Discuss: This is not an ad for funeral insurance, but it is worth asking, “How are you prepared for your own death and departure”? Have you made a will, organized guardianship for your children, do you have death and disability insurance for your widow? Have you said the things that you want to say to the people you need to say them to? Have you left testimony to your faith in Jesus Christ?
Have you prepared your spouse and/or children for the reality of your departure? Are they ready yet to handle the reality of—unless Jesus comes back in the intervening time—your inevitable death? If they can’t at the moment handle the truth, when would be a good time to tell them?
1. How receptive are the disciples to what Jesus is telling them, and how does that modify how much Jesus tells them? (vv. 6, 12, cf. 1:29, 2:19, 3:14-16)
2. Why is it is better for the disciples that Jesus be away? (v. 7) Even if you accept this, if left to your own resources, would you agree? Why or why not? (cf. John 12:34, 14:16, 1 John 1:8-2:2; Job 16:19-21)
Note: The word translated ‘advocate’ or ‘counselor’ is ‘paracletos’, or ‘paraclete’. A paraclete is one who stands beside and speaks for a person. We call such people ‘lawyers’, ‘barristers’, and ‘solicitors’.
3. How does Jesus’ description of the Spirit as “Advocate, Counselor” help us determine the issue of the Spirit’s personality—the ‘he’ or ‘it’ question? (v. 8, cf. 14:16)
4. What is the nature of the case that the Advocate, the Spirit of truth, conducts? (vv. 8-11)
5. What is the horrible sin that the world commits? (v. 9) Why is it so appalling?
6. What is the link between Jesus’ going away to the Father, and the “righteousness” that the world must be convicted of? (v. 10)
7. In what way does Jesus judge the ruler of the world? (v. 11, cf. John 12:31-33, Rev 12:5-11, Col 2:14-15)
8. What will this advocate, the Spirit of truth, guide the disciples into? (vv. 13-14)
9. Is this a promise for all believers, or just for the apostles? (cf. John 14:26, 15:27)
10. What is the topic of the Spirit’s teaching? Why? (vv. 14-15)
I don’t like surprises, and certainly not bad ones. If I’m asked, “I’ve got good news and bad news”, I will definitely want to hear the bad news first. I think I can handle bad news better if I’ve prepare myself for it. I like to jump before I’m pushed. I like to hear the bad news first, to get it out of the way.
One of the prayers in the litany asks that God delivers us from “dying suddenly and unprepared”. To be unprepared for anything is at best uncomfortable, but frequently disasterous. To not be prepared for the ultimate and final examination of death and what follows is something to be avoided at all costs.
Jesus is about to die. He is as prepared for it as any human being can be. He was introduced to us readers of the Gospel of John by his forerunner as “the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Early in his public ministry, he looked ahead to the Jewish leadership destroying the temple of his body by lifting him up, telegraphing the manner of his death (John 2:19, 3:14-15). Jesus knew he had come to die, and had readied himself for it.
But not only has Jesus been preparing himself, but Jesus has also been lovingly preparing his disciples for this moment of crisis. He has continually been referring to his death as his glorification, his being lifted up. In many different ways during his ministry he has communicated to them that he is going to die. But a message like this is hard to hear. Not only is it hard to hear and accept, but it has emotionally affected the disciples. So we read in our passage, at chapter 16 verse 6:
16:6But because I have said these things to you, grief has filled your heart.
Or John reports for us, in chapter 16 verse 12:
16:12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
The disciples cannot take in everything that Jesus is telling them. But that’s OK, because Jesus is prepared for that. In our passage he is continuing to take pains to prepare his disciples for his departure. But it is not just platitudes Jesus offers them, but promises. Jesus will not abandon his disciples to a world that hates them. He will not leave them to their own resources of memory or intellect, or their own abilities in speaking about and defending their departed Lord. The word of comfort for them is that they will not be alone, even though Jesus has left them. Jesus will send them another advocate, just like him.
In John 14, Jesus has already told them that another Advocate, a counselor is coming. John 14:16:
14:16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, so that he might be with you forever […]
The word translated ‘advocate’ or ‘counselor’ is ‘paracletos’, or ‘paraclete’. A paraclete is one who stands beside and speaks for a person. We call such people ‘lawyers’ and ‘barristers’ and ‘solicitors’. The better paid ones are called ‘QC’s’ or ‘Queen’s Counsels’—they are now quite old indeed, or ‘SC’s’, ‘Senior Counsels’, they are the ones a little bit younger (and cheaper). They are paid a lot of money stand next to a person in the trial of their lives, and represent them, saying the things that they should want to say, but can’t.
Perhaps you’ve seen that classic Aussie movie, ‘The Castle’. Mr Darrell Kerrigan, a self-employed tow-truck driver, wants to keep his house, but the airport corporation wants to compulsorily acquire it. But the QC, played by Bud Tigwell, knew the law, much better than the local solicitor Denis Danuto (“its Mabo, the Constitution, the vibe”), or Mr Kerrigan himself. But Bud Tigwell, the Queen’s Counsel, speaks on behalf of the plaintiff, Darrell Kerrigan, articulating what he cannot, saying it in a way that the court can hear, with the knowledge of the law and the experience of speaking to the court which neither Dennis or Darrell have. And because the QC was a good one, Mr Kerrigan, the underdog, won the case—as must happen in any classic Australian film. That’s the benefit of having a counselor, and Jesus will send his disciples the best.
Now, muslims say that this other counselor is Mohammed. They say that here Jesus is prophesying about Mohammed. Really? Let’s see who Jesus says the counselor is. Chapter 14 verses 17, this other Advocate is “the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive”. It is not surprising that the muslims cannot receive or know him, because the world does not know him, but the disciples of Jesus do know him.
Jesus was and is an advocate. That is why the Holy Spirit is “another Advocate”. Jesus is going away. Where he is going, he will still practise his advocacy on his disciples’ behalf. He will be doing so in the highest possible court, and he will be advocating for all who are his disciples, his friends, and his brothers (1 John 1:8-2:1).
But he can’t perform the role of an advocate for us while he is still here with us. So he must go up to the higher court, to do his advocacy work there. He is a King’s Counsel, being both king and counselor, going for our good to represent us. However, he will not leave his people unrepresented here in the hostile world.
16:7“But I am telling you the truth, it is better for you that I go away, for if I did not go away, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
Why is it better for Jesus to go away? At first glance, we can’t see why this would be. Isn’t it better, as the crowds have said (John 12:34), that the Messiah remain forever? And it seemed that promises from God, such as that spoken in 2 Samuel 7:13, led the crowds in that direction, for God himself had said, “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (ESV).
But in the Old Testament, there were seeds of the idea that God’s Messiah would go away, and that God’s plans for the Messiah would be fulfilled in a different way than people might have expected. In Psalm 110:1, the expectation is that the Messiah, the Lord of David, will be seated at the right hand of God the Father: “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” When we say in the creed, “He is seated at the right hand of God the Father”, we are resting on this and other Scriptures for the proposition. So there are other Scriptures that could be understood as the Messiah going away—as in fact actually happened.
Two Is Better Than One
How is it better that Jesus go away? We accept that it’s true, but we want to understand how. This is faith seeking understanding. Lord, show us how it is better that Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth, should be away from us now.
Here is one way that it is better: two are better than one. With Jesus being away, we have two advocates—one in heaven and one on earth. We have the Son, who is the truth at the right hand of God in heaven to intercede for us, and we have the Spirit of truth on earth to advocate for us and represent us here. Jesus’ going away fulfills the desire and hope of Job:
19Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. 20My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; 21on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend. (Job 16:19-21 NIV)
The Other Advocate Prosecutes (vv. 8-11)
Here is another way it is better that Jesus goes away: the advocate on earth, the Spirit of truth, will prosecute the case of Jesus the Christ against and in the sight of the world. Verse 8:
16:8And when he comes, he will prosecute the world about sin and about righteousness and about judgement
The Holy Spirit will do the work of prosecution. That is not surprising, as, after all, he is an advocate, a lawyer.
By the way, his function as an Advocate or Counselor shows that the Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing—a ‘he’, and not an ‘it’. Jesus did not promise that he would send an energy or power surge, but another person akin to himself, who would stand by us and speak up for us and for him. The Spirit is not a force or power—though he is powerful—but a person. He speaks, teaches, reminds, guides, comforts, and is grieved. He is “another advocate” like Jesus.
And part of his function is counsel for the prosecution. For the Spirit of truth prosecutes the world—the enemy of the people of God and the sheep of Christ, which hates the disciples for whom Christ came and is now about to die (John 5:18-19, 16:20, 33). And the Spirit of truth prosecutes the case that the risen Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Christ and Messiah, as Jesus himself had said.
But the world that hates God is also loved by God—God so loved the world (John 3:16)—and so the Spirit of truth’s prosecution will also do good to the world and is for the good of the world—even while the world hates it. For the Spirit’s prosecution will be the means of bringing in the sheep under the good shepherd.
There are three specific matters which the Spirit of truth will prosecute in the sight of, for the benefit of, and for the salvation of, the watching and listening world: sin, righteousness, and judgement.
Just as Jesus put his finger on the sin of the Samaritan woman at the well, or just as he warned the once paralyzed man to stop sinning lest something worse might happen to him, or just as he told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no longer, so the Spirit of truth will put his finger on sin and judge for the good of Christ’s sheep.
The conviction of sin and righteousness and judgement is necessary if Jesus is to be recognized as the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Sin, righteousness, and judgement must be pointed out and prosecuted if sinful people are to come to the good shepherd for the salvation that he offers. Verses 9 to 11:
16:9about sin, because they do not believe in me, 16:10about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see me, 16:11and about judgement, because the ruler of this world stands judged.
The Heinous Sin of Not Believing In Jesus (v. 9)
The first thing the Holy Spirit will prosecute or convict the world about is its sin (v. 9). Jesus here focusses on a particular evil and wicked thing that the world does—or more to the point, doesn’t do. The serious sin that the Holy Spirit prosecutes the world about is not murder, or assault, or adultery, or homosexuality, or paedophilia, or stealing, or lying, or lust—for all of these things are forgivable if they are abandoned. Jesus indeed has shown this in his treatment of the Samaritan woman, or the woman caught in adultery, neither of whom he condemns, though he truly puts his finger on their specific moral failures. But the horrible, awful, disgusting, perverted, unnatural sin as far as Jesus is concerned, and for which the world must be prosecuted, is failing to believe in him.
Little old ladies commit this sin. Kindly grandmas and grandpas who spoil their grandkids are lost in and addicted to this sin. Parents who love their children have given themselves over to this appalling sin. Fine upstanding citizens commit this sin—emergency service personel, and doctors, and nurses, and teachers and university lecturers, and scientists seeking to rid the world of diseases, and Australians of the Year, and Order Of Australia recipients, and Lions and Rotary Club Members, and churchmen of all different stripe and colour.
They simply don’t believe in Jesus, and they thus they are part of a world that needs to be prosecuted for this terrible sin.
What is so terrible about not believing in Jesus? Can’t you be a good person and not believe in Jesus?
Apparently not. It appears that Jesus agrees with Article 13, of the 39 articles, that “Works done before the grace of Christ […] as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ […] have the nature of sin.” Believing in Jesus is the work that God requires, and not believing in Jesus is a damnable sin—and the wrath of God remains on those who don’t believe in Jesus.
Why is it so bad to fail to believe in Jesus? Because of who he is. He is God himself, our creator and sustainer, who then entered our world out of love. It is a terrible sin for those he has made and upholds moment by moment to not believe in the God who created them when he turns up in the flesh. The core sin of humanity, the fundamental and foundational sin, is not believing in Jesus, the Son of God, God from God, light from light, true God from true God. You can be the nicest human being in the world, but if you continue to commit the appalling sin of rejecting Jesus and not believing in him, you have committed the greatest sin of all. In fact this sin, the sin of not believing in Jesus Christ—if it is not repented of before a person dies—is the only sin that can’t be forgiven.
It’s only with the Spirit of truth that anyone can recognize that Jesus is the truth, and believe in him. Without being born from above, born of the Spirit, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3, 7)
The Righteousness of Jesus In His Return To the Father (v. 10)
Second, the Spirit of truth will also prosecute, convict, or convince the world of “righteousness”. Verse 10:
16:10about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see me
Now, ‘righteousness’ refers to people having kept a norm or rule. But it is hardly likely that Jesus is talking about the world being ‘righteous’. The world is the opposite of ‘righteous’. The world will show its ‘unrighteousness’ in the way it treats both Jesus and his disciples.
So is Jesus here talking about convicting the world of ‘unrighteousness’? Does Jesus mean that the Holy Spirit will convict, convince, and prosecute worldly humanity for its ‘unrighteousness’, even though Jesus has said “righteousness”. No, I don’t think that is what Jesus means. Jesus could have said ‘unrighteousness’, or ‘not being righteous’, but he didn’t. Moreover, it is unlikely that Jesus means this, because Jesus gives an explicit explanation about what he means: Jesus says, “I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see me.” (v. 10)
So the Holy Spirit will prosecute about ‘righteousness’—not ‘unrighteousness’—and this prosecution or conviction is brought about by Jesus departing and going to the Father.
The ‘righteousness’ then that is spoken of is not the world’s “righteousness” at all—it is Jesus’ righteousness that needs to be prosecuted before the world. That is, the world needs to be convinced, convicted, and prosecuted that Jesus of Nazareth was, is, and always will be, righteous. He was who he said he was, and utterly without sin. Jesus challenged the Jews, “Who of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46) Yet the religious leaders throughout the Gospel of John have been accusing him of Sabbath-breaking and blasphemy, because he claims equality with God. They also have accused him of being demon possessed and raving mad.
Well then, there’s one way to sort this out. If Jesus really is a sinner and unrighteous, just like everyone else whose walked the face of the earth, let’s see what God thinks. Under the Old Testament law, God promised life to the man who did the law. “The one who does these things will live by them” (Lev 18:5). Let’s see if Jesus has an indestructible life. John says that Jesus has life in himself. So let’s test it. Let’s see if Jesus rises from the dead. Because the only way that Jesus is going to the Father is through death—that much he has made clear. And if Jesus is the one Isaiah 53 is talking about, him seeing “the light” will only occur through and following his death. And so Jesus’ righteousness will be shown by his resurrection life that he will take up after three days of his death. He after all claimed to be the resurrection and the life (John 11:25-26). Physician, heal thyself!
Jesus’ resurrection is his justification (Rom 5:18-19, 1 Tim 3:16), and Jesus’ justification in his resurrection comes because he is ‘righteous’—for justification always comes because a person has righteousness, or is righteous: a righteousness that is either graciously imputed, in the case of the believer in Christ who is at the same time “ungodly”, or a righteousness that comes by ‘one’s own’ good works, in the case of someone who depends on the good law of God (and only Jesus has kept the law).
So after the resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will prosecute the world concerning righteousness, because Jesus is righteous, proven by his resurrection and his return to his Father to be seated at the right hand of God.
The Judgement of the Devil at the Cross (v. 11)
The third thing the Holy Spirit prosecutes, convicts, or convinces the world about is “judgement”. Verse 11:
16:11and about judgement, because the ruler of this world stands judged.
This world has a ruler, a prince. I am not talking about any human ruler now. Nor am I talking about the risen Lord Jesus who is now the proper ruler of the world. I am talking about Satan, the devil. He has arrogated the world to himself against God.
The Spirit of truth will show that the world’s judgment has been wrong. The world—humanity gathered together against God under the devil—will assess that a crucified Messiah is foolish, weak, and unable to save anybody. We have seen that Satan enters Judas to bring about the execution of Jesus (John 13:27). But the glorification and lifting up of the Son will bring about the defeat of Satan. Earlier Jesus said, in John 12:31-33:
12:31Now is the judgement of this world, now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. 12:32And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.” 12:33Now he said this signifying the kind of death he was going to die.
The death of Jesus saves us by drawing us to him. And the death of Jesus brings about “the judgement of this world” and that “the ruler of this world will be thrown out”. The glorification of Jesus by his death, resurrection, and ascension will result in the casting out of Satan (cf. Rev 12:7-11). With Christ’s ascension (Rev 12:5), Satan was cast out. The casting out occurred by “the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev 12:10-11). Only the risen and ascended Son of Man is in heaven, and there is no one left in heaven to condemn believers.
So when the Spirit convicts the world of “judgement”, the world can look at the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus and see it as the victory of God over Satan, and cross over from death to life (John 5:24). Crucifixion was not the Son of God’s failure, but was his victory, where the devil was cast down. He was disarmed and his power was taken away because Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Satan has no accusation to bring against believers, because their liability for punishment has been removed (Col 2:14-15). There is no condemnation anymore, and no condemnor in heaven. We only have an advocate here on earth—the Spirit of God—and an advocate there in heaven at the right hand of the Father—the Son of God.
The Other Advocate Speaks What He Hears (vv. 13-15)
Jesus is preparing his disciples for the time when he will be away. But in his absence, the Holy Spirit will come to the disciples to reveal the many things that Jesus cannot say to them in the upper room, while they are worried, distracted, and grief stricken. But when the Spirit of truth comes, verses 13, they will be able to handle the truth:
16:13But when that one comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you in all the truth. For he will not speak from himself, but he will speak as much as he will hear, and he will announce to you the things that are coming.
In John 15:27, Jesus said to the eleven, “and you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.”Jesus left it up to the apostles who were with him from the beginning to bear witness to what they had seen and heard. They were with Jesus from the beginning, and so they could give eyewitness testimony from the beginning of everything Jesus had said and done. But they received divine assistance and enablement in this task from the other “Advocate”. The Spirit of truth enabled them to bear witness and testify, both in their oral (for which, see the sermons in the Acts of the Apostles) and written testimony (see the letters of Peter and John, and the Gospels—indeed, all the New Testament is written by the apostles or their delegates and carries their authority).
And Jesus provided the apostles a guarantee of the accuracy of their teaching. They have already been promised the ability to remember everything that Jesus has said to them (John 14:26). But it is not just the past that they will accurately remember. The Spirit of truth will guide the eleven “in all truth”, not just what Jesus said and did in the past, but everything—how to understand the Old Testament Scriptures, how to shepherd the church after Jesus departs, what they should say and write, and also the future: “he will announce to you the things that are coming.”
The Spirit of truth is also the Spirit of prophecy, and the Spirit will make known to the apostles what will happen in the future. And we see this, even within what John the Evangelist has written. For John also wrote his first letter and the book of Revelation, both of which contain an unveiling of what is to come, as well as instruction about the past and the present. So we can trust what the apostles and their associates say about the future.
Just as the Son only does and says during his earthly ministry only what he sees and hears the Father doing and saying, so the Spirit will only speak as much as he will hear from the Father and the Son. So the Spirit is as trustworthy as the Son, for he will do exactly what the Son did—speak what he hears.
But what is the “Spirit of truth” hearing? He tells the apostles “as much as he hears”, but what is the topic of the commands or conversation that he is listening to in the heavenly realms. Verses 14 to 15:
16:14He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and announce it to you. 16:15Everything—as much has the Father has—is mine. This is the reason I said that he takes from what is mine and will announce it to you.
The topic of heavenly command and conversation is, drumroll please, Jesus! Surprise, surprise. So of course the Spirit of truth is Christ-focused—for the Spirit simply reflects the heavenly command and conversation. Consequently, the Spirit of truth is a self-effacing person. The Spirit focusses not on himself, but on Jesus Christ, since this one is the topic of heaven. The Spirit glorifies Jesus.
There is an order in the Trinity. The persons of the Trinity are fully equal and of one being and nature, as to their essence—each person is fully God. But they are from eternity willingly and ontologically ordered. The Father, as the font of divinity, begets the Son and spirates, or breathes out, the Spirit. The Father obeys none, is begotten by none, is breathed out by none. Instead, the Father directs and commands the Son, who obeys the Father. The Son is begotten, but begets none. However, like the Father, the Son does spirate, or breathe out, the Spirit: that is why Jesus says in verse 7 that he will go away and send the Spirit to the disciples, and that is why in chapter 20 verse 22, he breathes on the disciples: the Spirit really does proceed from both the Father and the Son.
The Spirit is never more honoured than when Jesus is honoured. In the book of Revelation, also written by the apostle John, the Spirit is calling on the redeemed to worship the one on the throne and the lamb—the Father and the Son. Like John the Baptist, the Spirit of truth points not to himself, but to Jesus. God the Holy Spirit is self-effacing, who shines the spot light on the Son to the glory of the Father.
But there is the question of inheritance. In our world, the inheritance only comes when the older generation has died. But this is not the case with God. And Jesus, as the only begotten Son, is the heir of the universe. All that belongs to the Father belongs to Jesus as the Father has given all things to the Son. And the Spirit now takes this knowledge and shares it with us. And at the end of all things, the Spirit will take all things, and share them with us who believe in the heir, the Son.
Part of Jesus’ preparation of the disciples is to warns them of the hatred of the world. But the disciples will also have the resources to do the task which Jesus calls them to perform. Jesus promises them the Spirit of truth so that they don’t witness to a hostile world alone. The Spirit is another “Advocate”, a lawyer, who will prosecute the case for Jesus’ victory and messiahship. The Holy Spirit will stand beside the apostles and call on people to believe in Jesus as the risen Christ who has cast out the devil. He does this because the best thing for this sin-sick world is that it comes to believe in Jesus, the light and life of the world. The Holy Spirit calls us all from the horrible sin of unbelief and to receiving and believing in Jesus.
My Translation
16:5“But now I am going to the one who sent me, and none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” 16:6But because I have said these things to you, grief has filled your heart.
16:7“But I am telling you the truth, it is better for you that I go away, for if I did not go away, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 16:8And when he comes, he will prosecute the world about sin and about righteousness and about judgement—16:9about sin, because they do not believe in me, 16:10about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see me, 16:11and about judgement, because the ruler of this world stands judged.
16:12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 16:13But when that one comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you in all the truth. For he will not speak from himself, but he will speak as much as he will hear, and he will announce to you the things that are coming. 16:14He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and announce it to you. 16:15Everything—as much has the Father has—is mine. This is the reason I said that he takes from what is mine and will announce it to you.