“When the Holy Spirit comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”

The Fathers of the Church and many commentators consider this passage from St John we just heard from today’s gospel as one of the most obscure in the New Testament. And they avoided commenting on it. How are sin and the faith in Jesus related to each other? What about righteousness and Jesus’ ascending to heaven? And judgment and Satan? We can only speculate on it.

What is clearly stated is the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its falsity over sin, righteousness and judgment.

When the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we understand with God’s eye. And then we realize how the world is wrong about sin, righteousness and judgment.

The world does not believe in the forgiveness of sin. The world even denies sin. Since it does not believe in Christ, it does not believe in the forgiveness of sin, which is the very mission of Christ. Only with the Holy Spirit, we can recognize our sinfulness and repent but also forgive others.

The world ridicules man’s duty to worship God. Righteousness Jesus speaks here is not social justice or distributive justice but giving thanks and praises to God for his goodness, i.e., religious duty. As Jesus has risen and ascended to God the Father and sits at his right hand, we are to worship Christ as God. But the world, especially the modern world, refuses and ignores this duty, this justice, this due to Christ.

The world thinks it can save itself. Look at secular humanists and materialists. They enslave themselves to power and wealth, which become their gods. But Jesus warned, “You cannot serve both God and money.” As soon as we put our faith in human power and material wealth, we fall into the self-condemnation of submitting to the reign of Satan, the ruler of this world. Only with the Holy Spirit, we will see this reality. Then we can see who the true judge is for both this world and the next.

It is hard grasping the meaning of this passage. But what is clear is the need of the Holy Spirit. Let us ask Jesus to give us the gift of understanding. Perhaps only with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, we may understand the profound meaning of this passage.