John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you… Christ in heaven instead of on earth means — I. CHRIST'S PERSON NEARER. II. CHRIST'S CHARACTER CLEARER. One is apt to think the men of Christ's day were much more advantageously situated for judging of Christ's Divinity than we are. Yet what were the facts of the case? Now if Christ had never gone away — 1. We should want the highest proof, which we now have, of His divinity: viz., His resurrection and ascension. 2. We should feel, and that too increasingly, the difficulty of the Jews. They were acquainted with His parentage, with His upbringing, and with His daily life. Would we have round it easy to believe? The abundance of Christ's miracles would make them cease to be miracles; the gracious words becoming so common would lose their power; the very character of Jesus would come to be regarded as a product of the earth. What were helps to the men of Christ's day would become no inconsiderable hindrances to us. 3. Having Christ in our midst, we should have the difficulty, which is felt by every age, of judging of its great men's characters while they are yet alive. Great men are better appreciated by after generations than by their contemporaries. Sometimes, too, those who die beneath a cloud of shame have their names vindicated by posterity. Many examples might be given, but none more illustrious than that of Christ, who eighteen centuries ago was executed as a malefactor, but now is worshipped throughout the world as God. III. CHRIST'S WORK SURER. Of course Christ came to reveal the Father; to fulfil the law; to destroy the works of the devil; to bring life and immortality to light; to open heaven for believers. But while these are essential parts of the work of Christ, Scripture invariably assigns the central position to the Cross. All the others are rightly seen only when beheld as radiating from it; as thus — Christ's sacrificial death upon the cross was the highest revelation of the Father (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16); the perfect pattern of duty (1 John 3:16; 1 Peter 2:21); the absolute destruction of death (Hebrews 2:14, 15); the certain opening of heaven to believers (Hebrews 9:12). And all these because it was all expiation of the guilt of men (Ephesians 5:2, &c.). Yet, of this work the surest evidence would have been wanting had Christ continued on the earth. Had He postponed His dying we should certainly have had the promise of the Father as our guarantee that the work would be accomplished: had He died and risen, but remained on earth, we should have had the double witness of His own word and of the testimony of those who had seen Him. But that evidence would have gradually become obscure by the passing years. His visible presence would always be felt to be a difficulty in assenting to the truth of His decease. But now, Christ having gone away to His Father's throne, we have, so to speak, been supplied with a sublime public certificate that His great redeeming work has been accomplished. IV. CHRIST'S CHURCH RICHER; that is, by the presence of the Holy Spirit. In Christ's view the dispensation of the Spirit was a higher gift than the mission of the Son; higher relatively, as being an onward step in the development of redemption and the enjoyment of salvation. What the materials of a building are to the building and the architect; what the light is to the vision which we have by means of the light; what the wisdom in a book is to the same wisdom when apprehended by the mind; what the external revelation of nature is to the intelligent appreciation of it; what the Mosaic economy, with its code of precepts and system of sacrifice, was to the spiritual interpretations and applications thereof, which were given by the prophets; that was the work of Christ to the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes of the things that are Christ's and shows them to the soul. Christ revealed the Father to men; the Spirit reveals the Father in men. Christ gave to men a pattern of life; the Holy Ghost enables men to imitate as well as understand. Christ gave Himself to be a sacrifice for human sin; the Spirit helps men to believe in, and rest upon, that sacrifice. See also ver. 8. V. CHRIST'S HEAVEN DEARER. To bring to light the reality of a future life was one of the specific objects of Christ's mission. He came to speak of it in His teachings; to purchase it by His sufferings; to reveal it by His resurrection; to open it and take possession of it for His people by His triumphant ascension. Obviously, then, Christ's departure into heaven has given the world the surest proof that a heaven exists, and invested it with the strongest and sweetest charm for His people. Christ would not be long absent from the sorrowing disciples before they would come to feel in this respect the benefit of His departure. It would humanize heaven for them. It would no longer seem to them a strange place. Those who have Christian friends there know how that blessed home is all the dearer on that account. How much, then, should heaven be enhanced by the presence of Christ. Conclusion: What should be the soul's attitude towards this absent Saviour? "Whom having not seen we love," &c. Faith. Love. Joy. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. |
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