Communion With the Christ:: The Ascension: Jesus’ Going

“But very truly I tell you,
it is for your good that I am going away.” John: 16:7a

Part of the Great Fifty Days of the Season of Easter is the Ascension which is observed Ten days prior to the Day of Pentecost

As Jesus was awaiting his arrest, he gave his Disciples words which they would need in order to understand the events which they had, and would be part of. Jesus tells them that he himself would be personally and bodily leaving them as a result of the events which were about to unfold.

“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. You know the way to the place where I am going” Jhn: 14:1-4

As the conversation with the Disciples progresses, Jesus explains that his purpose for departing and “going” is ultimately an advantage for those who would follow him.

The Advocate

Jesus then introduces a whole new dimension to the Disciples relationship with himself and his Father which his “going” will provide for them.

“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.” (16-18)

This new relationship of the coming Advocate is vital for the Disciples and all who would come after them . This Advocate would work in their lives in ways that ,up till this time they had not experienced but had seen modeled in the person of Jesus himself.

It because of Jesus’ “going” that the Disciples would exceed even Jesus' own works which he had done among them.

“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”. (12)

Jesus wanted the Disciples to understand that his “going” should not be interpreted as abandonment, but rather, that the Advocate would manifest Jesus’ presence in the lives of his Disciples in an all-new way, giving depth to their relationship with God which had not been previously available to them or even to some of the servants of God in the past.

Jesus tells them that the Advocate whom would come, would bring a new understanding about Jesus and who he is and what he did and said.

“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.” Jhn: 15:26-27

For the Good

Jesus sensing the disquieting a rising in the hearts and minds of the Disciples hr then assures them that his “going” is for their benefit.

“None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 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” Jhn:16:5b-7

Jesus tells the Disciples that this is all for the good , that he goes in order that the Advocate might come and bring this deeper relationship to them.

The work of the Advocate in their lives would provide Jesus’ Disciples more than they understood that his “going” was and is truly a blessing.

The conventions of the flesh which had limited the Disciples' relationship with Jesus were now surmounted. Jesus would be, through Jesus’ “going” and the Advocates coming, a Lord who would guide them and teach them and bring an intimacy which they had not known before. This is why Jesus tells his Disciples that his “going” is for their good.

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.” John: 16:7a

In the Heart

The coming of the Advocate into the very heart of the worshipers of the Creator God was foreseen long ago by the Prophet Ezekiel.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws”. Ezk: 36:26-17

The Advocate’s coming at Jesus’ “going” , would transform his Disciples and lead them to live as God had always intended humanity to live. Being guided and led not by an external cause, that is, seeing and following a risen Jesus “in person” ,which means seeing and interacting with him, but rather worshipers of God would be led by the indwelling Spirit who intimately speaks to and transform them from within giving believers an all new heart conformed to the true intent of God’s Holy Law to live by and an all new level of relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit who indwells the heart and speaks to us from within our own being and united us to God and to one another.

Hearing Jesus’ Voice

Jesus as the Good Shepherd tells us that his flock hears his voice

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice and My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me”. Jhn: 10:4, 27

That is , the Holy Spirit along with Scriptures ,speaks to the believer and leads them to follow Jesus. This guidance in the lives of believers through the indwelling Holy Spirit is hinted at in through the Prophet Isaiah.

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isa: 30:21

The unseen presence of our Lord through his Spirit is there to lead us in the way which we are to go in life.

St. Paul attested to the truth that believers experience a new and deeper relationship as the Children of God through being led by the Spirit.

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God”. and “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.” Rm: 8:14,16

Over time, as we gain experience and are led by the Holy Spirit we being to be transformed and live out of our relationship with Jesus. We begin to be able to discern and understand God’s will for us and his best intent for our lives not through a codified statement of moral or ethical tenets but we begin to understand and be able to navigate deeper issues seeing what is or is not approved by God.

“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Heb: 5:14

His Going

Jesus has gone and has ascended in glory to the heights of Heaven leaving a visual and bodily vacancy which has been filled through Jesus sending us his very Spirit to lead us.

“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.” Jhn: 7:39

Over time we find that we have grown in our relationship with our Lord in ways which having him bodily present would have kept us from having in this life time and this side of eternity.

Even at his “going” Jesus blesses his Disciples and assures them that they are not alone and nor will they ever be that though there is a visual vacancy created by his bodily “going” he yet ever present with his people even until the end.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."Matt:28:20b

We have been joined to Jesus and to each other in an ever more intimate way than the conventions of the flesh could accomplish. This is why Jesus tells his Disciples throughout the ages. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.”.

This new and deeper more intimate relationship with Jesus is what God had always intended for us, not a just a relationship which could be limited by the conventions of the flesh but one which grows even more intimate with our God and one another all made possible by Jesus’ going and the Spirit’s coming.

Benediction: May we each and all ever grow in the intimate relationship which his going has provided for any who will but receive it, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.