When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment…
In this statement, Jesus points to three very important concepts: sin, righteousness, and judgment. Over the next three days, we will look at each one so today let us look at the overarching theme. The Holy Spirit will “prove the world to be in the wrong…”
How do you prove something? Who is convinced by your proof? People argue all the time hoping to prove they are in the right. As much as people argue it seems to me that they are mostly just making noise. Proof is only as good as it seems to the mind of the person you are trying to convince.
How then does the Spirit prove the world to be wrong?
Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Jesus is offering the disciples reassurance that they will not be left alone. What a glorious reality! Two thousand years later we enjoy the same assurance from Jesus that he gave to his disciples: “I will send him to you.”
Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, “Advocate” in this translation. His name is also translated “Comforter” or “Intercessor.” We can read the book of Acts to learn more about this amazing aspect of God. Right now, Jesus is referring to something the disciples do not understand.
Isn’t it wonderful to realize that the Advocate that comes to us now, this year, this day, is the same Advocate that Jesus was telling his disciples about?
Food for thought: How does having the Advocate affect your life?
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.
“This will only hurt a little.”
Ever hear that when you were a kid? Or how about, ”This will hurt me more than it hurts you.”
When we are little we do not understand the importance of vaccinations or medication. When I was in fourth grade there was a flood. Hundreds of homes were affected and ours was one of them. It was Christmastime. I remember spending that Christmas in a hotel while all our belongings were in a house that was slowly filling with water.
After the floodwaters had crested, I remember visiting our house with my parents. I had my rubber boots on and by the time I was done exploring they were full of water. Once I fell into a submerged window well and was up to my chest for a moment. I remember the water was chocolate brown. After the waters receded there was a coating of mud everywhere it had touched.
What I didn’t think about at the time was what made the water muddy. The farms around our town had flooded and all the fertilizer provided by the farm animals had been swept up in the flood waters. The sewers backed up, too. The waters were a toxic mix of mud and bacteria.
As a precaution, everyone who had been exposed to the flood waters had to get typhoid shots. I use the plural “shots” because there were a series of three shots. They were not something l enjoyed or looked forward to, yet I understood that they were better than getting sick.
Jesus is about to let an incredibly excruciating thing happen to him. They are coming to kill him and he is not going to defend himself. He knows it is going to hurt but he also knows it is necessary. The disciples do not know what is going to happen. They don’t understand. To them, the idea of Jesus going away is like getting a shot for no reason at all.
Question: How would you have prepared the disciples for Jesus’ departure?
None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.
Jesus is telling the disciples important information. The disciples are on overload. They have reached a point where they are not able to comprehend what is happening and what Jesus is saying. Jesus, knowing what they are thinking, verbalizes what is actually going on.
“None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’”
Translation: If you were processing this information I am giving you normally, you would be asking questions. Specifically, you should be asking where I am going.
“Rather you are filled with grief…”
A simple statement of fact. It says so much and at the same time leaves so much unsaid.
What can we compare Jesus to that would make sense in today’s world? Who embodies the hope that the eleven remaining disciples put in Jesus. He was so much more than a movie star, or a rock star, or a super athlete. Jesus was the embodiment of God on earth; the fulfillment of everything God had promised through their ancestors. Jesus was their hope and the fulfillment of that hope.
At some point, I hope to come back around again and categorize John’s text by subjects. If you have any ideas for what to call the category of Jesus not being from around here, I would love to hear them.
As a Christian believer, it is natural to be in the mindset of Jesus coming from heaven and returning to heaven. Imagine, however, how Jesus’ words must sound to someone who does not believe in heaven! Who talks like that? Who says things like “…now I am going to him who sent me… ?”
If Jesus were a soldier about to leave to return to his commander, that phrase might sound more natural. The same would be true for an ambassador or an emissary. There are human corollaries for what Jesus says. Yet in the context of what Jesus is saying it makes no sense.
I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you…
There is a sense of urgency in the words that Jesus shares this last night on earth. He needs to share information quickly.
There is also a sense that things are changing. The reason for the urgency is that Jesus is going away. When he was with the disciples, certain things were not allowed to happen. The disciples were protected. Now that he is going away, the true nature of the world will be revealed. The disciples and followers of Jesus will come in for a dose of the world’s wrath.
You’ve been warned, Jesus says. He also told them why. He doesn’t want any of His followers to “fall away.”
He has introduced something new into the world. The love of God has taken human form and is about to be sacrificed for the sins of all mankind. Love and light are here. The world is not pleased.
They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.
Do you know the Father? Do you know Jesus? How does knowing God affect your thinking? What Jesus says in this verse puts a finger on what might be called, “The Great Divide.” The Great Divide is the gulf between how people who know God see the world and how those who do not know God see the world.
Those who know the Father know that there is more to life than this world. They also know that there will be an accounting for what we do and say and believe in this life. Knowing this affects the decisions we make, the things we do and what we say.
Those who do not know the Father only know this world. There is nothing beyond this life. They have no hope, and more importantly, they have no sense of eternal accountability. Such people are bound only by what they think is best. God’s will for them is not part of their thinking.
If you find the world frightening, it is because of people who have no fear of the eternal consequences of what they do and say. If some people ignore the law, it is because they decide for themselves what is best. Those who do not know the Father or Jesus act very differently than those who do.
… in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.
What is your service to God? Is it to mete out justice? Is it your job to avenge bad behavior or insults thrown your way? Does God want you to go out and kill people who disrespect him?
Our God is a God of patience, kindness, and understanding. Our God is a God of love.
So how do we reconcile that with the portrait of God we see in the Old Testament?
One of the things we see in John’s gospel is that Jesus talks funny. No, he is not making jokes, but it is clear from the way he talks that he is not from around these parts. Anywhere around these parts. Not even from earth. He speaks from a perspective outside of time and space. He speaks from an eternal perspective.
The worldly view is to see life as all there is. Death is the end of the game, the worst that can happen. From God’s perspective, death is not the worst that can happen. The real “worst that can happen” is not being in a relationship with our Creator. While this life on earth is a gift, it is not all there is. It is not even a tiny bit of all there is. Life with God is your happiest moment on earth magnified by infinity and stretched out forever.
If a person foregoes their relationship with God and there is no hope of reconciliation, then why live? There is no reason for God to give them more years on earth. Old Testament judgment is not the end of existence for those people. It is merely the end of one part of their existence.
Today, every person has hope of reconciliation with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. Thus, it is to our benefit to be allowed to live as long as possible. God’s hope is that we might all come to life in Him through Jesus. For those of us who know our God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, life on earth is just a small part of what real Life is all about. When a believer is killed, even when the person doing the killing thinks they are serving God, they know they are eternally safe. Safe in the arms of Jesus.
I want to take a moment and focus on the first eight words of verse two: “They will put you out of the synagogue…”
What does that mean? How bad could that be? The answer is that it is a pretty serious threat. In Jewish culture, the synagogue was the center of their world. If God is the center of everything, the synagogue was the doorway to God. Once shut out of the synagogue a person is both shut away from God and shut out of everything important about society.
In our current culture, we take a measure of rebellion for granted. Youth will rebel. Counter culture people are… well… counter culture. Social norms are being challenged from all directions. Belonging is no longer as simple as conforming to the “status quo.” There is no status quo and there hasn’t been one for a long time. Yet we still hunger for social acceptance.
Whatever our “group” is, we have a need to be accepted. Being isolated from those we respect and admire is a lonely experience. This gives the “group” power over the individual. We strive to conform. Even today, the threat of being “put out of the [synagogue equivalent]” is something to be considered.
The disciples were being told that they would be asked to stand up to the crowd. They would risk being pointed to, called up before the leaders, accused of hateful things. In modern terms, they would be de-friended by everyone who was anyone, doxxed by those in the know, and angrily ridiculed and “flamed” by everyone on the internet. On a modern university campus, they might be the cause of a riot, protested, accused of being “haters” and threatened with physical violence.
It is easy to gloss over these eight words because we Christians do not have synagogues, but we do have lives. Jesus seems to be saying that we should expect our lives as Christians to be … unsettled. At least as far as our connection with the world goes.
Let’s Discuss: How do you apply this idea of being “put out” to being a Christian in today’s world?
All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.
Jesus continues to give the disciples his last minute instructions. In the last ten verses of chapter 15, Jesus begins to explain about the world’s hate for God and everything associated with Him. At the time Jesus is saying this the Jewish leaders are the biggest threat that the disciples can see. Yet these words of Jesus are prophetic. They apply to anyone who is of the world. They all hate God and anyone who is of God. His words apply to all time.
The disciples (and us) are being told this for a reason. Why? So that we will not “fall away.”
What does he mean?
One of my summer jobs during college was selling books door to door. It was a hard job. If the company I worked for had just handed me a sales kit and sent me out into the field, I wouldn’t have lasted a week. I would have fallen away. Instead, they gave me and the other salesmen an entire week of very intensive training.
Some of the training was about how to sell the products. A great deal of the training was similar to the training Jesus is giving his disciples. It was about what to expect.
Expect to feel sorry for yourself. When those feelings come remember they are just feelings.
Expect people to say no. Not everyone is going to want what you are selling.
Expect that some people will be having a bad day. That happened more than once!
Expect it to be hard, but it will be worth it.
The goal of sales training was to get the people who were selling to focus on what was important. Ignore the distractions. Stay focused on the goal. When it comes to being a follower of Jesus our goal is to be with Him in heaven.
