John 16:1-15--The Work of the Holy Spirit

John 16:1-15
English Standard Version

16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, 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 go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

​12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

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The beginning of this chapter is some final thoughts from the previous topic of conversation about the world hating those of us who belong to Christ because they hated the Son and they hate the Father who sent Him.  Jesus says that He's telling the disciples all these things about how hard it will be so that when the persecution comes they don't fall away.  He never promised it to be easy for us in this life--in fact, He promised quite the opposite.  He tells them they will be excommunicated from their Jewish communities (you were personal non grata if you were kicked out of the synagogue) and that they would be hunted down and killed by religious zealots, like Saul of Tarsus, who thought they were doing a service to the Lord by killing Christians.

Jesus brings it back to a relationship and says they will do all these things to us because they don't know or have a relationship with the Son or the Father.  It's just that simple.  Those who have been drawn by the Father love the Son because He loves the Son and those who love the Son love the Father because the Son loves the Father.  Jesus does not want His "children" to go into this danger unaware.  He says that when all these things come to pass, they should remember that Jesus told them that all things would happen and that it's all happening exactly according to plan.

Jesus said he didn't have to warn them of these things in the beginning because He was with them and was able to protect them, but now He is going away (back to the Father).  He seems to say, "Why haven't any of you asked Me where I am going?"  I'm gong to assume since Jesus asked the question for them that He knew not all of them knew the answer yet.  He doesn't directly answer the question--even though He asked it.  Instead, He addresses the emotions that they are all feeling.  They are all feeling overwhelmed with sorrow in that they will be separated from each other, but Jesus says they should be happy for Him that He is going back to His Father and that He is going to send the Helper (the Holy Spirit) to them.  They can't imagine having the Holy Spirit would be better than having Jesus there in person, but Jesus says it would be.

"8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."  That's quite a job description.  The Holy Spirit is going to be at work to bring about both justification and condemnation according to the will of God--to save the elect and to condemn those who have rebelled against God.

Jesus wishes that He could spend more time with them and tell them and teach them many more things, but He knows His time has come.  He entrusts all that still needs to be revealed and taught to the disciples and to the Church as a whole to the Holy Spirit, and even promises that the Holy Spirit will bring forth revelation of the things that are to come that they need to know about.  Just like Jesus told the disciples and the world everything that the Father had told Him, so the Spirit will tell us everything which Christ tells Him.  Also, don't miss this very important phrase--"He will glorify Me."  How do we know if someone is doing a work through the power of the Holy Spirit?  Our main litmus test is that everything the Spirit does is done with the purpose of glorifying Christ, just like everything Jesus did was with to glorify the Father.

Jesus is going to inherit everything and everyone that belongs to the Father on that day when He is coronated King of Kings and Lord of Lord and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.  Jesus says that for this reason the Spirit will take all the Truth that is Christ's and reveal it to us because we belong to the Father and the Son.