Sorrow Turned to Joy
But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. John 16:7 · Berean Standard Bible
Jesus says something surprising: it is actually better for you that I go. Because unless I leave, the Holy Spirit won't come. And you need the Spirit more than you know.
This is hard to believe in the moment of grief. How could losing Jesus be a good thing? But the Spirit's coming will make God's presence more intimate and more universal than it has ever been.
Jesus reframes His departure as the best possible outcome for His followers.
The disciples cannot imagine anything good coming from Jesus leaving. But Jesus says: trust Me. What is coming is even better than what you have now. The Spirit will bring God's presence inside your heart, not just beside you but within you.
Jesus makes a counterintuitive claim: His departure is 'for your benefit' (sympherei hymin), because only through His going can the Advocate (paraklētos) come. The Spirit's coming is contingent on Jesus' glorification.
The word sympherei (it is advantageous, profitable) is a strong claim. The Spirit's presence inside every believer is presented as superior to Jesus' localized physical presence. This is the theological basis for Pentecost.
Jesus explains why His departure is actually in the disciples' best interest.
Jesus drops a theological bombshell: His leaving is actually better for the disciples than His staying. As long as He remains physically present, the Spirit cannot come. But when He departs, the Spirit will be sent to indwell every believer, making God's presence universal and internal.
5Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
6Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things.
7But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
8And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
9in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me;
Read all of John 16 — Jesus warns of persecution and promises the Spirit of truth. A woman in labor forgets her anguish when the child arrives — and so will they.
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