Why Is it Better That Jesus Went Away?
Most of us have experienced the sadness of moving away from family and friends (or vice versa).
While the relationship doesn’t end simply because of relocation, we know the benefits of embodied presence over against letters, text messages, or even video chats. Nothing replaces being face to face with those we love most.
Imagine the disciples’ surprise when Jesus told them he would be leaving them soon. Not only that, but that it would be better for him to go. Like us, they knew that him leaving would be devastating. He was not only their friend, but their Lord. And in the first century, they could not lean on today’s technology to see each other face-to-face even from a distance. When Jesus ascended, he didn’t go away to another town or country; he ascended upward and out of their sight (Acts 1). The promised Holy Spirit would come soon, however, and the promise in Joel 2:28–29 would be fulfilled (Acts 2).
In the first words of the Bible, the Holy Spirit makes his first appearance:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. (Gen. 1:1–2)
This “Spirit of God,” active in the moment of creation, indicates that his presence among his people was immediate and real. It’s a stark affirmation that God is not some distant creator but intimately engaged in his creation. By Genesis 3, Adam and Eve have sinned and been expelled from the garden, and yet God is with them even then. As the Old Testament progresses, we see numerous examples of God’s presence among his people—in the wilderness, in the tabernacle, and through the prophets.
Isaiah says God’s people often “rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.” Nonetheless he “put his Holy Spirit among the flock” and “the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest” (Isa. 63:10–14). In fact, God reminds his people through Haggai: “This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid” (Hag. 2:5).
God never leaves his people. If the Holy Spirit has been God’s tangible presence among his people throughout their history, surely the Spirit’s descending on Jesus at his baptism and the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost are continuations of the same story. We see this promise coming to fruition in John 14–16.
Sending the Comforter
Jesus then tells them that he would be leaving, but not entirely:
I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you. The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him. (John 14:18–21)
How could this be? How could Jesus leave them and yet . . . come to them? Because “the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26). When the Holy Spirit is among them, so is Jesus (and the Father). And the Holy Spirit will be another Counselor or “Comforter” (KJV) who will remind them of all things.
In John 15, Jesus continues preparing them for his departure. First, he tells them that they are to abide in him, leaning on him for their comfort in the midst of the coming persecution for being his disciples. This will not be easy, but “when the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me” (John 15:26). Just as Jesus is the only begotten Son of God—the eternal Son who has no beginning—so too the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father. He has been with God since the beginning and will continue his work of bringing comfort to God’s people, as he did throughout Israel’s history.
Then, in John 16:7, Jesus says perhaps the most surprising statement: “It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.” It is one thing to encourage them that the Holy Spirit will be the Father and Son’s presence among them—this might be a bandage on the wound until he returns. But he says it is for their benefit—it is better—for him to go away. Why? If he does not go away, the Holy Spirit will not come to complete his work. We don’t know his works, but God does, and Jesus says it plainly.
To recap, then, the Trinitarian dynamic goes like this: the Father sends the Son, and they work inseparably and with equal power and authority. If you have seen the Son, you have seen the Father; the Father glorifies the Son, and the Son glorifies the Father. And then, the Holy Spirit, who has been among God’s people since the very beginning, will be sent by the Father and Son (cf. John 15:26) to continue and complete the work of the Father and Son. Where the Holy Spirit is, there also are the Father and Son. The disciples need not worry because Jesus’s ascension is not the end of their story nor the end of God’s bigger story; rather, the Holy Spirit will come and empower them to do what Jesus did—proclaim the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, and advance the triune God’s story of redeeming creation. The Spirit of God is the presence of God among the people of God in their wandering, suffering, and even rebellion.
The Presence of the Comforter
The story of God’s people is in many ways the story of a wandering, suffering, and rebellious people. There are no perfect people—this is why the Son put on flesh and dwelt among us, to be the perfect human in our place. The cross shows us that there are no shortcuts to salvation.
The comfort, however, is the truth that our triune God never leaves us. Though we are intent to destroy ourselves and everything around us, he is faithful to keep moving history toward redemption. When he makes a covenant, he keeps it. When we break the covenant, he still keeps it. Though he may feel distant at times, we know he has never left us—Pentecost is proof. Every promise of God has come true, and the Holy Spirit brings the triune God’s comforting presence into our hearts, come what may.
A Prayer
Father, we are sinners. Your Son forgives our sins and gives us life. By your Spirit, teach us to pray and believe. In Jesus’s name, by the Spirit we pray. Amen.
This is an excerpt from The Biblical Trinity: Encountering the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Scripture (Lexham Press, 2023) by Brandon D. Smith. Used with permission.
Brandon D. Smith is assistant professor of theology and New Testament at Cedarville University. He is also a co-founder of the Center for Baptist Renewal and host of the Church Grammar podcast. He is the author of The Trinity in the Book of Revelation: Seeing Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in John’s Apocalypse.