Can you imagine what it would have been like to be one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples during the time of His earthly ministry?
Healed the blind man? Saw it.
Raised the widow’s son from the dead? Witnessed it.
The Sermon on the Mount? Listened to it. (And in a day before podcasts, and assuming Jesus probably preached this or a similar message many times, you actually had parts of it probably memorized.)
Saw Jesus walk on water? Joined Him.
I can think of many other examples … but it would have been wild! Not to mention the joy of simply living life in the presence of the incarnate Son of God!
We can only imagine what this would have been like … but the disciples? They lived it in real time. Given the spectacular nature of this experience, just imagine how perplexing this statement from Jesus to the disciples would have been in the hours before He headed to the cross, “I (Jesus) tell you (disciples) the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away.” (John 16:7a)
Wait … what!?!?! Did Jesus just say what I thought He said? That it would be advantageous TO THE DISCIPLES if He left? That somehow OUR SITUATION today (where Jesus ascended to heaven) is advantageous to the situation of the disciples during the era of Jesus’ earthly public ministry? C’mon … seriously?
If you want an explanation for why Jesus said this, keep reading … “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).”
What Jesus was saying was that it was better to have the Holy Spirit (the Helper) inside of all of us who believe than to have Him beside a group of 12. This is also why Jesus would tell His disciples in Acts 1:4 to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came before them embarked on the Great Commission together … they needed the Helper for the task God had called them to. And so do we.
Friends, this Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we will begin a new sermon series called “Fired Up: the Holy Spirit and the Believer.” Over the next 7 Sundays (leading up to the day of Pentecost) we will explore the identity of the Holy Spirit and the implications of His ministry for you and me. This Sunday we will kick off our study with part 1, looking at a few of Jesus’ statements in His “upper room discourse” about the importance of the Holy Spirit for the Christian. This may be a topic you want to explore more … it certainly is a topic Jesus wants you to learn more about. So we will take a look at His revelation on the topic together on Sunday. See you in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 services … and bring friends!