We are so much like the disciples. Know it alls. We always think we know what’s best, and if only God would get with the program and do what we tell him to, joy and gladness would fill our lives. But God begs to differ. He has the audacity to insist that He is the one who
knows what is best for us, and so instead of giving us what we want, He insists on giving us what He knows we actually need need.
The disciples thought that what was best was for Jesus to remain with them just the way He had lived with them for three years. When Jesus tells them that this is not going to happen, their faces fall and their hearts ache. But Jesus doesn’t let the fact that He is disappointing
them get in the way of giving them a bigger gift. He tells them flat out: “It is to your advantage that I go away, because if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.” By the Helper, of course, He meant God the Holy Spirit.
And I suppose they might have wondered: Well, what’s so great about the Holy Spirit? He seems a poor second to having what we want – and what we want is to go on like we’ve been, You with us Jesus, walking around, teaching us, working miracles, driving out demons, protecting us. We fall into the same foolishness every time we think: “oh, if only I could have lived then. If only I had seen the Lord Jesus and walked with Him – wouldn’t that be wonderful? And what a stronger Christian I would be if only I had had such an experience!”
Yes, good thing for us too that God gives us what we need and not what we want. What we need is the gift of the Holy Spirit Himself, and Jesus tells us why we need Him. “And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”
Now what on earth does he mean by that? I mean, don’t we all know what sin is? Sin is when we do what God forbids or fail to do what He commands, right? And as for righteousness, well we all know that righteousness is simply living the kind of life that God wants in
obedience to his commandments. And judgment? Well, we all know that God will judge us in the end for how we have lived. So why do we need the Holy Spirit to understand such simple things?
Ah, but it is just such thinking which shows how far our fallen mind strays when we try to make sense out of God using our reason, instead of listening to the witness of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of sin, Jesus says, “because they do not believe in me.” St. Augustine writes: “For this sin [unbelief], as if it were the only one, He has put before the others; because with the continuance of this one, all others are retained, and
in the removal of this one, the others are remitted.” Only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes to see that! Only through Him do we see that the very essence of sin is not so much disobedience, as distrust. But when the Spirit shows us that, what joy floods our hearts! As Augustine said, if the only sin is not trusting, then trusting in our Lord Jesus literally removes all sin from us!
Next, the Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of righteousness, says Jesus, “because I go to the Father and you see Me no more.” That is, only the Holy Spirit can open eyes to see that righteousness - the real and lasting and perfect righteousness which can stand up to the
judgment of God - is not to found in what WE do or refrain from doing. The righteousness that is lasting, perfect and whole is only found in this: that through His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus goes to the Father on behalf of the human race and constantly presents Himself as “the Lord, our Righteousness.” Now of course being
united with Christ through Baptism and faith changes a person’s life. United to Christ, we are to grow in our obedience to His commandments, but because in this fallen world we will not reach the point of perfection that God's holy law demands as long as live. So, on the day of judgment the only righteousness that will hold is Christ Himself. This only the Holy Spirit can reveal!
The Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of judgment, says Jesus, “because the ruler of this world is judged.” That is, only the Holy Spirit can open eyes to see that God’s wrath over our sin cannot harm those who are tucked into Christ by Baptism, for Christ has weathered the storm of that wrath for us on the Cross. So, when the ruler of this world, Satan, whose very name means the accuser, comes to lay his charges against you and condemn you before the bar of God and demand your life-blood as his own, his case against you is tossed out of court – because the penalty for your sin has already been paid. And so the ruler of this world is judged – judged as having no claim anymore upon you. Forever.
Without the Holy Spirit no one can understand any of these things. And so our Jesus sends us what we need, not what we wanted. He sends us the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, as He takes the things of Jesus and declares them to us. He glorifies Jesus, by turning the focus away from ourselves, our actions, plans, dreams, worries and fears, and pointing us squarely to the Savior and His gifts for us in Baptism, in Absolution, in Eucharist, and in the preaching of the Gospel. As He says: “for you, child! All for love of you, your Savior did this. Glory be to Him forever.”
So now you see why we need so desperately the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who never speaks on His own authority, but simply seeks to bring glory to Jesus by declaring to us all the free goodies which God has given to us in our Lord. What can we say in response to that
but: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.” May He grant us ever a rich portion of that Spirit by His grace and love for mankind!
