It is better for you that I go
It is quite obvious for us that these words of the Lord Jesus: "Now I am going to the One who sent me", we refer to the mystery of His Ascension. Especially if we realize that this coming Sunday, we will celebrate the Feast of the Lord's Ascension. And yet these words: "Now I am going to the one who sent me", the Lord Jesus spoke before of his Passion. It is shocking to realize that Jesus took his passion primarily as a path to the Father, in order to pave there the way for us. "It is better for you that I go." Indeed, the passion and death of God's Son was useful for us, because with its power we can kill all that is sinful in us and mature to eternal life.
However, in these words: " It is better for you that I go " merges into one the departure of the Lord Jesus through the Passion and His departure through the Ascension. “For if I do not go - explains the Lord Jesus - the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you”
This explanation is very intriguing. Because why the physical departure of the Lord Jesus from us was the condition for giving us the Holy Spirit? The Church Fathers answered this question very simply. When the Lord Jesus was with us physically, we could see Him, listen to Him, see His miracles, we could ask Him questions. Some were even lucky to become friends with him. At that time, however, there was an insurmountable limit that even people closest to Jesus could not remove. Namely, as a visible man, the Lord Jesus, even for friends, was someone from the outside. Only when he has gone to his Eternal Father and is constantly sending us the Holy Spirit, the border that separates us from Him no longer exists.
After all, the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Personal Love of the Father and the Son. By descending into our hearts, the Holy Spirit makes us one with Jesus. He makes Christ in us and we in Him. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, the same thing can happen with us as with the Apostle Paul, who could truly say: " yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (cf. Gal 2:20)
Until Tomorrow
fr. george