Easter 5
Jn
16:5-15
5/3/26
Last Sunday, today, and for the next
two Sundays, the Gospel lessons for this time in the season of Easter are taken
from John chapters 15 and 16. These are words that Jesus spoke to the disciples
after the Last Supper on the night when he was betrayed. We hear them during
Easter because Jesus speaks about what is about to happen after his death – the
time that we are now celebrating.
Last Sunday Jesus said, “A little
while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see
me.” The Lord told them that while they
would weep and lament and the world would rejoice. He was speaking about what was going to
happen in his crucifixion and burial.
But then he explained, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see
you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy
from you.” The disciples could not understand it yet, but Jesus said that after
his death and burial he would rise from the dead. The disciples would see the
risen Lord. They would rejoice because Christ had defeated death and
demonstrated that the cross had been means by which God has given the
forgiveness of sins.
In our text for today, Jesus is
again speaking about what will happen after his death. But this time he refers
to something that will happen after his resurrection. He describes how
he will return to the Father. And while this may sound like a bad thing, he
explains that it is instead a good thing for them – and for us.
Jesus begins our text this morning
by saying, “Now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks
me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to
you, sorrow has filled your heart.”
Our Lord announces that he is going to be leaving.
Christ repeatedly declared that he
had come down from heaven and that the Father had sent him. In chapter six he said, “For I have come
down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who
sent me.” Then he added, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent
me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” John frames
the events of the Last Supper in terms of Jesus returning to the Father when he
writes: “Now before the
Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to
depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were
in the world, he loved them to the end.”
Christ says that he is going to the
One who sent him, and he acknowledges in our text: “But because I have said
these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” The disciples didn’t
want to hear that Jesus would be leaving them.
Jesus speaks about his ascension that took place forty days after
Easter. In this event Christ withdrew
his visible presence as he was exalted to the right hand of God.
The disciples experienced sorrow
because Jesus said that he was leaving them and returning to the Father who had
sent him. For that matter, so do we. We
often think that we would be better off if Jesus was still here with us in the
way that he was during is earthly ministry.
But in our text, Jesus corrects any
such idea. He says, “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.” The Lord
says that it is actually better for us that he goes away. The reason
this is so is that only by returning to the Father can he send the Helper.
Christ refers to the Holy Spirit as
the Helper. This is a difficult term to translate. Sometimes it is left as the
Greek word Paraclete. It is also translated as “Encourager,” “Counselor,” and
“Comforter.” All of these capture some aspect of the word. The Spirit is the
One who is going to help, encourage, and comfort the Church.
The Lord explains how it is
necessary for him to go away so that he can send the Spirit. This necessity is
located in the very nature of God’s working. The Father sent forth the Son as
he was incarnate by the work of the Spirit. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us in the incarnation. The Father sent forth the Son in the fulness of
time in order carry out his saving will.
We now understand that the Son of
God, Jesus Christ, was here in order to redeem us from sin, death, and the
devil. He was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world in his
sacrificial death on the cross. The holy God could not simply ignore sin. He
is, after all, the just God. And so the Father sent the Son to receive his
judgment against sin in our place. Jesus cried out “It is finished” as he was
dying on the cross because in his death he accomplished this work the Father
had given him to do.
It was sin that brought death for
Adam and for all who have followed him. Jesus was here to overcome all that sin
had caused. And so on the third day he rose from the dead. Jesus had said, “For
this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I
may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of
my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to
take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” The charge
– the command – the Son had received did not simply involve his death. It also included the resurrection as he
defeated death.
Jesus accomplished this. But that
was not the end of God’s saving work. Instead God’s work continued in a way
that reflected his own nature. The Lord tells us that as the Son it was
necessary for him to return to the Father. Then as One exalted to the right
hand of God he would send forth the Spirit.
Christ has now done this. Forty days
after Easter he ascended in his return to the Father. He withdrew his visible
presence. And then ten days later on Pentecost, Christ poured forth the Spirit.
He sent the Helper.
Now as I stated earlier, we are
probably inclined to disagree with Jesus. We think it would be better if he had
stayed here. But Christ tells us that we are wrong. Not only is his
departure part of God’s plan of salvation, but it is better for us.
We think that our experience of
Christ’s work is diminished by his ascension. But as you sit here in Marion this
morning, do you really think you would be better off if Jesus had not ascended
and returned to the Father? The resurrection appearances of Jesus in the New
Testament all continue to be located in one place at a time. He is with
the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He is in the locked room with the
disciples on the evening of Easter, and a week later when Thomas is present. He
is with 500 believers at one time. He is with the seven disciples at the Sea of
Galilee. Each time we hear about his appearance in one place.
You aren’t located in Israel. How
would we be with the risen Lord if things still worked in the way it did after
his resurrection? Would we all go to Israel? Would it be necessary for everyone
person in the world who believes in Jesus to go to Israel? That sounds pretty
crowded.
Instead in the economy of God the
Son has returned to the Father, and sent forth the Spirit. The Spirit is the
Spirit of Christ. He is the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
The Spirit is the presence of Christ with his Church in all places. He
is the presence of the Father’s saving work in Christ. No longer is the saving work of the incarnate
Lord limited to one place. Instead, the
work of Christ goes on everywhere the Spirit is present. Christ and his saving
power is present everywhere his word is proclaimed – more on that in a moment.
In our text Jesus states that when he returns to the Father he will
send the Spirit. Then he says, “And when he comes, he will convict the
world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning
sin, because they do not believe in me concerning
righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
The Spirit convicts the world of sin because to reject Jesus is to
reject the forgiveness of sins. Jesus told the Jews who were opposing him, “You
are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of
this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless
you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
The Spirit convicts the world concerning righteousness because in
his resurrection and ascension, Christ has demonstrated the truth that in him
the saving action of God to put all things right has occurred. To reject Jesus
is to reject God’s salvation.
And he convicts the world of judgment because the ruler of this
world is judged. Jesus announced during Holy Week, “Now is the judgment of this
world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when
I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Christ defeated the devil’s rule over a fallen world by his death on the cross
when he won the forgiveness of sins. To reject Jesus is to remain under the
devil’s power and receive the eternal judgment that will be his as well.
Thus far our Lord’s words about what the Spirit will do are call
cast in the negative. But in the remainder of our text we hear about the
positive side of the Spirit’s work, and what he means for us today. Jesus says, “I still have many things to say
to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
It was true that at that moment – on the night when Jeuss was
betrayed - the disciples were not capable of hearing and understanding all that
Jesus had to say. They could not yet fully understand who Jesus is and what he
had come to do. They were not yet ready to understand the work in which he
would use them. Only the death of Christ on Good Friday and his resurrection on
Easter could begin to change this.
But that time would come, and when it did the Spirit would be the
One who would be at work in giving them understanding. He is the One who would use them to reveal
Christ to others – to reveal him to you.
Jesus says, “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.” The Lord says that the Spirit will guide them
into all truth. He will provide insight
and understanding about who Jesus is; what he has done; and how he is the
fulfillment of the Old Testament.
The Lord says, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is
mine and declare it to you.” In this statement we gain critical insight into
the work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. His work is to
glorify Jesus. It is to take what belongs to Jesus – the salvation that he has
won for all – and to make it known to us.
The Spirit always points to Christ. The Spirit’s work is always
focused on Christ. When people want to place great emphasis on the Spirit
himself – when they want point to things they say the Spirit is doing in them
such as speaking in tongues and make that the definition of a full and real
Christian – they have lost sight of what the Spirit does. The Spirit never
points to himself. He is always explaining Christ. He is always making Christ
known.
In the previous chapter Jesus said, “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.” The Spirit’s
work is to bear witness about Jesus. And then the Lord added, “And you
also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the
beginning.”
Christ said that the apostles would be drawn into the work of the
Spirit that bears witness to Jesus. We learn more about what this means when
Jesus says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I
have said to you.”
The Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Christ – is the One who caused the
apostles to remember and understand Jesus’ words. He did this as the apostles
shared them – the very thing we are experiencing this morning. In the Gospel of
John we encounter the work of the Spirit making Jesus known to us. This is true
of all of the New Testament for it is the inspired word of God. The Spirit
guided the authors in what was written. They are the Spirit produced word
through which the Spirit continues to make Jesus known to us. There is no
Spirit-less word when we are dealing with Scripture. The Spirit has given it
through the apostles, and the Spirit is at work through it.
This means that the Spirit is the continuing presence of Christ’s
saving work in our midst. We do not have to go to Israel to encounter the risen
Lord. Instead, the ascended and exalted Lord is present and at work through his
Spirit whom he sent. Wherever in the world his word is read and preached, he is
present giving salvation. That is true this morning in Marion. It is true in
South Sudan. It is true everywhere, for the work of the risen Lord is no longer
limited by place.
You may be inclined to respond: “But not everyone believes this
word in which the Spirit is at work.” To which I answer: “And how is that any
different from the response that Jesus received during his earthly ministry?”
Rejection occurs because fallen man is able to reject the salvation found
Christ. They rejected it when Jesus was present performing miracles. They reject
it now when the Spirit reveals those miracles in the Gospels. But none of that
changes the fact that it is the same Lord at work, both then and now. The same
power to create faith and bring salvation is present.
So what does this mean for you? It means you need to understand who
is present in the word of God as it is read and preached. It is the Spirit of
Christ, sent forth by the ascended and exalted Lord, who is creating and
sustaining faith. It is the Spirit taking what belongs to Jesus and making it
known to you. So read the Scriptures at home in your devotions each day. Come
to the Divine Service to hear it read and proclaimed. Understand that it is
your greatest treasure because there the Spirit sent by the Lord enables you to
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, so that by believing you may
have life in his name.
