Manifested Love Pt 17: I am going
John 14:28-31 28“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.
Going away and coming back
Five words—filled with everything that is Jesus. Jesus has been loving his people, rebuking the Pharisees, initiating a new way, and combating evil. Now he is about to consummate the whole effort. From the beginning of time the entire plan has been that the Son would sacrifice himself for God’s people, take their sins from their shoulders, and give them eternal life. And now, finally, the whole thing was about to happen.
But even that is not the whole story. Jesus is coming back, first through the Holy Spirit, and then himself at the end of the age. In your mind, try to imagine the scene. Shock in the eyes of the disciples as they try to process the betrayal of their friend and bewilderment at the impending absence of their Master. Many times in the previous hours Jesus had mentioned his leaving, but the disciples still did not grasp the enormity of the event—even 21st Century believers have a hard time understanding. The disciples were well aware of the Holy Spirit, but their Scripture (what we call the Old Testament) clearly depicted him as an agent of creation and as anointing of the Messiah.
1“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1)
They of course expected the coming of the Messiah and had realized Jesus was He. They might have even understood there could be a second appearance because verses such as Psalm 72 imply a worldwide Kingdom.
7In his days may the righteous flourish and prosperity abound till the moon is no more. 8May he rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. 9May the desert tribes bow before him and his enemies lick the dust. 10May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts. 11May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him. (Psalm 72:7-11)
But it seems they had no comprehension of the Holy Spirit coming to the hearts of men to empower them to grow in righteousness.
Be glad I am going
So the disciples didn’t understand what was going on and even were a little anxious. Emotion being what it is, there should be no surprise to find the disciples self-centeredly focused upon themselves. When we have folks visiting we understand there comes a time when they must return home and we wish them well. The men didn’t do this. But we shouldn’t be too critical of them for it because it helps understand them as being just as flawed as we are, and just as unwilling to let go of familiar things. Nonetheless, Jesus is revealing his eagerness to return to his Father, and we should be glad too because none of the blessings of salvation, the gift of the Holy Spirit, or the imputation of purity and innocence upon us could ever have come unless Jesus did in fact return to the Father.
I read one commentator who said that since Jesus was the mediator between God and man and was himself man then he was inferior to his Father. One of the core beliefs of our faith is that Father, Son, and Spirit are equal and one, differing only in function, so I find this overly harsh and very objectionable. Nonetheless, it was God the Father who sent, and God the Son who obeyed. Certainly Jesus was humble and obedient, so perhaps subordinate is a better word.
The prince of this world is coming
During the 3 ½ years prior to this night Jesus had been challenging the beliefs and practices of the Jewish leaders and for nearly all of that time they had been searching for ways to get rid of him. Satan had entered Judas just hours before and Judas had left to contact those leaders and set in motion Jesus’ trial, conviction, and death. So certainly the prince of the world, Satan, was in fact coming. But we shouldn’t think of Jesus avoiding Satan, or being fearful of him, but that the timing was not yet right. Remember Jesus is sin-free and Satan has no hold upon him whatsoever.
What about me?
We should take great comfort in knowing that Jesus loves us enough to send the Holy Spirit to us. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we really didn’t know much, only that we needed help. We still need help, even we who have known Jesus for decades. It is the Holy Spirit who strengthens our faith and he who teaches us to trust the Father. Whatever skills we have came from Him who created us, orchestrated life events to develop us, and loved us enough to bring us to His Son.
So as we go forth let’s remember what is really important. Self is not as important as others, self is not as important as God, self is not as important as Kingdom. Remember,
14….thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. (2Corinthians 2:14-15)