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?

α. 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,

β. but also the way of this glory, His shameful, bitter suffering and death2;

b. why does the Lord call all this going away to the Father?α. not therefore whether He, as He wandered on earth and

taught, would have been with the Father and the Father not with Him3,

β. 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?α. that He voluntarily suffered,β. that His kingdom is not of this worldγ. that the work of redemption is accomplished5;

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 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.

here in the sending of the Holy Spirit, because He brings and distributes everything that He has won for us and has brought to light6,

b. how glorious this fruit is; we see this from the glorious offices of the Holy Spirit:

α.He is our Comforter7,β. He judges the world according to sin, righteousness,

and judgment8 (in order to come to His own office, to the office of comfort9),

γ. He leads into all truth, He does this excellently to the apostles, whom He.א

led immediately and equipped with the gift of infallibility, that they could not err in the doctrine of faith,

.ב He does this on and on in the church through the infallible Word of the apostles,

δ. 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.

Günther

6 Luther.7 John 16:7.8 John 16:8-9.9 Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration 5:11.