ABSENT BUT PRESENT

Photo by Pat Bartlett

Jesus raises a perplexing question in the minds of the disciples. Why is it better for Jesus to leave them than to stay with them? Up until now, He has walked and talked with them; taught them and showed them how to live; and encouraged and strengthened them with His presence. How could it possibly be better for their friend and teacher to leave them now? Yet Jesus said it. It must be true.

"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 go, I will send Him to you" (John 16:7). Grammatically, the clause "that I go away" (ινα εγω απελθω) is the subject of the verb "it is to your advantage" (συμφερει). The verb carries commercial overtones of profitability (Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary, p. 598). Jesus says it is profitable, or expedient, for them that He go away.

John only uses the term two other times in his gospel (John 11:50; 18:14), and both times it comes from the lips of Caiaphas, the High Priest. The words of Caiaphas give us the first clue to a partial answer.  "It is expedient (συμφερει) for you that one man die for the people" (John 11:50). It is better - more profitable - that Jesus go away because He goes away to die so they might live.

The self-absorbed disciples did not grasp the greater purposes behind Jesus' departure. Jesus had come to die. The cross was God's purpose for Him from before time began. He was also  leaving them so the Holy Spirit, the Helper, could come. The Spirit's purpose in coming was to glorify Christ, but the Spirit must have a glorified Christ to glorify  (John 7:39). The ascension of Jesus following His cross work glorified Him. He left to be glorified, and the Holy Spirit continues to magnify Him as the risen Lord.  The glorification of Jesus leads to the empowering of the disciples through the Holy Spirit.

The personal presence of Jesus would eventually hinder the personal growth of the disciples and the expansion of His kingdom on earth.  As long as Jesus remained in bodily form, His presence was limited to His physical location on earth. Omnipresent indwelling was only possible if Jesus left them and ascended into heaven as the glorified Christ. It was better for Jesus to depart so that that He could always be with them as they scattered around the globe (Mt. 28:20) through the presence of His Helper wherever they might be.

The Holy Spirit does not merely replace the absence of Jesus on earth. He completes His presence in our lives (Bernard, John, 2:504). We can experience the depths of spiritual intimacy with Jesus in our lives because Jesus departed and the Holy Spirit arrived. The Holy Spirit fills our daily lives with the presence of Jesus in ways that would be impossible if Jesus still walked this earth. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your empowering presence.

USING JESUS VS. FOLLOWING JESUS

Sea of Galilee

Jesus has more users than followers in the American church today.  We use Jesus to sanctify our success and stimulate our worship experiences. Blinded by our self-interests, we often seek a Jesus who serves our needs and promises our prosperity. Our hearts grow restless and bored unless the sermon shows us quickly how Jesus can meet our specific needs now - today - in this moment! We care more about our earthly Jesus than our heavenly Lord.

Jesus saw these tendencies in His first disciples as well. He wistfully said, Now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are you going?' (John 16:5). Yet Peter had just asked Jesus that very question only a few hours earlier (John 13:36). How do we harmonize the two verses? What is the question Jesus longs to hear from us?

Some have suggested that the answer is in the present tense of the verb "ask" (ερωτα) as if Jesus was saying that no one (ουδεις) was asking Him the question at that precise moment.  He was not thinking of what Peter said hours earlier that evening.  However, such a solution seems a bit disingenuous, as if Jesus cared more about the timing of the question than the heart of the questioner.

Jesus knew Peter had asked the question that Peter cared about instead of asking the question Jesus wanted Peter to care about.  The words are the same, but the intent is so very different. Peter didn't care about the destination of Jesus only that he felt abandoned by Jesus, and it led to a false bravado in his infamous pledge. The disciples were devastated that Jesus was leaving them (John 16:6). They were not interested in the plans of Jesus only the loss they feared for themselves.  They only cared about the problems for them not the purposes of the Lord (Morris, John, pp. 695-696).

We, too, seek selfish answers for life on earth not serious inquiries to understand the glories of our Lord in heaven. Like a child whose father is leaving us to go to work, we often ask "Where are you going?" The father will not be present to play with us! Our intent in asking is selfish. How different the question of a lover who wants to know all the details about where and what because of love for the one leaving not merely the loss of personal presence.

Jesus cares more about the heart of the questioner than the form of the question. A follower of Jesus wants to know everything there is to know about Him and His eternal purposes even if the knowledge is not immediately applicable to his earthly situation. A user of Jesus only cares to know what will meet his problems in that specific moment and cares little to know what is not an immediate life app!

What drives our questions shows the shallowness - or depth - of our relationship with Jesus.

AVOIDING THE BAIT STICK

Why did Jesus warn us about suffering and persecution in this world? He wanted us to expect hardship so that we might "be kept from stumbling" (John 16:1). It is a purpose clause introduced by 

ινα, and the verb is the passive form of a word (σκανδαλισθητε) from which we get our English word "scandal." Jesus warns us so that we will not be scandalized by the sufferings we experience in life.

The noun originally referred to a stick of wood that kept open a dead fall trap for small animals (Colin Brown, Dictionary, 2:707). The bait stick held up a rock or a log which would crush the prey when the bait stick was dislodged. The word later came to mean a stone or other obstacle over which a person tripped and fell down.

The verb meant "cause to sin" (to fall) and in the passive meant being led into sin through unbelief or apostasy (BAGD, p. 752). The connection to apostasy is important in the passive. The verb mean to fall away from what was once believed or to be misled from the truth (Colin Brown, Dictionary, 2:708). A professing Christian is scandalized when pressure entices him to fall away from the truth he once clung to by faith.

In the parable of the soils, the seed that fell on the rocky soil sprouted quickly (Mt. 13:20-21). The person received the gospel with joy "yet he has no root in himself, but is temporary, and, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away" (σκανδαλιζεται). Pressure (θλιψεως) causes the person to strike the bait stick in his agitation and be crushed by the enemy's trap.

Jesus predicted that there will come times of persecution (θλιψιν) when Christians will be hated. "At that time, many will fall away (σκανδαλισθησονται) and will betray one another and hate one another" (Mt. 24:9-10). The lie that God promises us prosperity and popularity is the bait stick of Satan leading many to fall away from Christ.

Avoid the bait stick! How? We must remember Jesus' warning that suffering, pressure, and persecution will come to us (John 16:4) so we will be prepared to face the hardships with faith. As the saying goes, "forewarned is forearmed." The best defense against the scandal of suffering is to expect the suffering. If we are not prepared for hardship, we will fall away and cause others to stumble with us.

After Jesus told the disciples that He would suffer and be killed, Peter vehemently objected.  Peter told Jesus not to think this way (Mt. 16:21-22). Bad things wouldn't happen to Jesus because God wouldn't let them happen. I recognize my own false trust in this same bait stick many times. Peter was the epitome of positive thinking. Jesus called him, "Satan," and said that Peter was a bait stick in Satan's trap because he was not setting his "mind on God's interests but on man's" (Mt. 16:23).

Lord, help me to avoid the bait stick by expecting pressure in this world and by keeping my mind on your interests instead of mine!