John 15:26-16:15
Lesson Focus
We receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit so that we might proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
Lesson Outcomes
Through this lesson, students should:
Grasp the significance of the Holy Spirit's role in empowering believers to testify about Jesus Christ and his work.
Recognize that the core issue of sin is rejecting the way of Jesus Christ, and understand the Spirit's role in convicting the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.
Appreciate the ongoing guidance of the Holy Spirit in navigating life's complexities and discerning God's will, leading to a deeper commitment to living and proclaiming the truth about Jesus.
Catching up on the Story
Today is Pentecost Sunday. It’s the Sunday we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the “third person” of the Trinity. We have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn’t anything new in the life of our faith. Rather, in Old Testament times, the Spirit would be given to certain individuals for certain times so that they could accomplish God’s will.
Since the original day of Pentecost, God’s Holy Spirit has been given to every believer in all places so that we might be enabled to live Christ-like lives here and now. Just by way of reminder of where we’ve been so far, we began this year in Advent, waiting expectantly for the coming of God in the person of Jesus Christ. On Christmas, we celebrated the beginning of God’s kingdom in the birth of Jesus.
Our focus shifted slightly during Lent as we began preparing our hearts to celebrate Jesus’s death and ultimate resurrection.
On Good Friday, we gathered together to celebrate Jesus’ death, but we did not mourn for long, as we gathered back on Easter Sunday morning to celebrate his resurrection. Of course, Jesus doesn’t immediately ascend to be with the Father after his resurrection. The book of Acts tells us he was around for 40 days after his resurrection before his Ascension. But before his ascension, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the giving of the Holy Spirit. And we have the story of that day in the Book of Acts. This year, we aren’t going to look at that story from Acts in depth. Rather, we will examine what Jesus tells his disciples about the Holy Spirit from John’s Gospel.
Our passage in John starts before the crucifixion. It’s Jesus’ last week before his death, and in this section of John, we are treated to Jesus’ farewell sermon. Jesus is wrapping up his earthly ministry with a whole lot of things the disciples need to know, like how much the world, and even some religious folks, will hate them and persecute them and how he must go away. But he assures them that they will not be left alone.
The Paraclete
John ends chapter 15 by speaking about the “advocate” who comes from the Father. Now, John uses the term “advocate,” which is how the NRSV translates the Greek word “paraclete.” Paraclete is a rather tough word to translate. It literally means “to call alongside.” For John, the Paraclete is the Holy Spirit, the one who comes from the Father.
So we have Jesus, right before his death, telling his disciples that he’s leaving them and that God’s spirit will come to them soon. Unlike the other gospels, John gives us the best picture of what the Spirit will do.
First, the Spirit will testify on Jesus’ behalf. He will also help the disciples testify on Jesus’ behalf. Until the day of Pentecost, the disciples could not have accomplished what they did without the power of the Spirit.
At this point, Jesus tries to reassure his followers that it’s good for him to go away. Jesus says that it’s to his followers’ advantage that he goes away. How can the going away of Jesus be an advantage? If Jesus doesn’t go away, the Advocate or the Holy Spirit will not come. While the Spirit is not Jesus, the Spirit is coming to continue the work that Jesus started here among us. It’s in verse 8 that Jesus begins to tell us exactly what Jesus will do. There are three things specifically that Jesus mentions. The Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and Judgement. Let’s break down what Jesus means.
What’s Wrong with the World
What’s wrong with the world is sin. I think that’s a given. But we could spend a lot of time listing all the sins that we might think make the world a particularly sinful place, but I’m not sure that would be helpful. Jesus clarifies what he means about sin being wrong with the world. Sin, as the fundamental thing that’s wrong with the world, is failing to believe that Jesus is who he says he is, that Jesus is God. Rejecting Jesus, is the sin. You might say that it’s the only sin that matters.
The Paraclete, or Spirit, will move and empower the church to teach, live, and preach so that the world will understand Jesus. By the way, sometimes the church is too much part of the world, and we too need to be brought to our senses about our belief in Jesus. The spirit’s main concern is not with some general spirituality or even some general notion of God, but it is entirely with the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is saying, in no uncertain terms, that the Spirit is coming to help the church teach a message exclusively about Jesus. Anytime the church begins to wander, it does so because it begins to teach and preach something other than Jesus.
What’s Right?
If what is wrong with the world is that it doesn’t believe in Jesus, then what is right with the world? Jesus says that the Spirit will speak to the world concerning righteousness. And then Jesus elaborates and says that righteousness is Jesus returning to the Father.
What does this mean? When Jesus says he’s going back to the Father, he has in mind the entire course of his earthly ministry. It encompasses his birth as one of us, his becoming human so he could experience and overcome all the things we experience and yet can’t overcome. It encompasses his bringing the Kingdom of God through the healing of the sick, bringing recovery of the sight to the blind, and undoing our brokenness. It encompasses Jesus’ self-emptying death on the cross and his victorious resurrection that defeats all of sin and the death that it brings.
If the most profound thing wrong with the world is that it does not believe in Jesus, then the most right thing in this world is what Jesus has done through his life, death, resurrection, and return to the Father. Again, the Spirit is coming to us, the church, and the world to help us know and believe what is true and right about Jesus, who is no longer visible to us.
The Spirit helps us make sense of who Jesus is and what Jesus is calling us to be even though we can no longer see him.
Who Won?
The final thing that Jesus says the Spirit will do is speak to the world about how the “ruler of this world has been condemned.” Keep in mind that Jesus speaks these words before his death and resurrection. Jesus is saying that what’s about to happen will be the beginning of the end for evil in this world. The rule of this world, the devil or the satan, has been soundly defeated through Jesus’ death and resurrection. So, the Spirit helps us live lives characterized by victory over sin and death, even though it often seems like victory has not been won.
Many Things to Say…
By the time we get to verse 12, Jesus is wrapping up his final sermon with the admission that he has much more he’d like to say to his followers, but they cannot bear it. In this moment, Jesus isn’t just speaking to the disciples; he’s speaking to you and me. There’s just no way that Jesus can give his followers all the instructions they need to successfully navigate the coming days and years in the brief time he’s got left.
Even if he could, life is never black and white. Situations arise, and contexts change. It’s like this with every training program. You could have the best education, but the reality is that there will come a day when you’ll be confronted with a situation about which you did not learn in school, and you’ll be left shaking your head, saying, “ Well, they didn’t teach me that in school!”
Sometimes, the church gets to thinking that everything we need to know about exactly every situation we’ll encounter in life is found in the Bible. The Bible contains a whole bunch of great things that are helpful in a lot of different situations, but it is silent about a whole bunch more things.
Who should I vote for? I don’t know, and the bible doesn’t say either. Who should I marry? That’s not in the bible. What job should I have…? Well, there’s the Levitical Priesthood… Some of the church’s foundational beliefs weren’t solidified until Jesus returned to the Father. And you know what? It’s ok that the bible doesn’t cover every little thing we might encounter. In our passage, Jesus says we won’t find every little answer to every little question. But we’re not going to be left on our own, either. No, Jesus promises that the Spirit will come in truth to guide us into truth. The Spirit will speak to us on his own but will speak to us what he hears from Jesus and the Father.
The Spirit will speak to us so that we might know how to live, act, and love like Jesus lived, acted, and loved in our world. The Spirit will help us be as Jesus was in the world.
So What?
The world may be a hot mess, and we may not feel like we’ve got a good handle on what to do in our ever-changing context. It’s okay because even though Jesus has gone to be with the Father, he has not left us alone.
God has sent the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who has been called to walk alongside us so that we might live and walk in love and truth. The Spirit has been doing this since the first Day of Pentecost.
You and I would not be here today if followers of Jesus had not been attentive to the Spirit's speaking to them. They would not have formulated the proper beliefs, established the right structures, or spread the good news effectively without the Spirit who comes alongside us.
So, now the torch has been passed to us. The question is, will we be attentive to this spirit that has been given to come alongside us to speak the words of Jesus to us so that we might do what God has called us to do here and now?
Discussion Questions
Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly. Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.
How does understanding the Holy Spirit as the Advocate reshape your understanding of Pentecost?
Reflecting on Jesus' words, how do you see the Holy Spirit empowering believers today to testify about Jesus?
In what ways do you think the Church sometimes deviates from its central message about Jesus, and how can the Holy Spirit correct this?
What does it mean practically for the Spirit to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment?
How does Jesus' departure benefit believers according to his own words in John 16:7?
Considering Jesus' definition of sin as rejecting belief in him, how might this redefine our understanding of what is truly wrong in the world?
How does the Spirit's role in revealing righteousness connect to Jesus' journey from birth to resurrection?
Discuss the idea that the victory over sin and death has been won, even though it might not always seem evident.
How do you relate to Jesus' acknowledgment that there's much more he could say, but his followers couldn't bear it?
Reflect on your experiences of the Holy Spirit guiding you in discerning truth and living out your faith. Share your thoughts.
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