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"But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

12 ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

I. Introduction

This passage contains the longest sustained discussion of the Spirit in the Gospels. And, I should be quick to add, the first seven verses are often considered among the most difficult verses in the Gospel to interpret. Augustine, who seemingly had something to say about everything, didn't even try to construe them. Aquinas, in interpreting this passage, simply related what others said about it; he made no comments on his own. It would be a bit presumptuous, then, to think that complete clarity on 16:5-11 can be reached. What I will do in this essay, however, is to list a number of points that emerge from these 11 verses, points that can enrich your own preaching or teaching on the Spirit.

The central point is that these two sections capture two distinctly different aspects of the Spirit's ministry: (1) its work against the world (vv. 5-11); and (2) its work on behalf of the disciples (vv. 12-15). Let's begin with a context-setting comment.

II. The Context--the Disciples' Pain (5-7)

We so often think of the Spirit's work solely as something toward or internal to the disciples that these difficult verses are overlooked. They come as Jesus has just taught about two things: (a) the unity/dependence between him and the disciples, like a vine and its branches (ch. 15); and (b) the imminence of persecution they will face (16:1-4). The latter point creates anxiety in the disciples, especially because Jesus is telling them he won't be with them physically when the persecution begins. Verse 6 tells it well: "But now that I have spoken these things to you, pain has filled your hearts." Jesus can sense their inner turmoil, turmoil that receives a more detailed exposition in 16:20-22.

"Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is in labour, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. 22 So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you."

But now all is pain, and that is the context for Jesus' teaching on the Spirit.

III. The Spirit Against the World (8-11)

Commentators remind us that this is the only place in the Gospels where the Spirit has a direct role with the "world." Even though the Spirit will "convict" the world (more on that below), there is no thought here that the world "recognizes" or "receives" the Spirit. Indeed, Jesus has already said the following about the "Spirit of truth"--"whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him" (14:17). It will not be a question of the Spirit's being received by the world; it will be a question, however, of the Spirit's "convicting" the world.

The verb elechein, the crucial verb in the passage (translated "prove...wrong" in v. 9), can be rendered in a number of ways. The standard Greek dictionary of the NT has the following: (1) bring to light, expose, set forth; (2) convict or convince someone of something; point out something to someone; (3) reprove, correct; or (4) punish, discipline. Because the Spirit really isn't recognized or received by the world, I believe the context best supports the "convict" sense of the definition/translation. The Spirit will prove the world guilty of something, even though the world doesn't recognize the Spirit. It is like the situation in a court of law where the court can pass sentence on someone even though the person might still not recognize the jurisdiction of the court.

By portraying the Spirit in this way, the author is showing its offensive (and not merely protective) mode of operation. The Spirit has already been defined as the parakletos, the one who comes alongside, the counselor or advocate for the defense, but the picture in 16:8-11 is of the Spirit as prosecuting attorney. That is the best way to understand the general flow of 16:8-11. The prosecutor then proves the world wrong or shows the world to be guilty of certain conduct. The conduct which it shows to be wrong is then listed in vv. 8-11. The language is confusing to me, but I find the New English Bible translation of v. 8 to be most helpful: The Spirit will "show where wrong and right and judgment lie." I like not only the euphony but also the comprehensive character of that translation. Rather than trying to divide each of the (three) words (sin, righteousness and judgment) into three separate ideas, the NEB captures the overall character of the Spirit's prosecutorial work. It points out wrong. It shows what we might call the "ethical lay of the land" in the world. Thus, the Spirit not only has an internal work to do--in the heart of the believer or in teaching the disciples, but it has a very public work to accomplish--to point out the world's false confidences, judgments, ignorance of its own harmful ways. This interpretation supports the work of Christian scholars or others who try to bring to the world's attention the injustice, waste, plunder, inhumanity and dehumanization of this planet by aggressive humans.

IV. The Spirit with the Disciples (vv. 12-15)

These verses build off what Jesus has earlier said in chs. 14 and 15. There we learned (14:16-17, 26; 15:26) that the Spirit is the Spirit of truth who will be with and in the disciples. We learned further that this Spirit will teach the disciples everything, reminding them of everything Jesus said to them. In ch. 15 the Spirit is the one who will "testify" on Jesus' behalf. Thus, we see the Spirit as a sort of necessary adjunct to Jesus, one that will speak his word loudly in the world.

Chapter 16 continues and develops these thoughts. The Spirit becomes the one who will clarify the things that the disciples current cannot "bear" (v. 12). The use of this verb (bastazein) here with reference to words is unprecedented in the NT. Usually it is used to describe a burden that might be too hard to bear; once it is used to describe how the Apostle Paul will "bear" the name of Christ. But that Jesus' words are hard to bear suggests that there is almost a solid character to them, a sort of barbell-like heaviness to them, that are simply "too much" for the disciples now. We can easily understand this notion, because we know that in our lives we are only able to "bear" things at various points. We say, "Let me sit down before I hear what you have to say.." or "I am not ready for that yet." The things that the disciples are not ready to bear are probably those things he has said all along in the Gospels but which are confusing to the disciples. Thus, the Spirit will "guide us into all truth" (v. 13) by clarifying the things that we just couldn't bear at an earlier time. But the Spirit's work of leading into truth also includes a future dimension of discovery, I believe. He will take what is Christ's and give it to us (v. 14), but he will also lead us into all the truth.

Conclusion

The Spirit's work is to make sure that Christ is the air we breathe, the best thoughts we have, the occupation of our lives. The hymn "Be Thou My Vision" neatly captures this sentiment.

"Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light."

With the Spirit's convicting and teaching work, the disciples become ready for life in the world, life without Jesus. That same two-fold sword is working on our behalf today.

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