How to follow Jesus: By ‘overcoming the world’ through the Holy Spirit
Warm-up: How good are you at saying good-bye? Is it easier for you to be the person leaving or the person left behind?
Context:
- Jn 1-8 WHO is Jesus: The promised savior
- Jn 9-12 WHY follow Jesus: His plan of salvation (what to be saved from, and for what?)
- Jn 13-16 HOW to follow Jesus (13: as servant; 14: in the Spirit; 15: in Christ; 16: in sufferings)
- ch 17-21 WHERE to follow Jesus as your High Priest
Jn 16 describes the work of the Spirit of truth, and how to rely on him by holding on to the words of Jesus as he entrusted them to his apostles, both for our understanding, ministry and perseverance in the faith in a world hostile to God during its ‘last hour’.
Read: John 16
1) v6: Of all the things that Jesus said here, what filled his disciples with sorrow?
- Why did Jesus warn them of an ‘hour’ of suffering (‘a little while’ of weeping, v19-20)? cf 2Cor 4:16
- Why should Christians expect such rejection? Jn 15:19-20
- Why does Jesus not prevent such suffering? cf e.g. Heb 2:10; 2:18; Ro 8:17; 2Cor 1:7-9; Isa 66:10-12
2) Why did Jesus aggravate their sorrows by such a warning at a time when he might have desired some comfort himself? cf Jn 16:1,4,7 (to your advantage: He still comforted them)
- Sorrows are inevitable but in your own experience, do you think the pain of being rejected is worth the trouble? Why or why not?
3) vv7-10: Jesus promised to send the Spirit as helper (cf Jn 14:16): Why did Jesus first have to return to the Father for this helper to come?
- Read Jn 7:39; 14:16; Acts 2:33. What explanation does the Bible offer there? =>
- Hint: What could the Holy Spirit not do before the ascension of Jesus to the Father?
- Did the Holy Spirit not witness of Jesus already in Old Testament times through the prophets? cf 1Pet 1:12; 2Pet 1:21; Heb 2:4; 3:7; 10:15
- vv10-11: What aspect of his witness about the work of Jesus was not yet possible in OT times?
- What witness of the Helper “…concerning righteousness” remained impossible in the OT, despite a shared faith and countless predictions about God’s redemptive work through Christ?*
4) What are the ministries of the Holy Spirit described in vv8-15?
CONVICTION: Of what?
- Of what sin? [v10; cf Jn 15:22 = the root of all other sins.] What ‘conviction’ would you perhaps have expected instead?
- v10: What did Jesus mean by ‘righteousness?
- Why does Jn 16:17 link such righteousness to the ascension of Jesus?
- i.e. what is emphasized in v17 besides the blood of Jesus that he shed for our sins at the cross? cf Ro 5:9-10; 5:16-17; 6:10; Jn 17:1-3 [All these verses speak of an actual righteousness that the presence of Christ in believers imparts to them (not only imputed, but also imparted)]
- Does a ‘forensic’ justification (i.e. in the sense of being declared righteous and acquitted of guilt in a court of law) include practical sanctification? Or is sanctification a different aspect of salvation that you have to contribute yourself? cf Heb 10:14; 1Cor 6:11; 2Thess 2:13
- Why does Jn 16:17 link such righteousness to our ‘not seeing Jesus anymore’?
- Read again Ro 1:16-17; 3:22. How does such righteousness manifest in the lives of believers? [By believing]
- vv10-11: Of what will the Spirit ‘convict’?
- v10: Why, or in what sense, does the Spirit focus on convicting of righteousness (the ones who have been convicted of their sin first)?
- How does conviction of such things differ from mere ‘information’ and from mere ‘convincing’?
- v11: Conviction of what judgment? What ruler is in view here? cf Jn 12:31 [Satan has no longer access to heaven to accuse; cf Rev 12:9; 20:1-3]
- What has been the role of this doctrine for your Christian faith and life?
- (how) are we to let the Spirit convict us of these things?
INSPIRATION (vv12-14)
GLORIFICATION Jn 16:14-15
- What is the Spirit striving for with all his ministering? How does he do that?
- v13: What is not his goal?
- Is the Spirit offended or slighted if we do not praise his name too? Why not?
CONSOLATION Jn 16:20-22 After a woman (OT metaphor for the people of Israel) gives birth, how is she comforted? cf Isa 66:8-11 [labor pains: A metaphor to predict the persecution of believers during the end-time after that 'woman' gave birth to Messiah, cf Rev 12:17] => What source of comfort did Jesus have in mind? Jn 14:18-19; Jn 16:22
FORTIFICATION (Jn 16:23-27), cf Ro 8:26-27
SANCTIFICATION (Jn 16:27-33) v31-32: How did the disciple's need for sanctification become apparent? v33: what is the power to sanctification? cf Eph 6:10 v33: by what means does the Spirit sanctify believers? Jn 15:2-3; 17:17
PRESERVATION (s. next chapter), Jn 17:12-15
5) Personal and application
- Which of these ministries of the Spirit are the most or the least ‘experiential’ for you?
- How does Jesus’ own teaching here about the Holy Spirit sit with what we hear on this topic from contemporary authors?
- How do these different teachings each affect whether and how you read the Bible, and what you regard as inspired prophecy?
- The complete gospel was revealed already to his first disciples (Jn 15:15; Eph 3:2-9; 1Cor 12:8-11) and has been passed on to the entire body of Christ (Col 1:25-28; Acts 20:27; Jn 16:13). Should we therefore expect no new revelation? Has the 1st generation of Christians already received every revelation of gospel truth that is ever to be revealed this side of heaven? cf Jn 14:25-26; 15:15
- Why would anyone object to this idea and prefer that different special insights must be given to different groups of people? Do you think knowledge must evolve (and change) as the church matures? Or is the maturation of the church a process where all believers come to share in exactly the same knowledge of God as the first Christians? Eph 4:13
* If it were “only” that the spotless sacrifice has now finally been offered (Jn 19:30), why did Pentecost not already happen on Good Friday, or by the latest on Easter morning? Why wait until after Christ’s ascension, Acts 1:11-2:1? Heb 6:20 [i.e. until that day, Jesus did not yet actually become the promised High Priest]
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