I have said these things to you" (v6) "I tell you the truth" (v7) "I still have many things to say to you" (v12) "The Spirit...will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak" (v13) Jesus has said certain things-but he has more to say.

But once Jesus goes to the Father, how will he communicate with his church? And remember that the primary focus here is how will Jesus communicate with the eleven. After all, it is the eleven who have been with Jesus "from the beginning" (15:27). They have been with him from the beginning, and as they will be the source of all Christian teaching, it is crucial that they bear witness to the truth. Because if the apostles get it wrong, then the whole church will get it wrong! Therefore, in these last hours before his death, Jesus speaks to the eleven of their foundational role in bearing witness to him. Jesus is saying that the coming of the Holy Spirit has a special meaning for the apostles- those who had been with Jesus since the beginning. This is how the kingdom can come even though the King is in heaven- because the Spirit of truth will bear witness through the apostles. We often think of this in the writing of Scripture, and that is certainly important. But only a handful of the apostles actually wrote the New Testament, and even those who wrote spent relatively little time writing. The central purpose of the coming of the Helper- the Spirit of truth- was to bear witness to Christ, through the apostolic preaching.

The first generation of Christians didn't have the NT. How could they know what to believe? They knew from Jesus that they could rely upon the teaching of the apostles. That's why they started collecting the books of the NT. They knew that the apostolic teaching had a unique status, and so they looked for those writings that contained what they had heard from the apostles. That's why a book like Hebrews was included, even though they weren't sure who wrote it. It so obviously contained the apostolic teaching, that they had to include it. In John 13-17 Jesus is speaking primarily to the eleven. But that doesn't mean that it is irrelevant for us. The way that it is important for us is primarily to show us that we can trust the apostles' teaching. Jesus himself promised that he would send the Holy Spirit to teach them all things. And because Jesus has taught his apostles by his Spirit, therefore he also teaches us through them.

In the hour of persecution- in the hour when the eleven are thrown out of the synagogue and attacked- in that hour, they will remember what Jesus said.

When you look at the book of Acts, you can see how this came true. In Acts 4:5-12, when Peter and John were arrested for preaching the resurrection, the chief priests and scribes inquired of them by what authority they were teaching. "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them..." (Acts 4:8) When the hour came for Peter to be put on trial like Jesus had been, the Holy Spirit bore witness to Christ through him. And Acts 4:31 says that after they had prayed, asking God to "grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with boldness," "The place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." Likewise, Stephen was said to be "full of the Holy Spirit" as he bore witness to Christ, just before his martyrdom (Acts 7:55), The work of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts is overwhelmingly connected to the central task of the church in bearing witness to Christ- just as Jesus said in John 15:26: "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me."

In John 16:7-15 Jesus says three things about the Spirit's coming: 1) When the Spirit will come, 2) what the Spirit will do for the world, 3) what the Spirit will do for the church

The Spirit will come when Jesus goes to the Father. The disciples are sorrowful, because they finally understand that Jesus is going away. But Jesus says that it is "for your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you." In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit dwelt in the midst of the people of God. The glory-cloud descended upon the tabernacle-and later the temple- and so the Spirit dwelt in the midst of the people, but not yet in the people. The Holy Spirit still worked salvation in the hearts of the people of God, but he could dwell in them as the presence of the living God, because sin had not yet been fully dealt with. As Jesus puts it, the Helper could not come because Jesus had not yet gone to the Father. Hebrews 7-10 explains that there had to be a perfect sacrifice offered to the Father, so that we could enter his presence. So until Jesus brings the sacrifice of himself to the Father, the Spirit of God could not be poured out upon all flesh. The coming of the Holy Spirit is intimately connected, then, with the exaltation of Jesus.

But what happens when the Spirit comes? What happens to the world? Remember that Jesus has been speaking of the world in terms of that realm that is under the power of the devil. When the Spirit comes "he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment." Jesus goes on to spell out each of these: 1) "concerning sin, because they do not believe in me." This conviction is not just "saving conviction," leading to repentance. This is a legal verdict- they are convicted sinners who do not believe in Jesus. The Spirit's task is not only to bring people to faith, but also to convict those who do not believe. 2) "concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer" This is a difficult saying, but I think it means that the Spirit will convict the world of righteousness, because Jesus will be ruling in righteousness at the right hand of God. Jesus will no longer be preaching that the kingdom of God is at hand. Now the Spirit will continue Jesus' work in the world, because Jesus will be with the Father. 3) "concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." You can see a progression in this sequence: the sin of the world, the righteousness of the judge, and the judgment of the devil and all that belong to him. The world will hate you, but the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. This will then either result in the conversion or the destruction of the wicked. The world will be saved, and all who refuse the convicting call of the Holy Spirit will be condemned, because they do not believe in the name of Jesus.

But the Spirit is not only going to speak to the world, the Spirit will especially speak to the church-and even more particularly, to the apostles. Because Jesus still has many things to say to them. They do not yet understand fully all that God is doing in Jesus. He cannot explain everything to them The Holy Spirit must come and guide them into the truth. Earlier, in John 5, Jesus said that he did all that he heard from his Father. Now he says that the Spirit will do the same. "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." The Spirit will bring to completion the work of the Son.

All through the central chapters of John's gospel, Jesus was explaining the relationship between the Father and the Son. The Father has given the Son to have life in himself (5:26) The Son speaks with the authority of the Father (8:28) I and the Father are one (10:30) The Father is in me and I am in the Father (10:38) Now Jesus explains how the Holy Spirit is related to the Son and the Father. The Spirit takes all that belongs to the Son and declares it to the church. "All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you." All that is Christ's is ours. But how is it ours? How do we partake of the benefits of Christ? Through the Holy Spirit.

And while Jesus is speaking first to the eleven here, he speaks through them to us. After all, it is John-the beloved disciple-who wrote these words to us. Why did the Holy Spirit declare the things of Christ to the apostles? Was it not for our sakes? So that we might know the truth? We have a tendency to want to be the center of the universe. It's easy to see in our children. All that matters is what I want!!! But you are just as selfish. You may know theoretically that the world does not revolve around you, but you still act like it.

We want the Holy Spirit to revolve around us too. Even our Bible study can become focused on "what does the Bible say to me?"

This is one reason why John's gospel is so useful. Because it is not about you. It's about Jesus.

You need to understand that the Word of God is so powerful because it reorients us. It reminds us, "Oh, that's right! My life is not about me!"

After all, look at the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God. The third person of the Holy Trinity. And yet Jesus that when he comes, "he will not speak on his own authority." Even the Holy Spirit is not focused on himself! (And remember-neither was Jesus, for he insisted that he did not speak on his own authority, but spoke simply what he heard from His Father) The Spirit glorifies the Son. The Spirit takes the things of the Son and declares them to us.

Copyright © 2004 Peter J. Wallace