John 16:1-15
October Memory Verse: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5 (NIV)
John 16:1-15
In the beginning of John 16 Jesus is giving a dense, beautiful, important final teaching to his followers before his crucifixion. These are important words, these are deep teachings about the nature of God and the nature of man. In this section, Jesus shares how the Holy Spirit is going to come and proves some things true about Jesus. The Holy Spirit is going to bring light to people what is right and wrong with the world and who is the judge and king of the world.
In the middle of this message Jesus expresses some sadness that his followers are just not quite getting it. He feels like they should be asking more questions. But in verse 7 Jesus says “it is to your advantage I go away, for if I don’t go away the Helper will not come for you, but if I go then I will send him to you.” He is telling them that his presence is leaving but he is sending the Spirit. One presence of God is withdrawing but another presence is coming into their lives. I have to put myself in their shoes right here. I would be thoroughly confused. They probably had a hard time believing what he was saying. Imagine having someone you love leaving or passing away and they say my spirit will be with you always. It’s a nice thing to say, but you know in your heart it’s not the same. You want that person with you. But Jesus is saying in fact it is the same, it is better. Jesus says I am giving you something better than me with you physically, I am giving you my spirit. That begs the question for us Christians, do we really believe that God's presence is in our midst? Do we really live like that is true? It’s hard to believe but as we look at the rest of the verses we will see that unbelief is precisely the problem.
In verse 8 we start to see that the Spirit will show the truth about what is wrong. So what is wrong with this world? Sin. So what sins or what sin are the biggest problem. A recent poll was taken that asked what is most wrong with the world and what are sins that aid in this issue? Some of the top answers were (people not seeing eye to eye, selfishness, busyness, no respect for each other, and the breakdown of the family). People see a lot of problems, and some of those are really big problems. But Jesus claims that the root of all this sin is refusing to believe in him. This sounds too oversimplified but this is the answer Jesus gives. Jesus says refusing to trust me is the root of all this evil. All these broken systems come down to refusing to trust me. John makes it abundantly clear that the root of all life’s problems are simple, not believing and trusting in Jesus. Jesus came to endure all of these things so that he could be the bridge between us and the father.
Do we really trust and believe that the spirit is with us? Why do we fail to trust this? Why does it seem so simple but is really so hard for our world?
By: Tyson Steelman
John 16:1-15
In the beginning of John 16 Jesus is giving a dense, beautiful, important final teaching to his followers before his crucifixion. These are important words, these are deep teachings about the nature of God and the nature of man. In this section, Jesus shares how the Holy Spirit is going to come and proves some things true about Jesus. The Holy Spirit is going to bring light to people what is right and wrong with the world and who is the judge and king of the world.
In the middle of this message Jesus expresses some sadness that his followers are just not quite getting it. He feels like they should be asking more questions. But in verse 7 Jesus says “it is to your advantage I go away, for if I don’t go away the Helper will not come for you, but if I go then I will send him to you.” He is telling them that his presence is leaving but he is sending the Spirit. One presence of God is withdrawing but another presence is coming into their lives. I have to put myself in their shoes right here. I would be thoroughly confused. They probably had a hard time believing what he was saying. Imagine having someone you love leaving or passing away and they say my spirit will be with you always. It’s a nice thing to say, but you know in your heart it’s not the same. You want that person with you. But Jesus is saying in fact it is the same, it is better. Jesus says I am giving you something better than me with you physically, I am giving you my spirit. That begs the question for us Christians, do we really believe that God's presence is in our midst? Do we really live like that is true? It’s hard to believe but as we look at the rest of the verses we will see that unbelief is precisely the problem.
In verse 8 we start to see that the Spirit will show the truth about what is wrong. So what is wrong with this world? Sin. So what sins or what sin are the biggest problem. A recent poll was taken that asked what is most wrong with the world and what are sins that aid in this issue? Some of the top answers were (people not seeing eye to eye, selfishness, busyness, no respect for each other, and the breakdown of the family). People see a lot of problems, and some of those are really big problems. But Jesus claims that the root of all this sin is refusing to believe in him. This sounds too oversimplified but this is the answer Jesus gives. Jesus says refusing to trust me is the root of all this evil. All these broken systems come down to refusing to trust me. John makes it abundantly clear that the root of all life’s problems are simple, not believing and trusting in Jesus. Jesus came to endure all of these things so that he could be the bridge between us and the father.
Do we really trust and believe that the spirit is with us? Why do we fail to trust this? Why does it seem so simple but is really so hard for our world?
By: Tyson Steelman
3 Comments
Thank you for this today.
This speaks to me directly. Satan knows my soft spots and that is where I need to claim the spirit in me! I allow fear to creep in. This will be a good reminder to use the Holy Soirit to crush that fear. Thank you!
Amen and thank you.