Pastor Nathan Strutz

Grace and peace are yours through the coming of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, Where are you going? ⁶ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. ⁷ But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; ¹⁰ in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

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Is it good to go away? Is it good when a father leaves in the morning to go to work and provide for his family? Mom and the kids might wish he could stay, but know he has to leave for a while. What about when grandma Kate died believing in Jesus? Was it good for her to go away and leave this world of grief and join Jesus in heaven? Yes. But it's hard for us when someone leaves. We don't want dad to be gone for a few hours. We don't want grandma to be gone for what seems like forever. What about Jesus? Is it good that he goes away? Why couldn't he stay on this earth and let us touch the nail marks and listen to him teach and he could hold us in his arms and tell us, "Everything is going to be all right"? Jesus had good reasons for going away, reasons he explains to us in his Word today. Let's study them in our theme IT'S GOOD THAT JESUS GOES AWAY. TO SEND THE COUNSELOR. TO CONVINCE THE WORLD.

It's good that Jesus goes away so he can send the counselor. Let's examine the situation when Jesus said these words. It was Maundy Thursday, the night before Jesus died. Jesus had clearly said many times he would suffer and die and rise. He had clearly told his disciples this same night he was leaving to go to him who sent me. That was Jesus' way of saying he was going to heaven to be reunited with God the Father.

But the disciples couldn't get what he was saying. Not one of them asked him, "Where are you going?" Peter had earlier promised, "I will go with you and die with you," but he didn't pursue the topic now. Thomas said a coulple chapters earlier, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" but then changed the subject. They were so stunned at Jesus' words, "I am going away," that they couldn't even talk about it.

It's like when you are in the hospital and mom is dying and everyone knows it and there's this big elephant of death in the room, but people are talking about the weather and the trip to the hospital and how horrible traffic was. There's so much grief and sadness, but no one can talk about it. The disciples were so stunned, so frightened by the thought of Jesus leaving, they couldn't talk about it. Grief had filled their hearts. And their hearts were still filled.

At least until Jesus came and said something strange. I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Jesus, let me get the wax out of my ears. What are you talking about? How can it be good that Jesus is going away? Well, for one thing, Jesus couldn't leave until his work was finished. He couldn't leave until he had suffered every beating, every whipping, each nail blow. He couldn't leave until he screamed from the cross with his dying breath, "It is finished! Your sins are paid in full." It was good that Jesus was leaving because his leaving, his Ascension back to heaven, was the final piece of evidence that Jesus' work was done and our sins stand paid in full. Forever.

There's another reason it was good. Jesus had to wean his disciples off his bodily presence. He had to lead them to be the blessed one who had not seen and yet had believed. They would have to learn to let the Holy Spirit lead them by their eyes of faith, not their eyes of sight. They would have to trust in Jesus' words from the Bible and not just the words they heard directly from his lips.

But the greatest good is the Holy Spirit. Jesus plainly says, Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. Counselor is a reference to the Holy Spirit. The word is only used in the Bible to refer to the Holy Spirit. Never to a person. It's a single word with five sermons in it. I learn more every time I read it and study it. The word counselor literally means, "A person who is called to someone's side to give them help." It can mean helper. It was used for a lawyer who would defend someone in court. It was used for a mediator, who would plead someone's case. It was used for an intercessor, who would go between two troubled parties and try to work out a deal or agreement. With all these meanings and all this usage, it's hard to come up with one word to describe this. The Holy Spirit comes to our side in our trouble of sin and shows us, "Your sins are forgiven because of Jesus' death on the cross." The Holy Spirit defends us in court: exhibit A: the perfect life of Jesus. Exhibit B: The cross, stained with Jesus' own blood. Exhibit C: An empty tomb with no body in it, no body at all. Exhibit D: the resurrected body of the Christ. And you see that the Holy Spirit doesn't exist to attract attention to himself, but to lead us to Christ. The Holy Spirit doesn't want the spotlight on him, the Holy Spirit wants the spotlight on Jesus.

But try to imagine life without the Holy Spirit, without the Counselor. It's a sad life, a miserable life, a life headed for hell. Without the Holy Spirit, we have no faith in Jesus. All the work of Jesus would be wasted if no one could believe it. Look at these same disciples. Jesus' words on this Maundy Thursday were more than they could bear or understand. Even after Jesus' resurrection, they huddled frightened behind locked doors. Before Jesus' ascension, we don't hear a single sermon they preached or a single person to whom they witnessed. Even at Jesus' ascension, some still doubted. But after the Counselor came, once Pentecost happened, the event we celebrate today, they stood up in front of hostile crowds. They preached sermons that brought 3K in one day! Three thousand people baptized in one day and the number grew daily after that!! When Jesus was there, they were scared. After Jesus went away, they preached. They baptized. The Holy Spirit won souls. It's good that Jesus goes away. To send the Counselor. To convince the world.

Jesus continues with some vexing, confusing words. When (the Counselor) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. I've always scratched my head at these words. How you convict someone of guilt in regard to sin I get. But how do you convict someone of guilt in regard to righteousness? Let's explain.

The word for convict can also mean convince. When I realized that, the Holy Spirit led to me understand this passage a lot better. And actually, the word guilt isn't in the original language. It's added as part of the understanding of the word convict. I wouldn't normally urge you to do this, but I think a better, and simpler and closer to the original translation would be, "He will convince the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." The word translated convict can have that meaning. It was used to cross-examine someone in court and put that person to shame.

But in this connection convince fits better. The Holy Spirit doesn't put us to shame. The Holy Spirit leads us to repentance. When this word is used in Matthew 18 to show someone his sin, the purpose is to win your brother over to repentance, not just make him feel bad. The word is used in 1 Timothy 5:20 so that others take warning. Again, this might be one place to make a note in your Bible. Replace 'convict of guilt' with 'convince.'

Three things the Holy Spirit or Counselor convinces the world in regards to. The first is sin, because people do not believe in Jesus. Unbelief is the one great sin from which all others spring. Adam and Eve in the garden disobeyed God because they didn't trust him. They didn't believe he was showing love for them with his opportunity for obedience when he said, "Don't eat from that tree." The sad truth is that unbelief is the root of all sin. The Holy Spirit needs to convince us that we are natural unbelievers, natural sinners, that an unbeliever is alive inside each one of us. Now I didn't say you are all unbelievers. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I didn't say you are all unbeliever and are all going to hell. What God does say is that each one of us is naturally sinful, born sinful and naturally an unbeliever. Only the Holy Spirit can overcome our natural unbelief with his Word. Only the Holy Spirit can remove sin by pointing us to Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can bring us to faith by convincing us, "Jesus is Lord." What a wonderful work of the Holy Spirit. How good that Jesus goes away so the Spirit could be sent in full measure into our hearts!!

The Spirit also convinces about righteousness. We all have an inherent and natural idea about righteousness that is wrong. First time I ask most people, "If you die tonight and God would say, 'Why should I let you into heaven?" what would you say?" I hear something like, "I've been good. I've tried hard. I'm a decent person." We all naturally think that our works are the way to be right with God, that the way to righteousness is about what we do. The Holy Spirit has to convince us otherwise. The Holy Spirit has to convince us, "The only way to be right with God is through Jesus." There are not many ways to heaven. There is only one way: Jesus Christ. It's only because Jesus lived a perfect life that we have righteousness on our accounts with God. It's only because Jesus died that we have every single sin forgiven. It's only because Jesus rose that we have no doubts that we are declared not guilty. It's only because the Holy Spirit has convinced us through his Word and through baptism and through his Holy Supper, "We can only be right with God through Jesus. Our works can't help us get right. Righteousness is God's work, not ours."

But what did Jesus mean when he said, In regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer. What does that have to do with righteousness? First of all, their seeing Jesus no more in the flesh would remove the opinion that he was just a man. Many who saw Jesus and at times even the disciples tended not to see him as the Savior, because they saw him in the flesh. But after he left, Jesus was more respected than before. It's like how sports stars of long ago are treated almost like gods by those who never saw them. After Jesus was gone was when people really started to see him as God. Secondly, Jesus' ascension back to heaven was the final piece of evidence that he had completed everything he needed to do to win our righteousness with God. God would not receive to heaven a mere man, or anyone less than his own Son. Jesus raised people from the dead, but they died again because they were sinners. Jesus didn't rise to die again. He rose to live! He rose to ascend! He rose to prove that our righteous status with God is signed in his blood, sealed in his empty tomb and delivered in baptism, teaching, his body and blood given and poured out for you.

Finally, the Holy Spirit would convince the world in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. It's a strong way to say it. The prince of this world, the devil, now stands condemned. Stands condemned. That's his continual status and standing. We stand righteous before the Lord. The devil stands condemned. Jesus is the King of the universe. The devil can only be the prince of this world. The devil has friends in this world. He has the voices that scream, "Everybody's doing it, so it must be okay." He has his temptations on TV and internet and even the voices of our friends. But he stands condemned. And so do all who follow his voice and listen to those screams.

Thank God the Holy Spirit's voice rises above the screams of the devil. The Holy Spirit screams in God's Word, "You are forgiven!" Yes, the Holy Spirit has convinced me, "I am a sinner!" I'm thankful he has. Then I won't try to convince myself I can get right with God by my works. Instead, the Holy Spirit has convinced me, "You are right with God, just look Jesus. Just look at your baptism!" The Holy Spirit has convinced me, "Righteousness is God's gift of his grace, not my reward for my hard work." The Holy Spirit has convinced me, "The devil is condemned. Don't follow him. Don't listen to him." And to think , "Without the Holy Spirit I wouldn't be convinced of any of that." And to think, "If Jesus didn't go away, the Holy Spirit would not come." It's good that Jesus goes away. Amen.