Pentecost: Gospel, John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15                            

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Bible leaves no room for doubt on that subject. But just what does He do? That takes some Bible work. And just for the sake of helping, we can turn in our Bibles to the Gospel of John chapters 14-16 to get what you might label a “mini-course” on the Spirit’s function. It’s not exhaustive. But then how do you exhaust an explanation of the work of God?

Certainly read all three chapters and most certainly the full gospel reading for the week. But let me focus our meditation on a few specifics. Jesus tells his twelve, “And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). The passage continues, “concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (vv.9-11).

It’s not very flashy. And it’s not at all entertaining. Yet I find most of what many Christians think about the work of the Holy Spirit is something that borders on the sensational. Now, granted, whenever the Spirit of the Lord is at work it is astounding. But not in that “Hollywood” sort of way. Not most of the time. Here, Jesus is quoted as saying that the Holy Spirit at work in the world will tell them their error, show them the solution and assure them of the devil's defeat. Kind of brief and to the point. But let’s zero in just a bit more.

What is the world’s error according to Jesus? They do not believe in Him. And the solution? Again the answer from Jesus is His righteousness. And then a rather cryptic, “because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer.” Huh? Jesus’ gift of righteousness is the answer to the sin of unbelief. It’s a righteousness that is accepted by the Father and is proven by the fact that Jesus goes home after His work for us. And in the course of our day-to-day lives as His disciples we won’t see Him in the flesh until our work is finished and He comes to take us home, too. Then there’s that judgment thing. The ruler of this world? The devil himself. Yes, he has been given the temporary rule of the system that governs this world. But the Spirit gives witness to not only our need and the solution, but that all that could ever bring ruin to the work of God has been summarily set aside in the judgment of Satan. He has nothing whatever to say in regard to the Redeemed of God. You can almost hear the gavel.

So it’s not fireworks. It’s not even fancy. But the work of the Spirit highlighted in today’s reading is oh, so necessary. Let’s pray that we welcome this great work so that we might witness it, remember it’s fruit in our lives and share this portion of the Spirit’s work through the gospel.