If you are like me, you have probably imagined what it would have been like to have literally followed Christ as his disciples did. They ate with him, talked with him, worshiped with him, and became his closest companions. Though they sacrificed much to leave their jobs and families to blindly follow Jesus, the few years they developed relationships with him must have been incredible. What comfort he must have provided; what wise words he must have spoken; what compassion he must have shown! Oh, how I would have loved to sit with Him just one time and see what incarnate love really is!
Despite Christ’s many explanations and warnings, however, many of the followers were in denial about Jesus’ ultimate purpose and His willingness to die at a very young age. Their closeness to their leader made it too difficult to comprehend Him ever leaving, up until the crucifixion itself. I have often pondered the emotions of these men as they watched Jesus’ limp body being taken down from the cross. Though they were aware of His prophesies of resurrection, they were often confused to His meaning, unable to grasp the possibility of such a miracle and unwilling to think of Him leaving earth to ascend. Their worries are clearly relayed in John 16:
Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me?” I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
Because of His understanding of their human nature, God had already planned to comfort these followers at Christ’s leaving and Jesus had already begun to prepare them. Earlier in this same chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus explains the purpose of the Holy Spirit, the third part of the trinity:
Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 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. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
Though I often think it would be much more fascinating to be living alongside Christ himself, he assures his disciples, and us, that the Holy Spirit’s arrival in our lives is just as significant as his own ministry. This passage encourages me to stop thinking of the Spirit as an abstract and distant force and to begin accepting it as an active part of God working in my life. John, a disciple especially close to Christ himself, recalls these vital words for Jesus, words that can teach believers the significance of “the Spirit of truth”:
- The Spirit came to benefit us, not deprive us of Christ’s company.
- The Spirit is our Counselor, offering God’s wisdom,
- The Spirit will convict and judge unbelievers in order to draw them close to God.
- The Spirit will be our source of truth; we need not look elsewhere in the world.
- The Spirit is another way for God and His Son to be glorified in the world.
I have to admit that having my feet washed by Jesus, or watching Him turn water to wine, or sitting alongside Him on the sea would be amazing, I am comforted to know that His Spirit, an equal in the trinity, is my personal Counselor. Now I must stop looking elsewhere for guidance, standards, or insight and rely on this gift Jesus left behind for me as His follower.
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