Way to the Father
Cantate Sunday (Easter 5)| John 16:5-15| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| April 28, 2024
“Now to my Father I depart,
From earth to heav’n ascending,
And, heavn’ly wisdom to impart,
The Holy Spirit sending;
In trouble He will comfort you
And teach you always to be true
And into truth shall guide you.” (LSB 556:9)
So, paraphrases Martin Luther the words of our Lord Jesus from our Gospel lesson in John 16, “But now I am going to Him who sent Me,” that is to say, He is going to the Father. What does He mean by that? He means that He is going to suffer excruciating pain at the hands of evil men, be crucified while bearing the guilt of all mankind on His soul, and die for our sins. This is the way that Christ will go to the Father. Yet, why does He use this euphemism, “I am going to Him who sent Me”?
First, to give comfort to His disciples, who will shortly witness Him arrested and taken away to be crucified. As they watch the horrid sight of His crucifixion, they should remember the words of Christ, that by this, He is going to the Father, accomplishing everything He was sent to do. Having suffered for the sins of the whole world, He will rise again from the dead and ascend in glory to His Father’s right hand. In fact, by saying that He is going to the Father, He is not really using a euphemism, but He is getting to the heart of the matter. Do not get distracted by the outward appearance and gore. This is Jesus going to the Father in victory.
Second, he uses this expression to comfort His disciples when they themselves make their journey to the Father. Immediately before this Gospel lesson, Jesus predicted that His disciples would be kicked out of synagogues and killed for His sake. So, when Peter went to be crucified upside down or when John went into exile, they would not despair that something strange was happening to them, but would take comfort that they were following Christ to the Father.
And so, you too should take comfort in your journey to the Father. When you are mocked for the name of Christ and lose friends and even family for standing on the Word of God, when your body grows frail and weak and you can see your grave ahead of you, do not despair. You are going to the Father. It does not look pretty to the eyes. But as with Christ’s passion, we must look beyond the suffering and death, and see the goal.
And if Christ does not go this way to the Father, that is, the way of suffering and death by the cross, then He cannot send us the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth. And if Christ does not send us the Comforter, then we have no way to the Father; then our weakness, frailty, and death are not our way to the Father, but merely the foretaste of eternal death in hell. But since Christ has gone to the Father through the cross, He sends us the Holy Spirit, who prepares our way to the Father.
Christ says of the Comforter, “He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.” The Comforter glorifies Christ by declaring to us what is Christ’s. This proves that we are justified by faith apart from works of the Law. To be justified means to be declared righteous. The Holy Spirit declares to us Christ’s righteousness, and so justifies us. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that justification is not only the forgiveness of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man, that is, they teach that justification is not a pure gift of Christ’s righteousness to you, but that you yourself must earn your own righteousness. This changes the sinner’s focus from Christ to himself. But this is the opposite of what Scripture teaches. St. Paul, rather, considers all his gain as rubbish, that he may be found not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but the righteousness of God that comes through faith in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3). The Holy Spirit declares to us all that belongs to Christ. He speaks it, and it is ours. We do not earn it. It is given to us and received through faith. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies us through faith in Christ.
This is the office of the Holy Spirit. He speaks. He declares, and it is so. The instruments of the Holy Spirit on earth are the Word of God and the Sacraments, which are empowered by the Word of God. The Holy Spirit has no other tools on earth. He declares to us what belongs to Christ. He tells us that it is ours, His righteousness, His forgiveness, His kingdom. And we receive it by hearing it with faith (Galatians 3:2) And what the Holy Spirit begins through hearing with faith, you do not complete by your works (Galatians 3:3). The Holy Spirit declares to you Christ’s righteousness. He doesn’t infuse this righteousness into you partially, so that you can complete it by your own works. He declares it to you, so that you can only receive it through faith as a gift. It is Christ’s righteousness, which He earned for you by going to the Father. And He sends the Holy Spirit to declare it to you, as David says in the close of the 22nd Psalm, “they shall come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that He has done it.”
The ESV translates John 16:13, “He will not speak on his own authority.” This is a bad translation. The text says, “He will not speak from Himself.” The Greek text does not have the word authority. The Holy Spirit shares one essence with the Father and the Son. He is of equal glory, majesty, and power with the Father and the Son. And He shares the same authority! Yet, the Holy Spirit can do nothing apart from the Father and the Son, for He proceeds from Them and He is of one substance with Them. When Jesus says, “Whatever He hears He will speak.” He is saying that the Holy Spirit will only proclaim what the Holy Trinity in unity has determined. He will speak of Christ and the way to salvation through Him alone.
There is an obvious reason why people do not go to church or go infrequently. It’s because they don’t really believe Jesus is there, at least, not in any more significant way than He is anywhere. And they doubt Jesus’ presence, because they can’t see Him. That’s understandable. Yet, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed.” (John 20:29) And Christ certainly promises to be present where His Word is proclaimed and His Sacraments are administered (Matt. 18:20; 28:20). So, you should repent of your doubt and take comfort in Jesus’ true words that He is indeed here with us, although we cannot see Him. And He is here specifically, in a special way, in a different way than He is present in the fishing boat or couch or wherever, because He is here with His grace comforting and forgiving us through His Word.
So, it is wrong and evil to doubt Christ’s presence with His Word and Sacrament, although it is somewhat understandable, because you cannot see Him. Yet, it is not only wrong and evil to doubt the presence of the Holy Spirit with Christ’s Word and Sacraments, but it is also unintelligible. The Holy Spirit is invisible. You cannot see Him. So, to not go to church, because you don’t think the Holy Spirit is there, because you cannot see Him is not only faithless, but it is foolish. You cannot see the Holy Spirit. Then how can you know where the Holy Spirit is? The Holy Spirit is where Christ’s Word is proclaimed. That is what Jesus says. So, where Christ’s Word is proclaimed, you have certainty that there is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit who is equal in majesty, and power, and glory to the Father and the Son; the Holy Spirit who has the same authority as the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit who is worthy of your worship and praise as your God, the very Lord and giver of eternal Life is present and speaking here today, because Christ’s Word is being declared. And He is speaking to you.
Because Christ Jesus has gone to the Father by way of the cross, the Holy Spirit still today convicts the world of three things: sin, righteousness and judgment. He convicts the world of sin, because they do not believe in Christ. Unbelief has become the only sin for two reasons. First, because it is the root of every sin. The reason you skip church, as I mentioned before, is because you don’t believe. The reason you give into your lusts, is because you do not believe that God sees you and that He has washed you clean in Jesus’ blood. The reason people covet, steal, gossip, slander, hate, murder, and refuse to forgive is because they lack faith. Every sin goes back to the First Commandment. This is why Martin Luther begins the explanation of every commandment with the words, “You should fear and love God, so that…” The second reason why unbelief is the only sin is because Christ has borne the sins of the whole world. He died for every last one of them on His way to the Father. Everyone who believes in Christ has full forgiveness of sins and certainty of eternal life. Yet, if you do not believe, then you become guilty of all your sins. This is why the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, so that people would believe in Christ and be saved.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness, because Christ goes to the Father. Christ went to the Father through the cross, where He took our sins away. Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). So, the whole world is declared righteous, because Christ Jesus has taken away the unrighteousness of the whole world. Yet, how can the same Holy Spirit convict the same world both of sin and of righteousness? Because this righteousness can only be received by faith. Faith does not earn righteousness. The righteousness exists independent of your faith. It belongs to Christ and is declared to you by the Holy Spirit. Your faith receives what the Holy Spirit declares through the Gospel. In fact, the Holy Spirit creates the faith in your heart to receive it.
Finally, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. The ruler of this world is Satan, who judges and condemns Christ and His Church through his lies. The Holy Spirit convicts Satan of judgment, by declaring that Christ Jesus has gone to the Father by way of the cross, and has crushed the head of Satan. Now everyone who follows Satan and his lies is judged and condemned. But those who believe what the Holy Spirit declares of Christ will pass from judgment to life.
You cannot be comforted by what you see, at least, not for long. You can only be comforted by what you cannot see, which the Holy Spirit declares to you. The disciples saw blood, gore, a cross, and death. Yet, Jesus told them that He was going to the Father. They saw their own suffering, shame, and death. Yet, the Holy Spirit comforted them that they too were following Christ to the Father. And you see your own sin, your own shame, weakness, and death. You don’t see Jesus nor His Spirit. Yet, the Holy Spirit still comforts you today by declaring to you everything Christ won for you by going to the Father through the cross: forgiveness of sins, Christ’s crucified and risen body and blood, peace with God, and righteousness before God’s throne. You have not earned these nor can you see them. But the Holy Spirit declares them to you today. Blessed are those who believe it. Amen.