John 16:7

It is expedient for you that. go away.

What seemed then. crushing sorrow was. real blessing. His mission could never be accomplished unless he went away. These same apostles who were now so overwhelmed with sorrow, forty days later, saw the Lord depart, and. cloud receive him from their sight, and yet "they returned to Jerusalem with great joy" (Luke 24:52). How often the "dark clouds break in blessings on our heads!"

For if. go not away, the Comforter will not come.

By the Comforter is meant the Holy Spirit, which was first shed forth on the day of Pentecost. The Greek word (Paraclete) is also rendered Advocate, or Helper. The Holy Spirit fills all these offices. This Spirit, given only to. few inspired men, under the Jewish dispensation, was now to become the heritage of the church that Christ would soon establish on the earth. While Christ was present in person, in bodily form, the Holy Spirit, the representative of the Godhead, could not come. Christ, as King, must send it, and on the day of Pentecost Peter declared, "He hath shed forth the things ye do see and hear." For. universal kingdom, in which the King should everywhere manifest his presence by abiding in his subjects, it was needful that be go away in person and send, instead of his personal presence, the "omnipresent Spirit." Hence, ten days after his ascension, the saints, "waiting for the promise of the Father, that they should be endued with power from on high," enjoyed the fulfillment in the outpouring of Pentecost.