I have told you this so that you may not fall away. 2 They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. 3 They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. 4 I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you. “I did not tell you this from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. 7 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. 8 And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: 9 sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. 12 “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. 13 But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.' 16 “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ [of which he speaks]? We do not know what he means.
Jesus was about to leave his disciples and he was preparing them for the difficult times they will face after his ascension. They understand where he is going because they do not question him. They are sad because he is leaving. He warns them about future persecutions that will lead to death for some of them and tells them that their persecutors will believe they are doing what is righteous based on their understanding of the Mosaic Law. Jesus reminds them that those who persecute him and his disciples do not know God and therefore will not know him. He did not tell them before about the future events because he is still with them to protect them. However, now that he has told them that he will be departing they are filled with grief.
Jesus explains that if he does not leave, the Holy Spirit will not come to them. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, justice, and judgment. From the world’s perspective, Jesus was guilty and therefore it was just in its treatment of Jesus and could not be condemned because it was guiltless. The Spirit will give clear evidence that Jesus was the Messiah and those who refused to believe will be convicted of the sin of unbelief by the Spirit of Truth, the Paraclete (Jn. 8:21). The Spirit will attest that Jesus, in his righteousness, ascended to heaven and sits at the Father’s right hand. The Spirit will condemn them because the ruler of this world has been vanquished. Evidence of that is the expulsion of demons from the possessed by Jesus, and Jesus’ death and resurrection. Those who were inspired by Satan to reject Christ are under condemnation.
Jesus reassured his disciples that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth. The Spirit will not speak independently but will tell them what he hears from the Father and the Son and will warn them about future events. The Holy Spirit will glorify Christ because he will reveal the truth about Jesus. He will take what belongs to Jesus and make it known to the disciples. The Holy Spirit will make known to the disciples the truths revealed by the Father through the Son. Jesus was showing the unity between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the disciples about his coming death, resurrection, and appearance to them after he had risen but they did not understand and did not ask him any questions.
Almighty God, grant us the strength to endure our struggles and the wisdom to understand your truth, as revealed by Your Son, Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit guide us through all trials, leading us into deeper communion with You. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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