Just before he left the earth, Jesus made a startling announcement to his disciples. After only three years of ministry, Jesus was leaving them to continue the mission without him. Their master rabbi, leader and messiah was abandoning them. Even more astoundingly, Jesus said it was for their own good. (John 16:7)
It’s not difficult to imagine the disciples’ alarm. How could anything be better than having Jesus with them?
We know that Jesus was the Word of God in the flesh (John 1:1,14). That meant everything Jesus said was God’s words, as well as everything he did! Every action was an insight into God’s character and nature… every conversation a moment of divine wisdom and insight… every attitude a demonstration of divine power and love.
How then were the disciples to receive God’s wisdom and leading if Jesus left? How could they to go into all the world and share the good news in new places and situations they’d never experienced? No wonder the disciples were troubled by Jesus’ announcement.
And yet.
Jesus promised something better. He promised the Holy Spirit – an advocate, comforter and helper. This Holy Spirit would continue to speak as Jesus did but it would be even better. It was for their good that Jesus was leaving.
The question is why? Given the option, most of us would share in the disciples’ alarm. Like them, we’d probably choose a coffee with Jesus over any other option. But Jesus made it clear. His departure was necessary for the Holy Spirit to fully come.
Jesus told us that the Spirit’s revelation would be consistent to Jesus. It makes sense that as two members of the Trinity, they would never contradict one another. What then makes this a better arrangement? Or in other words, what does the Holy Spirit do that Jesus did not?
A God conversation from the life of a British corporate executive gives us a clue.
Leigh had a high-profile career in the recruitment industry. In his role as National Accounts director, he was responsible for approximately 2000 staff across multiple client accounts. It was a face-paced and high pressure position, that involved conducting strategic meetings with clients, negotiating contracts worth tens of millions and overseeing operations with his team.
Leigh’s job also involved frequent travel around the world. At one point, he was commuting from England to Canada each week. Though it was often demanding and stressful, Leigh thrived – at first. His job allowed him to visit some incredible places and meet some fascinating people. But after 13 years, Leigh began to experience a deep sense of un-fulfilment. Life was still good, but something was missing.
In the midst of his growing dissatisfaction, Leigh had a vivid dream. This was unusual since Leigh rarely remembered his dreams. In the dream, Leigh saw himself in his office, standing in front of his treasured whiteboard. Leigh was a big fan of whiteboards. He used them all the time to train and manage his staff and had multiple ones installed in his office. He even had a portable board for his travels.
As Leigh looked closer at the scene in the dream, he noticed writing on the whiteboard. In the centre was written, Leigh’s job title: “national account director.” Around his job title in a circle were written other areas of his life… family, friends, God and church, etc. Leigh was aware that these were all written in non-permanent marker that was easily erased. But for some reason his job title was written in permanent ink. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t erase it. Then Leigh woke up.
When Leigh woke up, he knew God was speaking. Somehow his job had become the most important area of his life and everything else had been relegated to second place.
After a heartfelt conversation with his wife, Leigh began to reorder his priorities. Later they began to explore a new path for his career—one that would eventually lead to full-time ministry.
Leigh’s God conversation marked a turning point in his life. His dream shows us how the work of the Spirit is distinct from Jesus and how it makes his presence with us even better than the physical presence of Jesus.
When Jesus was on earth, he spoke about how a disciple of Jesus orders their priorities. God’s kingdom was to be sought first and only then would all the other worldly areas of our lives be subsequently provided for (Matthew 6:33).
In the Holy Spirit’s message to Leigh, we can see consistency with the teachings of Jesus. As Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit spoke to continue the mission of Jesus.
The unique contribution of the Spirit was then to apply this truth to Leigh’s life in a way that communicated to his particular situation. Holy Spirit spoke the “language of whiteboard” to highlight Leigh’s disordered priorities and lead him to a place of alignment with God’s priorities. While Jesus spoke the language of Aramaic using idioms and metaphors of a first century Jewish audience, the Holy Spirit spoke the language of 21st century corporates to communicate to a busy executive seeking to follow Jesus.
Can you now see the beauty and power of the Holy Spirit’s role? This is why it is better for us to have the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit takes the universal truths of Jesus and translates it to our personal situations so that we can understand and action it. Oh for us to embrace the fullness of our New Covenant inheritance! May we listen to and heed the Spirit so that we may see the reality of Jesus manifest in each of our lives wherever we are and whatever situation we find ourselves in.
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