Brief Ruminations: Why did Jesus have to go before the Spirit could come?
Some thoughts on John 16:7
Towards the end of a long discourse between Jesus and His disciples, Jesus said:
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good 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)1
What did Jesus mean by this? The Spirit has been involved in human affairs since creation (Gen 1:2), so clearly Jesus didn't have to leave for the Spirit to come in some sense. But Jesus refers to a new role the Holy Spirit would assume for us: the “Advocate”, or Paraklētos. Jesus apparently had to go for the Spirit to become our Paraclete. Why?
I think John leaves some hints. Let's read from a little earlier in the discourse:
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:8-20, emphasis added)
So the Spirit was in Jesus but it was only with the twelve; Jesus was looking to an eschatological future where the Spirit would also be in us. For the Spirit to be our Paraclete, it has to dwell in us in a manner it couldn't prior to Jesus’ sacrifice and victory on the cross.
In our sinful states, we are temples to false gods. We know God cannot be in union with sin, for it would be against His nature. Jesus had to do what only God could do, and cleanse us from sin so the Spirit could dwell in us. This future has come,2 for it is the state of the believer! But is this the only reason Jesus (and possibly John as he compiled his gospel) had in mind?
Let's back up a little further:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)
The familiar metaphor of Christ and the church as the Groom and His bride comes to mind. Jesus went to create space in heaven for us; I hold that He has already brought and will still yet bring heaven to earth as He reconciles all things (cf. Col 1:15-20).
Let's back up even further:
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)
So Jesus had to be glorified before the Spirit could be poured out on God's people? We easily remember the death and defeat on the cross, but we should equally recognize Christ's overwhelming victory. It was a necessary victory for God's plans to come to fruition (cf. John 12:23-24).
Finally, let's zoom forward to just before the verse that sparked our inquiry:
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27)
Jesus went away from us and to the Father to send the Spirit back as our Paraclete, apparently so the Spirit could testify about Jesus. Why use an intermediary? Why not just testify about Himself? Perhaps an intermediary is necessary in this perfect plan of God's to give us a role in it—a role of faith.
Thinking about these passages gives me more questions than answers. What do you think?
Quotations are from the NIV.
Acts 2.