The Advocate Proves Jesus Lives

May 2014

Several times by now in the Gospel of John, Jesus has explained that he would be sending an Advocate when he leaves. I count five times in John alone. This information sets up a running theme where Jesus continually prepares the disciples for his eventual exit. He will leave them, but not alone. He is sending someone else in his stead; someone, in fact, who will testify who Jesus is to everyone who will accept him.

Jesus sets up his followers, all of us, for all time, “And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.” That was earlier in John 14:29. This preface is important. We need to remember that Jesus wants to tell us stuff that we need to know at a later time. 

Again. This assurance from Jesus is vital.

John’s gospel follows decades after the first three. Mark mentions only one time where Jesus applies an allegorical reference to himself as the bridegroom leaving and the bride, the church, having to fast while he is gone. Matthew notes the same reference, then goes on to add the consequence of Christian life – followers being scourged for being believers. Luke repeats both Mark and Matthew and adds his own references to what we heard from John today. Jesus said, “I have observed Satan falling from the sky,” in chapter 10, verse 18.

While there is little mention of the impact of the Holy Spirit in the first three Gospels, John, has the advantage of three decades of experience with the Advocate. John has seen the followers persecuted, and he remembers more of what Jesus said to them those many years earlier about Satan falling. John is quite specific on important details about this Advocate, and we need to remember these as revelatory facts, new information for us to build our faith:

·     “I will send him to you,” Jesus said, referring to the Advocate; Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit.

·     Jesus was sent by the Father; “I am going to theone who sent me…”

·     Jesus’ exit from time and space, our life here, is advantageous for us; “it is better for you that I go.”

·     The Advocate’s arrival brings “proof” about sin, righteousness, and judgment.

The three proofs, in sin, righteousness, and judgment are fascinating:

The Advocate prosecutes the world. Odd statement. But look closer. The Holy Spirit enlightens believers who now see that the sin of the world has been, and will continue to be, it’s specific refusal to believe in Jesus. This basic tenet of our faith is, in fact, the root sin for all time. All sin is based upon refusal of Jesus' authority? How is this sin proven? Well, we are believers. Look through the lens of a Christ follower. This is a sin for believers. What are the results for believers ignoring who Jesus is? Others do not receive testimony. 

Read the paper. Watch TV. Scan the Internet. In almost every case of sinfulness in the world we can see the affects of people schooled in Christianity, formed in a Jesus faith, turning away from the Christ. Where Jesus is lived out, we can see persecution. Shutting up and shutting out the Christians leads to greater and greater sin. The evidence of how important it is for sinfulness to eliminate Jesus from the landscape is proof that sin needs to eradicate Jesus from the forefront of the world.

Next, is the proof of righteousness. although Jesus was found guilty and apparently died in disgrace, in reality righteousness triumphed. Jesus rose from the dead, lived among his followers for 40 days, and in his return to his Father in order for the advocate to make a home in every willing Christian follower. The world, including believers, will no longer see Jesus. A significant group of witnesses watched Jesus return to the Father. He hasn’t been seen since. Yup. That’s proof. It's a similar logic as in the proof of sin category, where not everyone engages the Holy Spirit, and therefore sin runs rampant. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the followers of Jesus means righteousness, simply because Jesus has left us and the Holy Spirit is here.

Most dramatically, and without pause in his words, Jesus emphasizes his role in condemnation. Jesus allowed evil to take his life, to expose the absurdity of a world that follows someone other than Jesus. The absurdity is not that Jesus allowed the Jewish leaders to convince the Romans to kill Jesus, but that by his innocence the rulers wanted Jesus dead.

The ruler of this world, Satan, has been condemned through Jesus’ death. The imagery used in other verses states bluntly that Satan was been thrown out of heaven at the death of Jesus. Until lthis time, then, Satan enjoyed a position, albeit of a black sheep, still in the court of God. This statement is repeated often in scripture, prophesied in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ teachings, and emphasized in many of the NT letters. The proof? The Holy Spirit’s presence proves that Satan has lost his power. The Holy Spirit now roams freely in the followers of Christ, transforming the most heinous of sinners into penitent believers.

We also have heard quite often, but most of us hope we get to skip this part, that “when our hour has come” we will be expelled from the synagogue, and even will be killed by those who think they are offering worship to God by doing so. There are several levels of killing – ruining our reputations, financial ruin, and division among our families and friends. And of course, there is our death. Our death is nothing less than getting killed off, because death was not God's design.

We all will die, but because of Jesus, because he conquered death, we are told that we will live. A Christian's death, though, will often be the result of persecution, Jesus told his followers. The apostles were fairly convicted for being Christians, and most were subsequently killed for it. Statistically, the 20th Century was the bloodiest century for martyrs in modern history. Can the same be said of us? Would be we convicted for being Christians?

Peter asked back in John 13:36, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.” Now, in John 16:5, Jesus tells them he is going to the Father, and he charges that they now do not ask where he is going. Why? Because they are filled with grief.

I am very much like this, asking God all the time to help, to assist, to step in and fix things. When he answers I am filled with joy. And, then, in no time I am saddened because he has gone. We want more answers,and that’s in the very next verse. “I have more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” He knows that grief follows our joy and excitement. He warns us not to despair.

We need the Advocate to reset us, over and over, as we grow in our faith. I know about times where I have traveled on a road of life with long periods of grief, of sadness in my heart, rather than joy. The Holy Spirit convicts us. The proof of our own sin can haunt us rather than set us free. 

We are forgiven. Jesus’ righteousness in the face of death, nonetheless, fills us with dreaded worry as we wonder if we will stand up as his friends. Jesus promises us life to the fullest. Satan has not won the battle of death, but he will cause us great fear over the ultimate reality of it. The condemnation of Satan feels personal, internalized. Focusing on a Satanic world we will be convinced that we are condemned. The proof of the Holy Spirit's presence, however, better convinces us that we have been redeemed. But we need to see the world through the eyes of a believer in order to be convinced.

Without the Spirit, we will cave into the grief of death, and the feelings of our unworthiness to have the Holy Spirit living within us. We need to change the perspective of listening to Satan's yelling at us to the still, quiet voice of the Holy Spirit. Practice the inevitable pattern of constant, looming grief by calling upon the Spirit of Truth. The Holy Spirit will eventually will shrink our moments of grief into speed bumps. We will roll right over them.