Fifth Sunday of Easter (1882)

The Gospels of the Sundays before Pentecost are taken from the farewell sermon
of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is "certainly the best and most comforting sermon, the
Lord Christ on earth did... For herein are the most loveliest, kindest consolations and
sweetest words of our dear faithful Savior Christ... In addition also thus are herein the
true noblest high article of Christian doctrine founded and set most formidably...
Therefore from ancient times these three chapters [of John's Gospel] are distributed in
the Gospels between Pentecost and Easter."
1
Even our Gospel today is taken from this
glorious farewell sermon. In it the Lord deals, etc.

John 16:5-15

On Christ's going away to the Father; we see

1. what is meant under it,
a. was the word "going away" comprehends?
. not only His glorious resurrection and His majestic ascension 40
days later, there he wanted to sit at the right hand of His Father
as a mighty ruler of all, even according to His human nature,
. but also the way of this glory, His shameful, bitter suffering and
death
2
;
b. why does the Lord call all this going away to the Father?
. not therefore whether He, as He wandered on earth and taught,
would have been with the Father and the Father not with Him
3
,
. but because He emptied Himself in a state of humiliation of the
total use of the glory of the Father given to Him according to His
human nature and only in His exaltation took up the complete
and everlasting use of this majesty.
4

c. what does this expression teach us?
. that He voluntarily suffered,
. that His kingdom is not of this world
. that the work of redemption is accomplished
5
;

1
Martin Luther.
2
Luke 24:26.
3
John 1:18 ("who is at the Father's side"), 10:30, 14:10, 16:32; Acts 10:38.
4
Philippians 2:6-7; Psalm 8:6; Matthew 27:26; Romans 1:4.
5
John 16:5 ("to Him who sent Me"). John 3:17, 17:4.
2. what kind of glorious fruit it has brought us,
a. what this fruit is: the Lord could have named many fruits: forgiveness
of sins, peace, etc., but He summarizes them all here in the sending of
the Holy Spirit, because He brings and distributes everything that He
has won for us and has brought to light
6
,
b. how glorious this fruit is; we see this from the glorious offices of the
Holy Spirit:
. He is our Comforter
7
,
. He judges the world according to sin, righteousness, and
judgment
8
(in order to come to His own office, to the office of
comfort
9
),
. He leads into all truth,
. He does this excellently to the apostles, whom He led
immediately and equipped with the gift of infallibility,
that they could not err in the doctrine of faith,
. He does this on and on in the church through the
infallible Word of the apostles,
. He glorifies Christ; because Christ is glorified in those who are
filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit, who have been
chastised by the Holy Spirit and now believe in Christ, seek their
righteousness and salvation in Him alone and serve Him alone,
who are guided by the Holy Spirit.
Gnther

6
Luther.
7
John 16:7.
8
John 16:8-9.
9
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration 5:11.