They looked like little lost children who just realized that a storm
was coming and they hadn’t got a clue as to which was the way home. As Jesus talked about leaving them, it finally sunk in that he really meant it. You see, for the last three years, home had been wherever Jesus was. They’d left everything to be with Him: parents, wives, children, financial security, respectability. All they had in the whole world was Him, and that was enough. He had become their life. Never had they been loved before like that Man loved them; never had they loved another like they now loved Him. And He was leaving? The sorrow and desolation that overflowed their hearts spilled over on their faces.
He would speak some word to comfort them, to give them hope, to get them through. Being Jesus, He saw the end of it all. He saw how His leaving would be a blessing and how it was only for a while. He knew they’d be together forever, that it would all come right in the end. But He knew His 12 and He knows us. He knows how hard it is for us to really trust that the Father indeed has a plan and that we’re included in it, that our sufferings are not just by chance, that the horrible moments of our lives do have a meaning and a purpose. He speaks to strengthen their hearts and ours:
“I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if
I do not go away the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I
will send Him to you.” Jesus comforts their aching hearts with the
promise of the Holy Spirit. He’d already told them a little bit
about this most mysterious member of the Holy Trinity. He’d told
them that He would send them another Helper, one who would be with them forever. And that can be a comfort to you too. The Spirit
Jesus gave you in your Baptism is a Spirit who is committed to you,
who is with you for the long haul. He’s there to see to it that you
make it safely home to be with Jesus and the Father forever.
Jesus speaks about three great works the Spirit will do. He comes to
convict. He comes to guide. He comes to glorify.
He comes to convict. You mustn’t imagine that the Spirit’s being
with you is just a warm, fuzzy feeling. No. He comes to do some
heavy-duty heart surgery. He wants to take your old heart out and
give you a new heart. The Spirit comes to you to convict you of sin
and righteousness and judgment. He convicts you of sin by showing you what the essence of all sin really is: unbelief, not trusting in Jesus, not turning to Him first and foremost to meet your every need. And the Spirit convicts you of righteousness by driving all self-righteousness out of you. He shows you that the only righteousness that avails before the Father is Jesus Christ who has gone to the Father on your behalf. Because He stands before the Father, pleading His cross and resurrection for you, you have righteousness. No other way. And the Spirit convicts you of
judgment. Shows you that the leader of this fallen world who is
always trying to entice you into unbelief and self-righteousnes has
been tried, convicted, and sentenced. This is how the Spirit
convicts. But the Spirit does more.
The Spirit guides you into all truth. Jesus said: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.” Our God is so gentle in the way He deals with us. We’re like the disciples. Jesus always has more to say to each of us, more to show each of us, but He knows that we can’t always bear it. It takes time. And so He deals with us ever so patiently. If the Holy Spirit were just once to open up our eyes to see what we really and truly are like inside, we’d give up. Plain and simple. We’d just despair.
But He doesn’t do that. He works patiently on one area at a time,
never laying on us more than we can bear at that moment. He convicts us of one sin at a time; He shows us how that sin is but a symptom of not trusting Jesus; He leads us to the Lord Jesus before the Father’s throne and reminds us that He alone is our righteousness, and then He convinces us to let go the sin, to let it be condemned with Satan. And then maybe He gives us a breather for a little while and then He starts gently working on us again. It’s a never ending process the whole time that we are living in the flesh.
And just as He works to put sin to death in us, He also works to bring us to ever deeper and more profound knowledge of Himself and the Father and the Son. He guides us into all truth. Did you catch the “all”? Some Christians try to settle down with what little they learned as children. But the Spirit won’t let you do that. He wants you to press on to maturity. He wants you to learn ever more. He never tires of teaching us; should we ever tire of learning? And so He leads on.
He convicts, He guides, and He also glorifies. He glorifies Jesus because He never speaks on His own authority. He only speaks what He hears. He takes what is of Jesus and He reveals it you. He glorifies Jesus by revealing to you all that the Father has given you in the Son.
This is how the Spirit glorifies Jesus. He whispers in your heart:
Because of Jesus, death isn’t the final word written over your life.
Because of Jesus, you know about the Father in heaven who loves you and who waits for you with tears and open arms. Because of Jesus, you have a home - a place beyond the sorrows of this world - where you will find lasting peace and joy and rest. Because of Jesus, there is a table set and a feast prepared, and it’s all ready for you. Because of Jesus, you’re surrounded by sisters and brothers who love you and who will walk with you all the way home. Because of Jesus. That’s how the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus. That’s what Jesus meant when He said “He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
Into the sorrowful hearts of his disciples, Jesus planted the word about the Promised Spirit that night of His betrayal. It was to them a word of hope to sustain them in the hard days and hours that lay before them. Jesus speaks the same word to us today. Only the word of hope isn’t about a future reality, but one we know now. We don’t have to wait for the Spirit. He has already been given to us: in our Baptism! We live in the reality that the disciples could only imagine on that night. We live daily with the One who convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgment. We live daily with the One who guides us into all truth. We live daily with the One who glorifies Jesus by telling us all that is ours because of Him.
Glory to the Father who sent us His Son! Glory to the Son who sent
us His Spirit! Glory to the Spirit who brings us eternal life! Glory to the holy consubstantial life-creating and undivided Trinity always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.
Amen!
