Have you ever wished that you could have been alive when Jesus was on the Earth? It would truly be amazing wouldn’t it? Have you ever thought, "If only I could have been there to meet Him and to hear Him teach." Have you ever wondered if the Christian faith would be easier if you could only meet Him face to face? Surely things would be better if you could have been taught and trained in your faith directly by Jesus, just as the disciples were.
Jesus’ words here in John 16 put this idea totally to bed. Jesus explains to His disciples that soon He will be leaving them. Understandably the disciples are filled with grief. After spending nearly 3 years following Jesus and learning from Him they have grown extremely close to Him. Now Jesus is telling them that He will be leaving. You can imagine their grief.
Jesus’ words in verse 6 shock both the disciples and us: “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I go away.”
You can imagine how the disciples might have responded. How could this possibly be? How could it be good that Jesus was leaving them? Jesus explains in the next part of the verse: ”Unless I go away, the counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
How is it better that Jesus would go? Because He will send the Holy Spirit to them. It is better for the disciples (and for us!) that Jesus go and send the Holy Spirit to be with them than that He remain with them Himself.
Think about that for the moment. Jesus Himself tells us that it is better that He goes and sends the Holy Spirit than to be with us in person. It is better for us to have the Holy Spirit dwell within us than it would be for us to live face to face with Jesus. It is better for us to have the Holy Spirit than it would ever be for us to have been able to spend our time face to face with the Son of God.
It is not that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit cannot co-exist on Earth at the same time. Instead, because of sin, Jesus must die, rise again and ascend to heaven so that He can send the Holy Spirit, here called the Counsellor or Advocate, to the disciples. If He does not accomplish the work of dealing with sin the Holy Spirit cannot come and indwell His followers in the way that we enjoy now.
We live in a time of incredible privilege and blessing as God’s people. Those who have put their faith in Christ alone have been blessed with the Spirit of God dwelling within them. God Himself dwells with us His people. Instead of wishing that we could go back to the past let us be thankful for the work of God in the present. Let us praise and thank Him for the tremendous privilege it is to be His people and the wonder it is to have the Holy Spirit dwell within us. Take a moment today to thank God for all that He has done and for His incredible blessings through Christ.
Discussion Questions For Families and Groups
- In verse 14 Jesus says that one of the main roles of the Holy Spirit will be to bring glory to Him by making Jesus and His work known to them.
- How does this change the way that we understand the role of the Holy Spirit?
- Think about some of the teachings you have heard about the Holy Spirit. How do they line up with this role of the Holy Spirit to bring glory to Jesus?
Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
- Thank God for the blessing that He would dwell within you through the Holy Spirit. Praise Him that He is working in your life and the life of all believers. Pray that He would continue to work in you to change you to be more like Christ. Pray that He would help you to be open to the work of His spirit and that, with His empowering, that you would strive for holiness.
- Pray for the MOPS group that gathers at ChristLife this morning. Pray that the community mums in the group would be encouraged and would grow in relationship with the church mums. Pray that God would give the leaders wisdom and understanding and that they would be courageous in sharing the gospel.
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