The Spirit Testifies about the Son

Seventh Sunday of Easter

May 8, 2016

John 15:26

The Spirit Testifies about the Son

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

When the Counselor comes, the One I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me. (John 15:26 HCSB)

On this final Sunday of Easter throughout the world the Church hears some of Jesus' final words before His suffering and death. The Counselor that Jesus talked about was God the Holy Spirit, who would be sent into the world to counsel and comfort God's people. Jesus called Him the One who is called to our side. Like an attorney who stands with the accused in court as the judgment is read out, the Holy Spirit stands with us by our side defending us. He does this by testifying about the Jesus who comes to us through Baptism, the Bible, and the Lord's Supper.

You also will testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning. (John 15:27)

Jesus told the apostles, His first preachers, that they would also testify. The word testimony today might have a bad flavor in our culture, but the testimony that Jesus called you to in Baptism is not how Jesus changed your life for the earthly better.

All the faithful and their pastors testify to what Jesus did and does to take away the sins of the world and to save His chosen people.

But Jesus warned them that their truthful testimony would come at a cost.

I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or Me. (John 16:1-3)

We live in one of the most moral times in history. We live in one of the most religious times in history. As proof I offer that if you wish someone to do something in our culture, simply appeal to their gods and their sense of right and wrong. Our culture is deeply devoted to the god of fairness based on the false belief that humans are good. According to their morality they try to live correctly.

They do not know God the Father or the Son, because they refuse to listen to God the Holy Spirit. They do not know the one true God.

God speaks the truth and Jesus' words came true. The apostles were thrown out of the Jewish churches, the synagogues, for testifying to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Men did go out and round up Christians to harm them and even kill some.

We don't face the raised fist of persecution; we face the raised eyebrow. Our own people, young and old, have been corrupted by the gods and morality of this world, and we are afraid to testify to our loved ones that they have been lied to and led astray. We think that our testimony will be rejected by them and will even drive away these souls from Jesus.

Lord, have mercy on us for our weak trust that Your Word will accomplish the task for which You send it.

But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you may remember I told them to you. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. (John 16:4)

Jesus told us these things so that when they happened, we would not be surprised. We see that Jesus is sitting and ruling from the right hand of God the Father almighty.

When Jesus spoke these words to the apostles, He told them why He never told them these things up to that point. Since His bodily presence was soon be in heaven and not with them, He wanted them to know and trust that they would not be alone, especially with the crosses that they would soon bear for His name. The Holy Spirit would bring them Jesus, just in a different way.

Dear baptized souls, keep the promise of the Spirit-spoken Jesus close to your heart and mind. And as you testify with the Word of God, trust that the Holy Spirit will keep on bringing Jesus to you to the very end of the age, until you die or until Jesus comes back.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21