²⁸ “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

Pushing the envelope, Jesus not only broke the news to the disciples in the Upper Room that He would be leaving them, not only would He send another Comforter that in many regards would be just like Him, but now the disciples should have rejoiced at this news. One would think this a hard pill to swallow, from their perspective.

Jesus is not taunting them or over-reaching in His expectations of them, which always were higher than they had attained at any given point. This is not a ceaseless carrot on a stick, always present, but never truly attainable. No, Jesus’ unique way of communicating effectively raises the bar that they will attain. Not once do we hear from the disciples after the resurrection, after the whole story of what Jesus was talking about in the Upper Room had taken place, that they ever complained about Jesus’ absence or wished He were still there in His pre-resurrected presence.

To be sure, John finishes his inspired writings with, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20). And Paul wrote of his anticipation of being with the Lord when he wrote, “in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Tim 4:8). But no one wished the pre-incarnate Jesus back. In fact, once the “another Helper” came, namely the Holy Spirit which Jesus promised them, the twelve apostles hit the ground running, and began preaching Christ crucified.

They didn’t wait around mourning Jesus’ absence. In fact, in Peter’s first sermon, on the very day the Spirit came on them (Pentecost), he preached, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear” (Acts 2:32–33). In that very first church plant from which the Word of God went out powerfully into all the world, “Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe … praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:43, 47). So yes, though the disciples could not see it at the time in the Upper Room, they did come to rejoice that Jesus had gone back to the Father.

Lord, while my flesh at times desires to have been among those who walked with You on the earth, Your presence with me through the Spirit is all I need.