John 16

Jesus continued teaching His disciples (ultimately, His followers) that they will be not be treated well by the world because the world hates Jesus. They will be excommunicated from the Jewish religious system, and Jesus does not want them to be surprised by this. 

Jesus told them again that He was going away, and He would send the Helper (the Holy Spirit) who will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement: of sin, because they did not believe in Him; of righteousness, because the religious systems of the world are run by hypocrites; and of judgment, because the world is under Satan's rule and he is already judged and the world with him. 

Since Jesus cannot tell them much more, the Spirit will guide and teach them all they need to know. The Holy Spirit will not speak of His own authority. You will know He is the Spirit of truth because He will glorify the Lord.

Still, the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant when He said He will leave them for a little while and then they will see Him for a time, and He will go to the Father. Jesus explained that they will weep and lament and the world will rejoice, but then their sorrow will turn to joy. He said for now they have sorrow, but He will see them again and their hearts will rejoice and no one will take away their joy.

Jesus also taught them that soon they will pray in His name to the Father because He came from the God the Father. And the Father loves the disciples because they love Jesus and know He is from God. Soon Jesus will go away and the disciples will be scattered. But be at peace...

In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

COMMENTARY 

Of all the personal sins man can commit, the most dangerous is to reject Jesus Christ as Savior of the world. 

In this chapter, Jesus assured His disciples that He would send His Holy Spirit to continue teaching them everything they needed to know; but He also warned them not to be surprised that the world would hate them because it hated Jesus.

McGee mentioned something interesting in his commentary about churches today. Many do not take the position of Christ, but instead "ha[ve] gone out into the world, boasting that they are going to convert the world. They...haven't done it in over [2000] years. In their attempt they try to popularize religion, make it very attractive to the world....using all kinds of devices to attract the ungodly. Today music has come down to the level of the world." They are attempting to win the world, but "who told them they were going to win the world?" Not Jesus! The world does not love Jesus; the church would do well to understand this and stop trying to win the world. It will never happen. 

Jesus did not want His followers to be frozen in sorrow. He is encouraging them. McGee pointed out that Christians need to snap out of their sorrowful, downcast experiences. For example, there is a woman I know who had a bad experience in her church and she has allowed it to swallow all of her joy in the Lord. Today, she won't go to church or listen to a sermon -- she is so bent out of shape. This is not the heart Jesus wants Christians to keep. She should pray God take away her bitter heart and be renewed in the Spirit. When Christians have sadness or sorrow, they should be encouraged because joy comes in the morning. That is a promise! 

Another point McGee makes is that we need more than Christ's forgiveness; we need His righteousness. When Jesus said the Spirit will convict the world of righteousness, He meant He, Jesus, was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. When Jesus died on the cross, He took away our guilt. And when He was raised and defeated death, it was for our justification. His death subtracted our sins, but also He added to us His righteousness. It is not enough to have our sins forgiven because we cannot stand before God just as pardoned criminals. If we are to stand before God, we must be in Christ and His righteousness. That is the righteousness He was talking about.

Also, when Jesus said the Spirit convicts the world of judgment, He meant that Satan and the world have already been judged. All of mankind has already been deemed unworthy. None of us is innocent. Examine your heart and see. We are all guilty and awaiting execution. Even our good deeds are as filthy rags before God; and if we stand before God in our own filthy rags, we would know how guilty we are. That is the judgment Jesus was talking about.

There are two ways we can grow in grace and truth: by reading and studying the Word of God and by having the Holy Spirit as our Teacher. How do you know the Spirit is working? He will glorify Christ to you. "The Spirit searches the deep things of God and He alone can show these things to us." 

A new thing Jesus taught His disciples is that when He is gone from them, they will pray to the Father in His name. At the time Jesus was on earth, He was not able to be all places at once; but once He went to be with the Father and sent His Spirit to be with His followers, He would be with them and us always and everywhere. We can have fellowship with Him at all times. 

And finally, what a joy it is to remember that while believers will often have trouble in the world, Jesus has overcome the world. "His victory is our victory!"

from Bible Verses to Go