A Calling for the Table-Flippers

John 16:1-15

History tells that Scotland, as plenty of other places, was place dominated by false

doctrines imposed by the Roman Catholic church in alliance with the kingdom, more

precisely the Queen Mary. The idolatry towards the Queen as a holy deity, to the pope as

the head of the church and to the Roman Catholic church as being the mediator between

God and the people are just some of the examples of their chaotic understandings. It is

important to say that this was not only taught, this was enforced by the Queen, because

washing people’s mind with such teachings the kingdom would control the people. But

God was not blind to it, he had an ex-priest about to prosecute these people with their

sins.

On 1546, only 6 years after his ordinance as priest, a former priest was exposed to

the reformed ideas previously defended by apostle Paul and then by Martin Luther, that

were drawing people back to the gospel of our salvation. In fact, historians say that the

17th chapter of John, the Hight Priest Prayer, was extremely important to seal this reality

into his heart. The reality of God as being the real sovereign, not the Queen, of Jesus

being the head of the church, not the pope, and the idea that God’s people have total

access to God through Jesus that is our mediator Himself, rather then the church. It is also

important to highlight that in this age people did not need to say much to easily face

horrible deaths due to the instigation of confrontations either against the kingdom or the

religious system. However, for the “Thundering Scot,” his nickname, death was not a

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problem because he had a vivid belief on Paul’s words “For me to live is Christ and to die

is gain.” Some commentators even would add that he feared God so much that he feared

no man.

He preached exposed the vivid bad news, he denounced the Queen, and the whole

system about the corrupted religion they created. However, it is interesting that instead of

being punished by the Queen, he was feared. The powerful Queen Mary, who attended

most of John Knox’s sermons, feared him as anyone else. We can find the reason for that

in Queen Mary’s writings when she says, “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all

the assembled armies of Europe.” The most powerful authority of Scotland could face

any number of men but not a man with God.

This is just a little sum up of the battle that the Preacher and Reformer John Knox

faced at Scotland. A man that feared God so much that feared no man. And thus for

fearing God alone, John Knox’s grave is today located in the City of Edinburgh, more

precisely at the 23rd Parking lot spot in the back of the cathedral. The great preacher of

Scotland, the founder of the Presbyterian Church deserves nothing less than that. And in

fact he does not, and the reason is simple, and the 16th chapter of John can be helpful to

understand the why. The chapter does not start giving us a picture of what could happen,

but it starts with Jesus with a vivid picture of what will happen. Persecution will occur

Jesus says, “Since while I was there they persecuted me, in my absence the same

persecuting will be turned to you.” But why is Jesus saying such things?

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 Well, we find ourselves in the last day of the life of our Lord. Jesus had already

washed the feet of the 12, He had the last supper, Jesus exposed to John about Judas as

the betrayer, Jesus also foretells Peter denial, all of that in chapter 13. In chapter 14 he

exposes Himself as being the way, the truth and life, He also gives some glimpses of the

Holy Spirit as the Helper. And in chapter 15 He starts by exposing Himself as the True

Vine, which His followers including us, could only be profitable to bear fruits if abiding

in Him, and the heavenly consequences of these fruits which the internal consequence is

that, “His joy will be in us and our joy will be fulfilled,” and the external is gonna be the

love for one another. But by the end of chapter 15, right after verse 17, the tone of the

conversation changes a quite bit. At verse 18 to chapter 16, the focus is no longer at the

heavenly guarantees and the heavenly consequences of abiding in Him, but on the earthly

consequences of abiding in Him, through the keeping His word.

The contrast is drastic in one hand at verses 14-5 Jesus calls us His personal

friends, but no further than that at verses 18-20 He talks about the world’s hatred towards

us for His sake. Adding at verse 20 that a servant is not grater than his master, basically

meaning that if He was hated and was persecuted, the same will happened to his

followers. However, such discouraging news are accompanied by some, kind of, comfort

named the Paraclete. which more accurately means, to empower (which will be taught

later). And then, here we are at chapter 16.

In the verse 16, after talking a little bit about the Paraclete, that was going to

literally empower the apostles, in the Word, to face such persecution giving them the

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ability to bear as witnesses of Christ, Jesus gives them an even more vivid grasp of the

suffering they were going to face. It was like he was talking about suffering, gave them a

little break with some water and then came back with a more terrifying picture of what

they were about to live. The second verse of chapter 16 He says that they will be putted

out of the synagogues. Now, we have to understand one thing here. For us to be put out of

the church would be a bad thing, since the church is where we are spiritually fed and is

where we are with our beloved friends and where we find comfort and, the most

important, it is a place where we learn and share the Word of our Lord. However to be put

out of the synagogue in a Jew civilization has a way more intense and profound meaning.

To be put out of the synagogue in a Jew understanding would literally mean, to

loose the citizenship status. Jesus was saying that they would not even be considered

citizens, their whole proud of being Jew, the chosen nation, would not exist any longer,

they would not even exist following the Jewish tradition. If we contextualize to ourselves

that would basically be understood as Jesus saying to us “You will no longer be consider

Canadians by the Canadians,” or even deeper “You will no longer be consider a person.”

And the consequence of not being a person that follow humanistic laws (contextualizing

again) but follow the “Old fashion Bible,” is that you will be killed and there will be no

guilt because they will think it is for the humanistic God, which coming back to verse

two would be the Jewish tradition. Those were their costs for being apostles. Jesus

exposed it to them because they should know that to be a disciple requires knowledge of

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this. And as far as we know Stephen is our first martyr that fulfills what Jesus was

explaining.

This is as bad as it can possibly get. Jesus is saying that in His absence they suffer

the very same things he suffered, they are to be persecuted in the very same way He was,

and that they are to be killed because He was killed. With that in mind I would like to

focus on the verses 8 to 10, because in my opinion this verses are not really understood

and they are extremely important. As we just saw, Jesus gave to the apostle the full

picture of what will be like when he has depart from them. These are the costs, nothing

less than that. Well, we have to admit that it does not sound very tempting. Even though

Jesus also adds about the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus uses the word Paraclete with

the idea of empowering to sustain them in truth and not to give them a good feeling over

their suffering. In addition He says that, “When he [the Paraclete] comes, he will convict

the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they

do not believe in me.

While facing this portion of verses, people tend to associate their understanding of

the internal act of the Holy Spirit in the sinners heart working then to convince about

their sins. I have to agree that this is part of the Work of the Holy Spirit, and I would even

add that apart from the work of the Holy Spirit there would be no believing soul person

existing. It was John Calvin that said, “The grace of God has no charms of men till the

Holy Spirit gives them a taste for it.” I want to emphasize that I believe in all of that.

However It is not limited to it only and it is not what Jesus is talking about on this

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situation, and the key for the understanding it is in the original meaning of the word “to

convict.”

Good news of what? Good news is the message of Salvation. What are the bad

news? Condemnation. If salvation is the good news the bad news must be the opposite of

it right? However, condemnation it is only part of the bad news. The bad news is not the

idea that some will be condemned, the bad news is that all are condemned. We are all

condemned. that is the bad news. We are all hopeless wanderers. We are not only living in

sin, we love sin.

We are suppose to point people’s sin! We are the table flippers. That is our calling

as ministers of the Gospel of Christ. But how come we are suppose to point people’s sin

Charles? So we should be telling people to do not say the name of God in vain, to do not

commit adultery, to do not kill, to do not worship other gods. No! That is the morality of

the Law. People will have the excuse that they are good enough, people always think they

are good enough to go to heaven.The sin that leads people directly to hell is this:

Everyone that do not believe in Jesus Christ is the son of God and the author of salvation

will be condemned. That is what should be preached. Condemnation is at hand for those

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that do not believe that Jesus Christ is was the only perfect being that fulfilled that whole

requirements of the Law and lived the only perfect life that impact on our behalf.

We will prosecute their sin of do not believing in Jesus Christ as only saviour.

The picture of salvation and the sailing boat by Luther

Sinner always think that somehow they will end up in heaven. Jonathan Edwards

says “Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it;

he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do.

”. And the argumentation here it is that the most powerful and knowledgeable evil power

in the world was defeated by God, thus what is going to happen to sinners? The end is

imminent. Their end it is written by God.