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!
