John 16:5-16
Jesus Said It Is Good That He is Leaving Earth
5 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 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. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 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.14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 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.
16 "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."
John 14:26
The Holy Spirit is Our Advocate
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
1 John 2:1-2
Jesus Takes Away Our Sins
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Acts 2:1-47
2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “ Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
There is no question Jesus said a lot of mysterious and curious things when He was on earth...One of them was on the night of His arrest...He said to His Disciples "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."...Jesus leaving earth to me always seemed like a sad thing (and bad thing), but He turns it into a positive, and says it is good that He is going away...
Sometimes I think He said this, because it is best that Jesus is home, where He belongs now, preparing rooms for believers coming to heaven...He is with His Father and what could be better than that...
At other times I think that this was a step in God's plan...The step of Him leaving, meant He had to die, and die on the cross...Other steps were necessary to continue His Word and His Gospel...His going away was necessary to keep things going strong for His teachings (how strange of a thing to say)...And because of His death, when we sin, or as St. John says if anybody does sin, we now have an Advocate with God our Father -Jesus, the Righteous One...He atoned for each of our sins and the sins of the whole world...He had to die, and die on the cross for this to happen for us...
God when He created the world and man, knew we would sin...So as part of His Plan, He would send us His Son...His Son would be born of a virgin, and grow up in around Bethlehem, Galilee, and Nazareth...His Son would minister to us for three years and speak the greatest words and teachings ever spoken...His Son would teach us more about sin, and put it into context with the Bible, God, and others...He would be arrested for blasphemy, and telling others He was like God...He would be tried and convicted as a criminal...He would die on the cross for our sins...He would resurrect back to life...He returned in His scarred earthly body (which Thomas would touch)...He would teach the Disciples for forty more days after His death and be seen by over five hundred people during this time...This time period of forty days and all these different people seeing Him after His death, would give great validity and strength to Him and all He taught, and very importantly -that He had resurrected from the dead...So He had to go away, and then come back which very much strengthened their faith and belief in Him...After His resurrection, they finally knew He was no ordinary man...He is Divine...So He had to go, and He had to come back to see them...They now totally knew He came from Heaven...
Later He would ascend back to His Father in heaven...After His Ascension to heaven, He sends the Holy Spirit to His Disciples from heaven on the Day of Pentecost (after His death)...And on that day of Pentecost, the Disciples would know what is like to be filled with the Holy Spirit, because they are filled with Him on that Great Day...They would teach three thousand others on that Pentecost Day and the Church of Jesus would start...The birthday of Jesus Christ's churches and the birthday of Christianity gets started...Jesus' mission was not complete, until He did finally go way to heaven...And because the Disciples had been eyewitnesses to all of these things, not just one of two of them, they must have felt complete...This includes the resurrection and Him ascending to Heaven...And the Disciples would grow strong and courageous and teach the world Christianity and to be followers of their Master and Teacher...And because of all these things that happened before His death, and after He died, and after even He left -the Disciples now without doubt firmly believe...The Disciples would now devote the rest of their lives to the teaching of the Gospels to others who would listen to them...They would teach anyone who would listen, what Jesus had taught them...
Jesus first appearance on earth and what He was supposed to do for His Father on earth was finished...That was the Plan, God's Plan...Now it was time to go home...Home to heaven...It was good that He went away...
So by Jesus saying it is good that He must go, God's Plan will continue...Jesus had to die to be our Savior...He had to die for the sins of the world, He had to resurrect, He had to go back to heaven, He had to send the Disciples the Holy Spirit on Pentecost -so we could witness the Birth of the the Church and Christianity...This was God's Plan...The Holy Spirit is now with us...And when things get down or troubled or bad in our lives -the Holy Spirit is there...Somehow comforting us, if we believe in Jesus...And sometimes not always understanding the Holy Spirit as He is with us...But often when we look back to a troubled time or troubled times in our lives, we get this glimpse of Him...And say something like yeah, something happened and I made it through those troubles and I am here...For believers this mysterious help you got from your troubled times was and is from the Holy Spirit...