As commissioning on the day of Jesus’ ascension (departure) draws nearer, the Gospel Readings this week also gear toward commissioning, as we go through John 16 for the remaining of this week, Sixth Week of Paschaltide.
In the Gospel Reading yesterday, Monday of the Sixth
Week of Paschaltide (John 15: 26—16:4a), Jesus gave a realistic
warning about going on apostolic missions to make sure that his disciples would
not fall away from their mission works. In today’s Gospel Reading (John 16:5-11),
Jesus reiterates that he is departing and speaks of the Holy Spirit, another Parakletos (Advocate), who comes to us,
after his departure.
We see that Jesus’ departure is not only to prepare
the place for us in the house of the Father in heaven (John 14:2) but also to
send us on apostolic missions to do his work, which is also the Father’s (John
5:17), on a greater scale (John 14:12). He is to commission us for our missions
on the day of his departure, ascension. And we will be sent off on our
apostolic missions on the day of Pentecost, with the Holy Spirit.
To look ahead what apostolic mission works are like,
we have been reading from the Acts of the Apostles, for First Readings.
In the Gospel Reading for yesterday (John 15:26-16:4a),
we heard Jesus telling us that we will testify to Jesus as another Parakletos (Advocate), the Spirit of
truth (John 14:16-17), testifies to the Parakletos,
who is Jesus (1 John 2:1) (John 15:26-27). There is a parallel for testifying to Jesus
the Parakletos and testifying to the
Holy Spirit , another Parakletos.
It is, essentially, to testify to the love of Jesus
by demonstrating his command of love to bear permanent fruit of love (John 15:8,
9-10,12-13,16). Because bringing the love of God through Jesus’ commandment of
love (John 13:34;15:12, 17) is the way to save. And we are to be commissioned
on the day that Jesus departs in ascension to the Father in heaven and to be
sent out to the world on our apostolic missions, filled with and empowered by
the Holy Spirit, having another Parakletos
with us and in us, to bring love of God by replicating the life of Jesus
and teaching Jesus’ words, even though we may be greeted with hostility.
So, Jesus has warned us of inherent danger on the
apostolic mission (John 16:2-4; cf Matthew 10:17-18). However, he reminds us
not to worry (John 14:1, 27;cf. Matthew 10:19-20, 26-31; Luke 10:3) because of
his assurance with another Parakletos (John 14:16, 26 ;16:26) and because of
his peace (John 14:27).
In today’s Gospel Reading (John 16:5-11), Jesus
makes it clear about where he is going upon his departure, and he departs to go
to the one who sent him (John 16:5). It is the Father (John 16:10), as a matter
of fact, because Jesus was sent by God the Father (John 1:6; 3:16;5:23;7:28-28;8:42),
incarnating the Theos-Logos
(God-Word) (John 1:1, 14) by the power of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb (Matthew
1:18; Luke 1:35) to be with us (John 1:14) and to save us (John 3:17), letting
the Father be revealed to us (John 1:18; cf. 14:9).
Jesus sees that disciples’ hearts were troubled with
grief – anticipatory grief with the prospect of his departure, upon foretelling
his departure (John 16:6), indicating that they were not yet spiritually mature
enough to understand Christological nature and the Paschal mystery of Jesus,
including his departure from the world to the Father. That is why Jesus said, “I have much more to tell you, but you
cannot bear it now”(John 16:12). At that time, the disciples were in need
of the Holy Spirit to understand because wisdom and knowledge necessary to
understand only comes as gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8; cf.
Isaiah 11:2).
So, Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit, who is coming as
another Parakletos (John 14:16), to ensure
of the disciples’ understanding by guiding their way with teaching and
reminding of Jesus’ teaching (John 14:26; cf. 16:13). Therefore, it is better
that the disciples receive the Holy Spirit. But, for them to receive the Holy
Spirit, Jesus has to depart (John 16:7) – though, in essence, he comes to them
when the Holy Spirit comes to them (John 14:18, 28).
On the Holy Spirit, Jesus tells the disciples that
he (Holy Spirit – another Parakletos)
will convict (elegcho) the world upon
his arrival in terms of sin (hamartias),
righteousness (dikaiosynes), and
judgement (kriseos)(John 16:8). The
threefold convicting effect of the Holy Spirit is: those who do not believe in
Jesus are convicted in regard to sin; Jesus’ return to the Father by ascension
convinces the world of the righteousness of those who believe and follow him;
worldly associates of Satan, princes of the world, are condemned in regard to
judgement, as explained by Jesus (John 16:9-11).
Up to this point (John 14:1-16:11), Jesus has put
quite many important factors involving in his departure, in regard to the
Christological truth of him, his relation to the disciples (us) in the
Trinitarian context, mentioning the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the
disciples’ commissioning for their apostolic mission to bear fruit, the coming
down of the Holy Spirit from the Father in heaven on Pentecost to send the
disciple s (us) on their (our) apostolic missions, and warning of inherent
danger on mission. So, Jesus said that
he had already spoken more than enough for the disciples to bear (John 16:12),
as they did not receive the Holy Spirit yet to become capable of bearing more.
So, Jesus shifted the focus on his discourse back to
the Holy Spirit (John 16:13-15), describing more effects of the Holy Spirit.
These are: guiding the disciples on their apostolic mission into all truth for he
(the Holy Spirit) speaks only what he hears from the Father, as Jesus himself
does (John 7:16; 8:26,28;12:49;14:10,24)(John 16:13); bringing glory to Jesus
by making what belongs to him known to the disciples, as Jesus makes the Father
known (John 1:18)(John 16:14). After all, all that belongs to the Father is given
and entrusted to Jesus (John 3:35), including us as the Father’s sheep (John
10:29),as the Father and Jesus are one, making the hypostatic union by
homoousios (John 10:30), as He is in him, he in Him (John 10:38). And, all that belongs to the Father in Jesus
is revealed to the disciples (us) through Jesus the Parakletos and through the Holy Spirit, another Parakletos (John 16:14-15).
Now, in today’s First Reading (Acts 16:22-34), we see what Jesus warned of danger on apostolic mission (John 16:2-4; cf. Matthew 10:17-23; Luke 10:3). We also see how Paul and Silas bore fruit on their mission as they won the souls of the jailer and his family to Christ in Philippi.
Paul and Silas were thrown into a prison for
exorcizing the slave girl, who had the python spirit to make money by fortune telling
(Acts 16:11-22). Why did Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned for doing a
good work, work of God, by taking an unclean spirit out of the slave girl? It
was because the owner of this slave girl complained to the Roman authority for
the loss of income. But, the slave owner issued the complaint as if Paul and
Silas were danger to the public safety of Philippi (Acts 16:20). The slave
owner knew that complaining about his personal income loss would not let the
authority punish these apostles on mission.
In their prison cell, Paul and Silas were not
complaining or depressed. Rather, they were rejoicing as they prayed and sung
hymns to God, ministering to other prisoners as they could hear them praying
and singing to God (Acts 16:25). As if God responded to their prayer and
singing, a violent earthquake suddenly shook the prison from its foundation,
making all prison doors open and loosening prisoners’ chains (Acts 16:26-17).
The prisoners must have been happy to be able to
escape. However, it meant a death sentence to the jailer (prison guard) for he
would be made liable to the prisoners’ escape. So, he tried to commit suicide
(Acts 16:27), perhaps, thinking that it would be better to kill himself rather
than to bear the shame of execution. Then, Paul and Silas, who did not escape,
reached out to this jailer, and the jailer brought them out and asked what he
must do to be saved (Acts 16:28-30). By
asking Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, the jailer could have meant
for the way not to be executed, being made liable for the prisoners’ escape.
But, as a result of his contact with Jesus through the introduction by Paul and
Silas, not only the jailer but also his family were baptized and became
Christian, sharing the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation together
in the table fellowship (Acts 16:31-34).
This is how we can be guided by the Holy Spirit on
our apostolic mission, upon our commissioning on the day of the Ascension of
the Lord (commemorating the day of Jesus’ departure) and after receiving the
Holy Spirit on Pentecost. And this is how the Holy Spirit, another Parakletos, who convicts the world and
guides us into the truth, works.
The prince of the world (John 16:11) convicted Paul
and Silas to condemnation for working on Jesus’ behalf. But, the Holy Spirit
convicted them with vindication, just as Jesus said (John 16:10). And, this
made the mission more fruitful for bringing the jailer and his family to Jesus.
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