Nevertheless, I tell you the truth
Christ was truth itself, and could say nothing else; but he makes
use of this way of speaking, to raise the attention of his
disciples, and to engage their belief of what he was about to
say, and of which they were not easily persuaded; which was, that
however overwhelmed they were with grief and sorrow, because of
his going away from them, a greater truth he could not tell them,
than that this would be to their real good and advantage:
it is expedient for you that I go away;
Christ's death here, as in many other places in these discourses
of his, is signified by going away, a departure, taking a sort of
a journey, such an one as indeed is common to all mankind; death
is the way of all the earth, and which Christ took by agreement
with his Father; a dark way is the valley of the shadow of death,
and so it was to Christ, who went away in the dark, under the
hidings of his Father's face; it is a man's going to his long
home, and a long journey it is, till he returns in the
resurrection morn; though it was a short one to Christ, who rose
again the third day. The phrase supposes the place and persons he
went from, this world and his disciples; and the place and
persons he went unto, the grave, heaven, his Father, the blessed
Spirit, angels, and glorified saints; and is expressive of the
voluntariness of his death; he was not fetched, or thrust, and
forced away, but he went away of himself; and is a very easy and
familiar way of expressing death by, and greatly takes off the
dread and terror of it; it is only moving from one place to
another, as from one house, city, or country, to another; and
shows, that it is not an annihilation of a man, either in body or
soul, only a translating of him from one place and state to
another. Now the death of Christ was expedient, not only for
himself, which he does not mention; he being concerned more for
the happiness of his people than of himself; but for his
disciples and all believers; for hereby a great many evils were
prevented falling upon them, which otherwise would; as the heavy
strokes of divine justice, the curses and condemnation of the
law, the wrath and vengeance of God, and eternal death, ruin, and
destruction; as well as many good things were hereby obtained for
them; as the redemption of their souls from sin, law, hell, and
death; peace; reconciliation, and atonement; the full and free
forgiveness of all their sins, an everlasting righteousness, and
eternal life. Moreover, Christ's going away was expedient for his
people; since he went to open the way for them into the holiest
of all, by his blood; to take possession of heaven in their name
and stead; to prepare mansions of glory for them; to appear in
the presence of God for them; to be their advocate, and make
intercession for all good things for them; to transact all their
business between God them; to take care of their affairs; to
present their petitions; to remove all charges and accusations;
and to ask for, and see applied every blessing of grace unto
them. The particular instanced in, in the text, of the expediency
of it, is the mission and coming of the Spirit:
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I
depart, I will send him to you.
The Spirit of God in some sense had come, before the death of
Christ; he had appeared in the creation of all things out of
nothing, as a joint Creator with the Father and Son; he was come
as a spirit of prophecy upon the inspired writers, and others;
the Old Testament saints had received him as a spirit of faith;
he had been given to Christ as man, without measure, and the
disciples had been partakers of his gifts and graces; but he was
not come in so peculiar a manner as he afterwards did; as the
promise of the Father, the glorifier of Christ, the comforter of
his people, the spirit of truth, and the reprover of the world:
there are reasons to be given, why the Spirit of God should not
come in such a manner before, as after the death of Christ. The
order of the three divine persons in the Trinity, and in the
economy of man's salvation, required such a method to be
observed; that the Father should first, and for a while, be more
especially manifested; next the Son, and then the Spirit:
besides, our Lord has given a reason himself, why the Spirit "was
not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified", ( John 7:39 ) ; And the
coming of the Spirit as a comforter, and the spirit of truth, was
to be through the intercession, and by the mission of Christ; and
therefore it was proper he should go away first, in order to send
him; add to all this, that if Christ had not gone away or died,
there would have been nothing for the Spirit to have done; no
blood to sprinkle; no righteousness to reveal and bring near; no
salvation to apply; or any of the things of Christ, and blessings
of grace, to have taken and shown; all which are owing to the
death of Christ, and which show the expediency of it: the
expediency of Christ's death for the mission of the Spirit to his
disciples, is very conspicuous; for hereby they were comforted
and supported under a variety of troubles; were led into all
truth, and so furnished for their ministerial work; and were made
abundantly successful in it, that being attended with the
demonstration of the Spirit and of power.