JOHN 16:5-11 THE MEASURE OF TRUTH

5 “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

In the Old Testament, the Prophet Amos referred to God’s standards as a plumb line among his people. A plumb line is a tool of the carpenter by which he can judge a wall to be vertical. The plumb line is present and the wall either measures up to the line or it is corrupt and must be torn down. The Lord declared through the Prophet that Israel paid no attention to his standards and would be spared no longer (Amos 7:7-9).

The Spirit of Truth provides a similar function in the world. Being absolute Truth, all will be measured against its standard. While gravity is the force behind the plumb line, the Incarnate Son is the power behind the standard of the Spirit. Does one’s life reflect that Jesus is who he says he is, or does it not? A person who really knows Jesus will also recognize his own sin and the necessity for redemption through Jesus. As was witnessed on the Day of Pentecost, the only way we can truly know Jesus is through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). If that was true for the Disciples who lived with him, how much more must it be true for those of us who live some 2100 years later?

As disciples of Jesus we need to rejoice that he is no longer living among us like he did in the time of the Disciples. First, in his leaving he was made known as the Messiah, the Son of God, our Savior and the Way to the Father. Second, through his resurrection he is no longer confined by space and time but available to the whole world through the Holy Spirit. And third, he has made the Truth individually accessible to us by the Spirit, in fulfillment of the prophets Joel (2:28-29) and Jeremiah (31:33-34).

Instead of an external plumb line, the Lord has given us an internal gyroscope. We do not have to rely on a dead and static standard, but the living and dynamic source of righteousness.

Thank you, Lord, for not leaving me without the measure for the Truth. I acknowledge that without your Spirit I could not even hope to know you. I confess that in the light of your Spirit I am a sinner, but a sinner empowered to repent and believe that you are the Christ, the Way of salvation. Correct my ways and draw me to the Father I pray. Amen.