12 May 2026 - convicted

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

"Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.

The disciples were sad because  the best and most loving person they ever knew told them he was leaving them. He had predicted has coming death, but they could not see this is anything other than an unintended disaster. Jesus, though, continued to insist that it was a part of the plan. His going forth from them was not merely in death via the cross, but also victoriously via the Ascension. Because his visible withdrawal from the world was actually the result of his plan, because it was actually the procession of his victory, and leading to his enthronement in heaven, it had the potential to produce immense results even on earth that the disciples had not imagined.

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.

Somehow the invisible mission of the Holy Spirit would surpass even the visible presence of Jesus. The ministry of Jesus was confined to a single locality at a time. But the Holy Spirit would be able work everywhere at once, and without the need for rest. Jesus conveyed the truth in a way that was still external to those who heard him. But the Spirit would testify from within peoples' own hearts. 

And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation

When we here this trifecta of conviction we might first think they aren't so wonderful that we would trade them for the presence of Jesus. But if we consider them more deeply we will realize their importance. 

The Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin. Where previously people tended to blame others they would learn of the reality of their own culpability. The Spirit would bypass the external defenses of peoples personalities in order to reveal to them their own hearts. But this conviction was not condemnation. It implied the possibility of change, and included the invitation to transformation. The focus was chiefly on the matter of belief in Jesus himself. They would come to see the ways in which they were resisting his appeals, the fact that their unbelief was in fact culpable. They would come to see that it wasn't merely that Jesus hadn't done enough or said enough to be persuasive. Rather they had put him too the test by setting the bar unreasonably high. But when they realized this they would be free to open their hearts to him.

Moreover, the Spirit would help believers to understand in a deep and experiential way the reality of the victory of Jesus. The world held him to be a criminal. And even in our day it does not think highly of many of his teachings. But the Spirit would join believers directly to the one the Father vindicated by raising him from the dead. It was the resurrection power of Jesus that also gave new life to those who were reborn in him. Thus, they were meant to be overwhelmingly convicted of the validity of his claims. The resurrection was to be a reality so central to their lives that they could not second guess Jesus or his words even when the whole world seemed to oppose them. It is confidence of this sort that we see in the scene from Acts where Paul and Silas were in prison, yet still singing praise. They were able to escape, yet stayed to share the Gospel.

We are still tempted to believe that this world is ultimately in the grip of the evil one. It doesn't often look like a place under the sway of divine providence, at least as far as appearances are concerned. If not the devil, we often concede, at least at the level of our feelings, that we dwell in an uncaring world, ruled by abstract laws, or impersonal chance. But in Jesus we already share in the victory over the way things now seem. We already possess the reality of his heavenly victory, which will one day extend even to the physical creation. This makes it possible for us to live with hope in a fallen world. It makes us certain that there is a point to everything, and in particular to our efforts for the name of Jesus.

But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,
"Do no harm to yourself; we are all here."
He asked for a light and rushed in and,
trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and said,
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus
and you and your household will be saved."

Matt Maher - Because He Lives (Amen)