Turning the Tables - When Your World Explodes – August 18 Readings: John 16:8-11 – The Convicting Spirit

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John 14-16: When Your World Explodes

Jesus knew, the night before his death, that the disciples' world was about to be blown to pieces. He would be arrested, tried, and crucified. They'd committed themselves to Jesus and he would be gone. In this powerful message, Jesus prepared the disciples to live in peace and spiritual power when the world around them was falling apart.

We will take the next three weeks delving into this passage.

Today's Reading: John 16:8-11       


8 When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: 9 About sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.


Through the Bible Readings: Ecclesiastes 5-6, Romans 8:18–39, Psalm 96:7–13, Proverbs 20:21–23 

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: Turning the Tables    


It appeared to be an imminent victory of the enemy over the Creator. Since that nascent moment before the dawn of time when pride was born in him and he rebelled against God, Satan had what appeared to be his best opportunity to win. Rome’s political forces and Israel’s religious leaders conspired to arrest and try Jesus. Men stood in judgment over the Son of God and declared him guilty. They judged him as worthy of death and carried out the sentence. The rebellion reached its zenith as the Son of God was brutally crucified and then God’s sovereign grasp over this world appeared to be in doubt.

Appearances can deceive and God’s rule was never in doubt. The night before he died, before he was arrested, tried, judged by human beings, convicted, and crucified, Jesus reminded his disciples of the truth, in a great cosmic irony. John 16:8-11 says:

When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: 9 About sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

As Jesus awaited arrest, and knowing he would be tried, convicted, and killed, he reminded his disciples in the quiet of the Upper Room that the judgment of the world on him was temporal, temporary, and apparent. A greater judgment was coming from the Counselor, the Holy Spirit. When Jesus left the world and sent the Holy Spirit, at Pentecost, the Spirit would be the one who would convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Once, Jesus overturned the tables in the Temple. Here, he overturns the tables on the devil. The world was about to judge him but it would be the Spirit who would judge the world. Satan was at work to destroy Jesus by bringing about his death, but Jesus reminded his disciples that the ruler of this world has already been judged.

Our world judges Christians and in God’s grace he sent Jesus to seek and to save the lost. This can give us the mistaken impression that the judgment of the world on the church and on Christians is of ultimate importance. It is not. Jesus is the judge, the one before whom every man and woman will stand and to whom every knee will bow. He allowed himself to be judged but only so that the greater purposes of God could be accomplished and his grace displayed. While today, people decide whether they believe in Jesus or not there will come a time when every knee will bow, believer or atheist, lover of God or skeptic, and every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord. Jesus is not on trial, he is the judge. God turned the world’s verdict of guilty on its head.

This passage is a powerful statement of God’s supremacy even over a world that was about to judge and crucify his son.


Think and Pray:

Ask the Spirit of God to do his work of conviction in you. 




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