When Jesus Left: John 16:5-15

On Jesus’ last night with His disciples prior to being betrayed, arrested, and crucified the following day, John’s gospel shares a long conversation Jesus has with His followers, and in this conversation, Jesus teaches them about many things, like having faith, hope, and belief in Him, and He reminds them that He will be leaving them soon.

While I wonder if Jesus wanted to teach them more plainly about His upcoming death, because they hadn’t understood or received His warnings along those lines very well, part of me wonders if Jesus shifted focus onto simply talking about His leaving them which is something they would understand easier than His crucifixion.

However, even telling the disciples that He would be leaving them soon filled their hearts with sadness. This portion of what Jesus shared is the focus of our passage for this episode, and in our passage, Jesus tries to explain why it is better for them if He leaves.

Let’s read what Jesus shared with the disciples that night. Our passage is found in John, chapter 16, and we will be reading from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 5, Jesus continued by saying:

⁵ Now I am going back to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Your hearts are filled with sadness because I have told you these things. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Helper to you. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come. ⁸ When the Helper comes, he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment. ⁹ He will prove to them that sin is not believing in me. ¹⁰ He will prove to them that being right with God comes from my going to the Father and not being seen anymore. ¹¹ And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.

¹² “I have many more things to say to you, but they are too much for you now. ¹³ But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words, but he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. ¹⁴ The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me, because he will take what I have to say and tell it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take what I have to say and tell it to you.

We’ll stop reading here because in these few verses, there are some really big takeaway points – probably more than we are able to cover in this podcast episode. However, there are two big points I want to draw our attention to in the time we have left together.

The first big point is when Jesus describes how it is better for His followers that He leaves. I’m sure the disciples were shocked to hear Jesus say this and many of them might not have believed Him in that moment. But what Jesus says is profound. If Jesus didn’t leave, then the Holy Spirit, also known as the Helper, would not come. In contrast, if Jesus does leave, then the Holy Spirit will come.

On first glance, we might think that the Holy Spirit wasn’t present ever during Jesus’ life and ministry, but that is not the case. The most notable time that the Holy Spirit is mentioned is when Jesus was baptized. Also, I believe Jesus depended entirely on both the Father and the Holy Spirit while He was present on earth. If the Holy Spirit hadn’t been with Jesus, I doubt He could have healed people or performed miracles.

However, hinted at in this passage is one role of the Holy Spirit, and this role is to bring glory to Jesus. Other roles the Holy Spirit has that are shared in this passage are that: “He will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment. He will prove to them that sin is not believing in [Jesus]. He will prove to them that being right with God comes from [Jesus’] going to the Father and not being seen anymore. And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.” (v. 8-11)

In many ways, the Holy Spirit’s task-list looks impossible – especially when we look at our culture and the world today. However, the Holy Spirit’s role is only impossible when Jesus is present on earth.

The way I picture the Holy Spirit working, is that while Jesus was present on earth, Jesus had 100% of the Holy Spirit’s focus and power. The Holy Spirit gave Jesus glory and drew people to Him in first-century Judea. This is why we see Jesus performing miracles, and every time Jesus’ disciples are with Jesus, we never see them perform any miracles, because this would distract the focus off of Jesus.

However, when Jesus sent the disciples in pairs, we do learn that they had the Holy Spirit’s support. They healed people, cast out demons, and gave glory to both Jesus and God the Father. When Jesus was not present, the Holy Spirit focused on giving glory to Jesus through the next best thing – Jesus’ followers.

While Jesus’ message might not make sense that it’s better that He return to heaven, when we see the exponential growth of Christianity following Jesus’ ascension into heaven, we can see how the Holy Spirit and followers of Christ are able to impact the world in a much bigger, better, and more personal way than a single person could. The Holy Spirit’s role is only impossible when Jesus is present on earth, because His focus is 100% on Jesus while Jesus is physically present, and while Jesus is physically present, He is only in one place at one time. When Jesus launched the Christian movement, the Holy Spirit was freed to work though all of Jesus’ disciples and followers when Jesus returned to heaven. With Jesus in heaven, the Holy Spirit could exponentially grow the movement Jesus began into a worldwide community – which He has been doing ever since.

I will be the first to say that not everyone who calls themselves a Christian, a Christ follower, or even a disciple, believer, or any of the dozen or more terms common in the world today is actually a true follower of Christ. While the Holy Spirit knows our hearts and He knows who the true followers are from the imposters, He is willing to use anything and everything, anyone and everyone He can to lead people to Jesus. This might mean that people will come to Jesus through some very unconventional, round-about, and unusual ways. The path people take to find Jesus is less important than the simple fact that they found Him.

The second big point I want to bring out in this passage is that Jesus describes how time is against Him. He tells His followers in verse 12 and the first part of verse 13, “I have many more things to say to you, but they are too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth.”

This detail is important for us to remember: Jesus shared everything He could with the disciples, and the disciples included everything they could in their ministry. The gospel writers included everything that space allowed them to include as well. However, the Holy Spirit isn’t finished teaching us the truth about God and about Jesus. He may never be done throughout eternity.

I draw our attention to this detail for one big reason: Don’t be afraid of someone sharing what they claim to be “new truth”. It is possible they are correct. However, be cautious in every case because new truth will never contradict, change, or distract from “old truth”. In the context of this discussion, I am calling “old truth” the foundation that is found in the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. Also, “new truth” will never minimize, distract from, or belittle Jesus’ role in history.

History is His Story – specifically Jesus’ story, and it is a story of redemption. Any and every new truth the Holy Spirit will lead us into will have the Jesus of the gospels at its foundation. The Holy Spirit’s role is to bring glory to Jesus!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Always seek God first and intentionally focus on Him. Don’t be scared of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit exists to draw you into a saving relationship with Jesus!

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself in order to keep your connection with God strong. It is when we are personally connected with Him that He is able us use to bless others.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!