The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

John 16:7

Most Christians at one time or another have wondered what it would be like to meet Jesus in

the flesh. How blessed were the first disciples, we think, to have seen him with their eyes and touched him with their hands! And yet when it came time for Jesus to leave this world, he said to the apostles: I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away.

This must have puzzled the apostles. How could it possibly be to their advantage for Jesus to leave them? Jesus answers that, when he goes away (e.g. ascends into heaven), he will send the Counselor, who is none other than the Holy Spirit, to them.

The indwelling Holy Spirit is far more advantageous to followers of Christ than his mere bodily presence. Confined to his human body, Christ could only be in one place at one time. He could only reach people externally, that is, from the outside in. But with the coming of the Holy Spirit all of this would change.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to bring the presence of Christ to us in a far more intimate and personal way than physical presence. The Spirit of God is to united with our spirit and dwells in our heart. Now Christ can reach us in the deepest wellsprings of our being where true transformation begins. Christ’s physical body could be taken from the disciples, but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is an eternal and unbreakable bond.

So let us not envy the apostles for their proximity to Christ. His indwelling Spirit is far more advantageous for them and us.

Have a blessed Pentecost!