Have you ever dreamed of what it would be like to be one of the disciples, back when Jesus was still on earth? For nearly two thousand years, Christians have imagined seeing Jesus’ life and wished they could have been there.
But Jesus says something astonishing in our John reading today. He says that it is to our advantage that he goes away, so that Pentecost can happen. (John 16:7) So, if anything, people seeing Jesus’ miracles first hand were worse off than us. How can that be?
There are several reasons for this in the Bible, but perhaps the biggest is the change it brings to our relationship with God. Earlier on in John, Jesus said that it’s the difference between God living among us and him living inside us. Though Jesus has ascended into heaven, he has given us a closeness to God that people before Pentecost could have only dreamt of.
Ed