part 7 of “The Last Night With Jesus”
As we continue on in this series, we once again see Jesus talk about the Holy Spirit. This is the third time we see Jesus talk about the Holy Spirit in this last conversation with His disciples. The other times Jesus mentioned the Holy Spirit coming to them were when He talks about going away [1]. He tells them that while His going away is sad, He has to go so the Spirit will come to them [2].
I think that this is a good opportunity to talk a little bit about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. The Trinity is made up of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Spirit (Holy Spirit or Advocate as mentioned in John 13-16). The Holy Spirit is fully God so He possess all of the traits of God. We see the first mention of the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2 as the “Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” Jesus says in John 3:5 that one must be born again of the Spirit. In the book of Acts, we see Peter tell Ananias that he had “lied to the Holy Spirit” and lied to God (Acts 5:3-4). One final thing about the Holy Spirit that is important to understand, the Holy Spirit is not a force. The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as a person. The Holy Spirit can be hurt (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit has a will (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). The Holy Spirit has a mind to search the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10). It is clear that the Holy Spirit is a person just as God and Jesus are persons [3]. So now that we have taken the little side trip and talked some about the Holy Spirit, let’s return back to the conversation Jesus was having with His disciples.
In the next part of the conversation with the disciples, Jesus doesn’t really go into details about the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells them that when He goes away the Holy Spirit will come and lead them in all truth, would never leave them, teach them, and remind them of all Jesus taught them (John 14:16-17, 26).
We see another thing the Holy Spirit will do here in John 16. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its sin (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit doesn’t accuse us of sin (God doesn’t accuse) but He does make us feel guilt when we have done something wrong [4]. When we don’t believe Jesus, trust Jesus, rely on Jesus, or cling to Jesus, we can fall into sin [5]. One final thing we see Jesus say about the Holy Spirit is that He will warn the world of coming judgment [6].
Jesus leaves space here for the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells His disciples…
“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” - John 16:12-13 NLT
Jesus is telling His disciples that He has a lot more that He wishes to tell them but it wasn’t the time and that the Holy Spirit would tell them [7]. This is more than likely because Jesus had already told them a lot of things and time was running short. Jesus also indicates to us that there would be more teachings of Jesus to come. These teachings would come to the Holy Spirit from Jesus and then through people like Peter, Paul, and the other writers of the New Testament books. This tells us that the words of those writers should be looked at with importance, just as if Jesus had said them Himself [7][8].
Jesus wanted to be clear with His disciples that even though He was going away He had a plan for them and that He would continue to be with them. He wanted them to know that they would have help in the season of life after He left. He wanted them to know that they would never be alone. This is the same truth Jesus wants us to know as well. Jesus is with us even though we can’t see Him. He is with us even though we don’t understand. The disciples didn’t understand what was going on and they even said so (John 16:18). The disciples were experiencing some changes in the way life had been and there were more changes to come. They didn’t understand. We can find ourselves in the same place sometimes. Life changes things up and those changes can leave us in a place where we are confused and don’t understand. But Jesus is with us. Jesus also had something to say about times when we don’t understand. We will look at that more next time.
But for now, just know that Jesus is with you!
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[1] John 14:15-26, 15:26-27, 16:5-15
[2] John 16:7
[3] For further reading on the Holy Spirit - https://www.gotquestions.org/is-the-Holy-Spirit-God.html
[4] “The Spirit does not merely accuse men of sin, he brings to them an inescapable sense of guilt so that they realize their shame and helplessness before God.” (Tenney) - Enduring Word - https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/john-16/amp/
[5] It is unbelief, the rejection of Jesus, which ultimately proves one to be guilty. The Holy Spirit will tell the world of the importance of trusting in, relying on, and clinging to Jesus to avoid this sin. - Enduring Word - https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/john-16/amp/
[6] The judgment of Satan himself means that there will be a final reckoning between God and His rebellious creature. The Holy Spirit warns the world of this coming judgment. - Enduring Word - https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/john-16/amp/
[7] Jesus frankly admitted that His own teaching was incomplete, and anticipated the further instruction of the church by the Holy Spirit. This statement of Jesus leads us to anticipate the formation of the New Testament.
i. Here Jesus answered those who say, “I’ll take what Jesus taught, but not what Paul or the others taught.” Paul and the other New Testament writers taught us the many things that Jesus spoke of. - Enduring Word - https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/john-16/amp/
[8] John 16:14-15
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