Jesus said,
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go
away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I
depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John
14:26, 16:7, 8). Why did Jesus have to
leave before the Holy Spirit could come to us? Jesus had to leave in order to
return to His place of glory in heaven. He had work to do there. Jesus went back
to heaven as our High Priest (Hebrews 6:20).
During His lifetime, Jesus
suffered in every way that we do and He knows what we need (Hebrews
4:15). Therefore, He now intercedes for
us with the Father (Hebrews 7:25). He
went to the Father so He could send the Holy Spirit to allow us to perform even
greater works than He, as one man, accomplished while He lived on this earth (John
14:12). The Holy Spirit within every
Believer exponentially multiplies the amount of Kingdom work we can achieve. He
is also constructing for His Bride our eternal home (John 14:2;
Revelation 3:11-13).
Jesus was God in the flesh,
living and ministering on earth. He walked with His disciples and comforted
those who knew Him. However, when He ascended into heaven, He did not leave us
abandoned or defenseless. He sent the Holy Spirit to not only walk with us, but
to live within us as well. The Holy Spirit is our comforter. 1 John 2:1 refers
to Jesus Christ as our “advocate”. This is the same word “paraklēton”, with the same meaning. This word “paraklēton” in the original language
means “to
comfort, to plead for our defense, to lead us to a deeper knowledge of gospel
truth and to give us the divine strength to undergo trials and persecutions.”
No relationship with a
person can come close to the intimacy we can attain with Jesus, because He
dwells within us by His Holy Spirit. The Lord knows us even better than we know
our self. He will never leave us and He will never forsake us (Hebrews
13:5). Jesus asked the Father to give us
“another” comforter, so He would abide inside of us forever. This is the Holy
Spirit of truth and He teaches us all things. He also reminds us of everything
Jesus taught us (John 14:16-17).
Jesus is our advocate and comforter from Heaven with the Father, and the Holy
Spirit is our advocate and comforter here on earth.
The Holy Spirit also
utilizes us to comfort one another. We can live in anticipation of God using us
to listen to, care for and console one another in our times of need. He gives
us the words to say and the ideas of what to do to lift one another’s burdens (John
14:26). Each of us is a member of
Christ’s spiritual Body. We have equal concern for one another. If one of us
suffers, we all suffer collectively; if one of us is honored, we all rejoice
together (1 Corinthians 12:25-27). Jesus sealed us in Himself with the Holy Spirit of promise. The Spirit
is our pledge from God that we will receive our heavenly inheritance (Ephesians
1:13-14). (More about the Spirit in tomorrow’s post on this blog).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, the Spirit could
not come to earth, until You were glorified (John 7:39). However, when You went to
be with the Father, You sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, comfort and guide
us, as well as to convict us of our sins and to teach us Your truth (John
17:11). Thank
You for preparing for us an eternal dwelling place (Revelation
21:2). You promised to come again to take us to be with You
for eternity (John 14:2-3). We
look forward to that day when we will dwell as Your Bride forever (Revelation
19:7-9; Ephesians 5:25-27).
Thought for the Day:
If
we repent of our sins and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, we will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. – Acts 2:38
