Early on the morning of Good Friday the Jewish leaders
brought Jesus bound and scuffed up and covered in spit to Pontius Pilate. Pilate was not happy to see them. He is thoroughly annoyed. He had better things to do than make
judgments about religious matters. He
had roads to build and people to tax to the glory of the Roman Empire to see to. But the Jews wanted Jesus dead and that was
an authority that they no longer had for themselves. Only the Roman government could put to
death. And so Pilate had to interview
Jesus and pass judgment upon him.
Pilate’s first question to Jesus is, “Are you the king of
the Jews?” This, of course, was not
a serious question. He believed he knew
the answer before he asked it. Just
looking at the man plainly showed that this was no royal person. But Pilate had to do his examination, and
this is what the Jews claimed Jesus was saying.
Jesus answered that his kingdom was not of this world. If it were of this world, then he could
summon his angels and the earth could be unseated from its foundation. But things being as they are he was subject
to the evil that the Jews wished to impose and was therefore before
Pilate.
Pilate sarcastically responds, “So you are a king then?” Again, Pilate does not ask this question seriously. He thought he had a foolish delusional man
before him. If he had even for a moment
taken Jesus’s claims of divinity and kingship seriously, then he wouldn’t have
dreamed of treating Jesus the way that he does with the whipping and mocking
and finally the crucifixion. I think he
was smirking when he said, “So you are a king then?” Jesus answers, “You said it. I was born and I have come for this
purpose—to bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” But Pilate is not impressed. He rolls his eyes at this religious fervency
and mumbles, “What is truth?”
Pilate’s attitude is familiar to us. We live in a time where many more people are
like Pilate instead of like Jesus’s Jewish enemies. The chief priests and scribes hated Jesus
with a white hot hatred. Their blood was
boiling and they wanted Jesus dead. They
were hot. Pilate was cool. Pilate was “above it all.” He wasn’t going to get drawn into a debate
about truth. He had pleasanter things to
do. He also was perfectly fine with
letting Jesus go: “Live, and let live.”
He believed that religion should be something that draws people together
instead of pulling them apart. He didn’t
want his happy little life to be unnecessarily disturbed by getting too serious
about religion.
So long as a person only cares about what happens in this
world and in this life, this cool attitude can work pretty well. It provides a great deal of peace to those
who embrace it. Why worry about what is
true or not true? Why worry about God
and his Word? Why not instead pursue
happiness and living life to its fullest before you kick the bucket?
In order to enjoy the maximum amount of peace it is best
that thoughts of what happens after death or how we creatures will be judged by
our Creator should never even come to mind.
But if some uncouth fellow rudely makes it so you can’t ignore such
things, then immediately dismiss them as fanatics and nutjobs. Put the same smirk on your face as Pilate had
when he asked Jesus, “So, you’re the king of the Jews are you? Uh huh.”
But being a smart aleck is no guarantee of actually being
smart. Believing that you are “above it
all” may very well be a mistaken notion.
I’ve yet to meet the person who is “above” being judged by their
Creator. And yet there are so very many
people who act as though they were “above it all.” The example of Pilate shows that “being cool”
is no guarantee of being right. He
thought Jesus was a nut, but he was wrong about that. These folks who are so cool, calm, and
collected give the impression of being educated, wise, and “above it all,” but
they are no smarter than anybody else.
They are caught in a lie that will end disastrously for them unless they
are somehow brought into the truth. They
will remain dead and lost and in their trespasses and sins.
In stark contrast to the lies that give the world so much
peace so long as they play their cards right is the Holy Spirit whom Jesus
speaks about in our Gospel reading today.
Jesus calls him the Spirit of truth, who will lead the disciples into
all truth. Here we do not see the
coolness and skepticism of Pilate who stands on the sidelines and wonders, “What
is truth?” The Holy Spirit comes
with a might rushing wind at Pentecost and is powerfully present in St. Peter’s
preaching of Jesus Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit does not hem and haw and beat
around the bush. His yes is yes and his
no is no. He alone is truth. All other teachers scatter the sheep.
And the Holy Spirit goes right to the heart of our
existence—he preaches and bestows the Triune God. He takes what is Jesus’s and declares it to
us. All that the Father has is Jesus’s. And so what the Holy Spirit gives us is
nothing other than God with all that he is and has. We do not realize the greatness of what is
given to us when we are baptized or when we are given Jesus’s body to eat and
his blood to drink. We do not realize
the astounding way that God has intertwined himself into our lives and for our
benefit. For us and for our salvation
the Son became man so that through him we are forgiven of our wrongdoings, and made
righteous. The Holy Spirit reveals to
the world the love that God has for sinners in that he sent his only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and his
continuing abiding presence with Christians and the Christian Church is not
sufficiently appreciated. People
incorrectly think that there is a huge gulf between the Bible and now, between
the time of the apostles and now. People
are disappointed that we do not see tongues of flame or are not given the
ability to speak in languages that we had otherwise not known. The Christians known as Pentecostals are so
impatient with God about these gifts that they covet so much that they either
fake speaking in tongues and other outward signs, or (and this is much worse,
but I suspect also more likely) they invite into their heart some kinds of evil
spirits to lead them astray into believing in themselves and their signs and
their own piety instead of in the Lord Jesus Christ. These folks often become enemies of the Lord
Jesus because they preach the signs of Pentecost much more than the actual
content of Pentecost which is the salvation of sinners that has been
accomplished in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anyone who can’t or doesn’t do the signs that they so pride themselves
for is probably an unbeliever—so they say or imply. There is no end to the devil’s invention of
lies.
The Holy Spirit’s work at the time of the apostles is the
same as it is today so long as we are willing to be directed by God’s Word and
not led astray by our foolish reason or desire for novelty. Jesus speaks of this work of the Holy Spirit
in our Gospel reading this morning in a wonderful way. The Holy Spirit will convict the world and
expose all their lies and foolishness.
The world is so off base in its beliefs about what life is all
about. The world thinks that it knows
what it is talking about, but it doesn’t know anything unless it will submit to
being taught by the Holy Spirit.
The truth that the Holy Spirit has to give is all about
Jesus, as Jesus’s words in our Gospel reading show. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will convict
the world “concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning
righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” With these words we can see that Jesus is at
the heart of everything.
Jesus defines sin as not believing in him. The world knows full well that murder,
adultery, and the other transgressions of the second table of the Law are
sins. They are blind, though, to their
unbelief being sin. But it is the most
important and root sin, because apart from Jesus we can do nothing that is
good. Even if we are able to accomplish
something that looks good on the outside, it is going to be filled with evil on
the inside. Who can know the evil of the
heart of man? Unless through faith in
Jesus we are forgiven and sanctified, there is no hope of being anything other
than a damned sinner.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of lacking righteousness
because they do not have Christ’s righteousness. True righteousness is God's righteousness
when he sends his Son to be born of the Virgin Mary, to suffer, die, and rise
three days later; to ascend into heaven and distribute this righteousness of
his from the right hand of God until he comes again to judge the living and the
dead. Included in Jesus’s words, “because
I go to the Father and you will see me no longer” is the accomplishment of
everything that Jesus came to do. Only
Jesus is righteous. We sing that in our
Gloria in our liturgy: “Thou only art holy, Thou only art the Lord…” The Holy Spirit preaches that if we want
righteousness that is genuine, then Jesus is the only place where we are going
to get it.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning judgment
because the ruler of this world is judged.
This also is very much tied up with our Lord Jesus whom the Holy Spirit
has come to impress upon the world.
Jesus is the one who has defeated the devil, the ruler of this
world. Jesus, therefore, has upset and
overturned his lying and his murderous ways.
The devil wishes for people to remain in lies and to remain in ignorance
and unbelief of the one true God. It was
by lies that he overcame our first parents in the Garden of Eden, and he
continues to whisper his lullaby to all people and we are all too eager to
listen to him. He says: “Shh. You won’t surely die. You won’t be judged. Just go on doing what you have been
doing. Everything’s fine.” The devil is so powerful and persuasive that
no one could get out from under his thumb otherwise, but Jesus has defeated him
by his precious suffering and death and his glorious resurrection and
ascension.
The Holy Spirit is a breath of fresh air to us. We have been cursed with death and damnation
for our sins. But the Holy Spirit
announces that God has taken our side and destroyed death and hell by putting
it upon himself in Jesus. You are not
God’s enemies. You are not even
strangers and aliens to him. You are his
friends. Yes, the Scriptures even speak
of us being his own children. Here you
can see how it is true when Jesus tells the disciples it is to his advantage
that he should go away. For then the
Holy Spirit comes in power to reveal to you who God is and what his attitude is
toward you for Jesus’s sake. This is the
truth.
But what of those who are so very common among us who ask
together with Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?” All that we can tell them is that they are
wrong with their fake promises—their fake, lying gospel. They are hoping and dreaming that they will
never die. They are hoping and dreaming
that they won’t be judged by their Maker.
All their attention, therefore, is directed towards this life and the
quality of it. The ruler of this world
has them in his grip.
The truth of God offers them an escape, but if they will not
renounce the devil then they have chosen their lot. We cannot let their coolness and sarcasm and
this-worldliness damper the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is busy convicting the world of
its lies and announcing to it the truth of who God is and what he is like. All who want to be Christians must be on his
side. We have to fight against the urge
that exists within us to side with those who are cool—for it is true: they do
know how to live an easy, carefree life.
But is this really surprising that it is so? If lies weren’t attractive and persuasive,
then who would believe them? The Holy
Spirit is the Spirit of truth. He takes
delight in making strong statements about Jesus the Savior. All who are of the truth hear his voice.
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