7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
Jesus’ work on earth had not come to an end; it would continue with the work of the Holy Spirit.
7 Nevertheless I [emphatic] tell you the truth.
Jesus’ departure back to the Father was painful for the apostles to hear; nevertheless, it was important that the Lord contextualized them about it. He asserted the truthfulness of His statement with saying, “I tell you the truth.”
It is to your advantage that I go away;
The word “advantage” means good. The death of Jesus on the cross is the basis for the gospel; that is where He paid for the sins of the world. That is one reason it was “good” that He “go away.” But the primary reason was that the Holy Spirit would come to indwell them during the church age. The apostles had not come to grips with how wonderful it would be for them to possess the indwelling of the Spirit. It would be to their “advantage” when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost.
for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you;
Another reason whereby it was good that Jesus go back to the Father is that the Holy Spirit would not come if He did not go.
The word “Helper” means someone called alongside to help. He would be a constant help for the apostles in their ministry to establish the church and write the New Testament. The word “Helper” was used for legal assistance; He was someone who pleaded the cause of someone else.
but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
Jesus would “send” the Holy Spirit to the apostles after His resurrection. This is the doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit from Jesus. The Spirit would take the role of Jesus with the apostles and the church.
By Jesus’ departure He would no longer be physically localized because the omnipresent Spirit would work everywhere, both among the lost and believers.
PRINCIPLE:
All believers have a powerful resource by the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
APPLICATION:
When the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, this was the inauguration of a new age. Every believer would thereafter have the indwelling Spirit in them.
