Hello everyone. Tonight we’re going to continue our look at the doctrine of the Trinity in the pages of Scripture. If you’ve been with us for awhile, you know that we are in the New Testament and we are in the gospel of John. We’re continuing the Upper Room discourse and tonight, we’re going to be looking at verses 5-11.
5“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt[a] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Jesus says he is returning to the one who sent him. Obviously throughout the context of the account, they knew he was going to the Father. This was a cause for grief for them as they had spent years with Christ and has based their lives around him and while they might have hoped he would be a rabbi who would stay with them till death, he is instead leaving them.
Surprisingly, it’s a good thing for them that he was going. They had been in his physical presence and now the teacher was sending them out there on their own. He had been training them for these years and now their training would be put to the test. Of course, while we say they were to be on their own, they were not to be totally alone. He will send to them the Counselor.
The Counselor however will not just comfort the disciples. He will be doing three other tasks and all of these relate to the person of who Christ is. Notice how far his reach must be as well considering he can do this to the whole world. The Counselor while a comforting presence for the disciples is also a legal idea. He acts as prosecution as well towards an unbelieving world.
The first thing that he convicts them of us is sin. The world is guilty of sin because it refused to believe in the only one who could save them from their sin. If they wish to remain in that state, then the Spirit will convict them in that state.
The second way is in righteousness. Because Jesus is going to the Father, that reveals that he is the one whom God sent and all that he said is true. The righteousness that is to be revealed is the righteousness of Christ which could be what Paul has in mind in Romans 1.
The last is in condemnation in that because of the work of Christ on the cross, the prince of the world is to be condemned. If Jesus was not who he said he was, then satan would still have power over the people. As it is, he is a defeated foe and we simply await the full actualization of that defeat.
The Spirit then relates entirely to Christ and who he is. Whether it be in convicting of sin, pointing to righteousness, or revealing condemnation, the Spirit does this work. It is for the best that Jesus goes away so the Spirit can come and do the work, and also so he can dwell in us and enable us to continue the work of Christ in evangelism.
We shall continue tomorrow.
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