The Person Who Took Jesus’s Place
John 16:7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
It is difficult for us to understand how the disciples would have felt when Jesus told them He was going to leave them. He not only said He was going to leave them, He told them it would be for their good. These disciples had left their families and their jobs to take up with this itinerant preacher, going from town to town proclaiming the coming of the Messiah who would usher in the Kingdom of God. His words were persuasive, His miracles never before seen. He had turned water into wine; miraculously healed lepers; fed thousands with a few fish and a few loaves of bread; restored sight to the blind and enabled the lame to walk. He stilled the raging sea and brought the dead back to life. They believed He was exactly who He claimed to be, the only begotten Son of God, the Savior of the world. And now He was going to leave them and He was telling them it was for their good He was going.
How could this be possible? Who could take His place? The name of the One coming reveals the uniqueness of His replacement. He would be the Counselor, the Comforter, and the One who would convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. He would be the Spirit of Truth and would guide all who believe in Christ into all truth. His actions and revelations would bring glory to God and always exalt Jesus Christ.
The Counselor Jesus is talking about is the Holy Spirit. (John 14:26) He is the Spirit of power, the Spirit who teaches, the Spirit who lives within us and guides us. He is the One who opens our spiritual eyes and ears and baptizes us into Christ at the point of our salvation. He is the power of our resurrection and searches all things, even the deep things of Christ. He is the Spirit behind our being born again, our becoming a new creation in Christ Jesus. (John 14: 26; John 16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:11; Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Titus 3:5)
Our Comforter, the Holy Spirit, brings relief in the midst of our distress and supplies wisdom in the midst of our confusion. He is our Intercessor, the One who reconciles us to God.
It is this third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised would come to take His place. Jesus knew what His disciples needed and what we modern-day disciples need to be able to live faithfully in a righteous and holy relationship with Him. What a wonderful God, what a wonderful Savior, what a wonderful Holy Spirit Jesus sent to fill the void of His absence.
Here beloved is the “good news:” all who belong to Jesus have His wonderful Holy Spirit living within them. He is in the process of transforming us to the image of Christ. Hallelujah! My heart aches for this work of the Spirit to be completed soon. As the chorus of the beautiful hymn says, “Oh to be like Thee! O to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thy art! Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness, stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
How grateful we should be to Christ for the giving of His Holy Spirit. david
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