It Is for Your Good

Some days, I just long to be hugged by Jesus. I want to see and feel him, not just believe in him with my head and heart. We have true and honest faith, but have not witnessed him ourselves like Jesus’ disciples did. 

I think the show The Chosen really brings this feeling to life. We can watch Jesus interact with his friends, teaching them, eating with them, and simply being human with them. The show makes me cry because I want that tangible closeness. In our seasons of hardship, pain, waiting, or silence, we want the physical assurance that Jesus is still here with us. For a moment I’m jealous of the disciples and their time together.

But they also had to say goodbye to Jesus, twice. They dealt with the confusion of seeing their friend and Savior murdered, rise from the dead, and then 40 days later be told that he was leaving again to return to his Father.

No! I would have begged. I need you here. I can’t imagine going back to how things were before I met you.

But Jesus didn’t want them to go back to how they were before. He knew they were changed. He gave them a mission to share the Gospel. And he equipped them. Even before Jesus was crucified, he was preparing his disciples. 

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate [other versions use the words “counselor” or “comforter” meaning “one who is called to walk alongside to help”] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you… 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 the truth.” John 16:7, 12-13

I’m sure the disciples thought it made the most sense for Jesus to stay with them on earth. Many people thought Jesus was going to be a king on earth and overthrow the Romans. The thought of him leaving them sounded so backward, perhaps even more so after Jesus rose. 

Why would he leave them again? They were a small group who were still trying to make sense of what just happened. Jesus rose from the dead and was talking about them being sent out. They would be persecuted. Their future was sounding bleak. He just conquered death and proved prophecies correct, but was going to let them just figure this out from here? What?! How could that possibly be “for your good”?

Feeling the disciples’ confusion in my own heart, I whine and feel I don’t want the invisible Spirit that comes and lives in us, but want the physical Jesus. How entitled am I?! 

But Jesus said it is better this way, and his words bring comfort.

“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 14:15-20

He acknowledges that it sounds crazy to people because they won’t see the spirit, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have him. 

“Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” John 20:29

He knows this is so hard for our earthly minds that he assures us of it over and over.

“Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.”  2 Corinthians 20:5-9

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

The disciples faced a daunting task-- tell all of humanity what Jesus just accomplished for them. Um...ok. How? Do I get a hint or phone-a-friend? 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:8-11

We long to see Jesus, but don’t waste your life staring into the sky. His Spirit is already in you, and that is AMAZING! We really don’t believe this enough. The Creator Redeemer God of the universe lives in each of us and is ready and willing to use his almighty power through us! Just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not true.

How can we live more Spirit-powered lives? What would you do differently if you believed the Spirit was in you at all times, helping you?

We have nothing to fear.

We have strength to endure.

We are given the words to say.

We have power.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. 2 Timothy 1:6-9

Want to dig deeper? Check these links:
Sermon by Francis Chan on the Holy Spirit
The Commission song by CAIN 
Upper Room song by Hillsong