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John 3:16-17
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12 friends have opened a study shared with them.
It was a dream trip: to walk where Jesus walked in the Holy Land. When our tour group arrived at the Jordan River, a few people got re-baptized, swept up in the awe that Jesus was here. But what I didn't understand was that it was better to be at the Jordan River without Jesus.
John 16:5-15
“But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. “Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. “When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. “For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.”
The night before he died, Jesus told his closest friends that he was going away, and he was leaving for their benefit. But when the life of the party leaves, it’s hard to celebrate. Jesus knew that sorrow had filled their hearts. So, he explains the sequence: he had to die so God's kingdom could fully arrive. Jesus explains that the Spirit takes everything about Jesus and makes it known to every believer, everywhere, all the time. What belongs to the Father belongs to Jesus. What belongs to Jesus is given to the Spirit, who imparts it to us. Sometimes this passage feels like a cop-out. Ask 100 Christians, and 99 of them will tell you they’d rather see Jesus with their own eyes than be filled by a Spirit they cannot see. But when we look back to the Old Testament, the prophets emphasize that the definitive marker of God’s kingdom would be the presence of the Spirit. Jesus is announcing that his death and resurrection will inaugurate God’s reign in his people. Because the Spirit’s presence is what makes God’s kingdom God’s, his purpose is to declare Jesus. The Spirit exposes everything that opposes Jesus. The world refused to believe in Jesus. It put him on trial, condemned and killed him, and felt justified. It felt righteous as it participated in the empire’s violence. But the Father vindicated Jesus in his death and resurrection. The Spirit continues to expose the world through us. When we love as God has loved us, when we live as Jesus did, then the Spirit convicts those who look in from the outside. It’s a confrontation with their guilt that can crack them open to belief. Jesus couldn’t tell his disciples everything. He only had three years, and their hearts could only bear so much. We can trust the Spirit to work as tenderly in our lives. Jesus isn’t reclining across the table. Now, he’s living in the innermost room of our hearts.
What do we learn about Jesus from his willingness to leave his disciples?
When have you watched someone love like Jesus and felt convicted by their example?
Does it feel like you are better off having the Spirit than sitting across from Jesus?
Ask the Spirit to make one thing about Jesus clear to you. Then reach out to a friend to discuss.
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