WHY DID JESUS LEAVE BEFORE THE HELPER CAME???
"But 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)
This statement of
John puzzled me in the past, as some great cosmic anomaly that prevented the
glorified Jesus from existing on the earth after the Spirit had been poured out
on mankind. Otherwise, why say “If I do not go away, the Helper will not
come to you”? I eventually reconciled
the apparent dichotomy with the earlier statement of John recalling the words
of Jesus spoken during the water pouring ceremony on the last great day of the
Feast of Tabernacles.
“If anyone is
thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living
water will flow from within him."
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.” (John 7:37-39)
Based on John’s
gospel, I concluded that it was not Jesus’ departure, but His glorification
that was a prerequisite for the coming of the Helper. Only through the glorification were believers
“made righteous,” (Rom 5:19), and “the righteous made perfect” (Heb
12:23). “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are
sanctified,” (Heb 10:14). In other words, the sacrifice of Jesus
perfected the believer to a level of righteousness necessary to receive the
Spirit.
In a recent Torah group
discussion, one person stated that the Spirit and the glorified Jesus could not
exist on the earth at the same time. I
challenged this position, which you all know is against my nature (:-)), because the statement was not consistent with my model. It was the “glorification” of Jesus and not
His departure that was necessary for the coming of the Spirit. This person countered that Jesus walked on
the earth forty days after His resurrection, but only left prior to the coming
of the Spirit. In addition, scripture
hints to a reverse scenario at the end days when the Spirit will depart prior
to the return of Jesus, (2 Thes 2:7).
As believers, we
accept that God is all powerful, able to perform any task, or accomplish any
purpose He desires, because “with God all
things are possible,” (Matt 19:26). At the same time, we acknowledge that God has
elected to limit Himself in the present creation according to the framework He
established in scripture. So I wondered if scripture offered some self-imposed
purpose of the Creator that prevents the Spirit and the glorified Christ from
existing on the earth at the same time.
According to the
author of Hebrews, Jesus currently ministers as “a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to
make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb 2:17), a high priest who can “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb 4:15), and “a high
priest according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 5:10).
“Now the main point in what
has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at
the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the
sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man,” (Heb 8:1-2).
As high priest, “Christ Jesus…is at the right hand of God…(and) intercedes for us,” (Rom 8:34).
The words of Paul, and the Hebrew author, imply an important ongoing
activity by Jesus, “to make propitiation
for the sins of the people,” (Heb
2:17). Even though the offering of
Jesus was “once for all” (Heb 7:27),
the interceding of Jesus as high priest is seen in scripture as an integral
part of the continuing process to sanctify believers in the righteousness
necessary to receive, and possibly maintain, the Spirit. It’s
unclear to me if this is a one-time process at the moment of belief or an
ongoing process for each believer.
Jesus’ role as high priest continues as long as Jesus sits in the
heavenly tabernacle at the right hand of the Father. When Jesus returns to the earth as King, His
role as high priest will conclude and Jesus will cease to intercede for
believers in the role of high priest, for “If
He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all,” (Heb 8:4). Therefore, scripture
implies that the appearance of Jesus on the earth at the present time is
limited by His existing obligation as high priest in the heavenly places. This understanding offers an answer to one
question, but leaves another unanswered, “Why must the Spirit leave the earth before
Jesus returns?”
The outpouring of
the Spirit on the earth is contingent on the righteousness of believers received
through the faithfulness of Jesus, as written, “He made Him who
knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness
of God in Him.” (2 Cor 5:21). A believer’s righteous is derived both from
the offering of Jesus on the cross, and apparently is also somehow dependent on
the continuing intercession of Jesus as high priest before the Father, (Matt 10:32). But what will happen when Jesus is no longer acting as a high priest? At
that time, can the Spirit no longer be poured out on mankind, as today, because
the righteousness of men may be diminished when Jesus no longer ministers as
high priest? Or is the removal of the Spirit just a prerequisite to allow the pouring out of God's wrath on the earth? What do you think?
This discussion opens up numerous fascinating tangents that are beyond the scope of this
thought. For example, does this explain
why the righteous are caught up to be with Jesus at the time of His return,
when He no longer is before the Father, “to
make propitiation for the sins of the people,” (Heb 2:17)? Can we also
offer an explanation for the return of the Levitical priesthood during the
fullness of the kingdom on earth?
Although the offering of Jesus is “once
for all”, will the Levitical priesthood and high priest fill the role vacated
by Jesus when He reigns as King on the earth?
It may only be in the fullness
of the kingdom where we will finally see the resurrected Jesus and Spirit c0-existing
on the earth at the same time. As Jesus
reigns on the throne of David, God “will
put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will be
careful to observe My ordinances,” (Ezek
36:27). Of the nation, Zechariah prophesied,
"I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication; so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him; as one mourns for an only son," (Zech 12:10)
-- Scott
