2. " It is expedient for you that I go away." — Is not the ex- pression used by the Lord something stronger than we should venture to use if we had not His own authority for it ? Literally, " It is profitable for you." There is no ambiguity in the word. It is found several times in the Gospels, and always with the same meaning. " It is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell." "If the case is so, . . . it is not expedient to marry." " Whoso shall cause a little one to stumble, it is expedient for him that he should be drowned in the sea." " It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people." Of two possible alternatives, that one is preferable which is introduced by the word, " it is ex- pedient." And in the phrase before us, the two alternatives are the departure and the visible presence of the Lord. " It is ex- pedient for you that I go away." It is better for you that I should go and send the Comforter than that I should stay with you in closest earthly fellowship for ever. Better for the world that Jesus should be removed from the eyes of men than that He should lead them to Himself by the magic of His words and the wonder of His works !
^ Why did Jesus go away ? We all remember a time when we could not answer that question. We wished He had stayed, and had been here now. The children's hymn expresses a real human feeling, and our hearts burn still as we read it : —
I think, when I read that sweet story of old,
When Jesus was here among men, How He called little children as lambs to His fold
I should like to have been with them then ;
ST. JOHN XVI. 7 203
I wish that His hands had been placed on my head, That His arms had been thrown around me,
And that I might have seen His kind look when He said, " Let the little ones come unto Me."
Jesus must have had reasons for disappointing a human feeling so deep, so universal, and so sacred. We may be sure, too, that these reasons intimately concern us. He did not go away because He was tired. It was quite true that He was de- spised and rejected of men; it was quite true that the pitiless world hated and spurned and trod on Him. But that did not drive Him away. It was quite true that He longed for His Father's house and pined and yearned for His love. But that did not draw Him away. No. He never thought of Himself. It is expedient for you^ He says, not for Me, that I go.^
The Departuke of Jesus.
Christ has to recall His disciples from the contemplation of their own impending loss to the great gift which should follow upon that " going " which they deplored, but which they so little understood. He had shielded them hitherto, and the thought that that shelter was to be removed filled their hearts with sorrow. So full were they of their loss that no one asked how this departure affected Him, and thus they were in danger of missing the abiding significance of His departure for themselves. There are three words for " going away " used over and over again in these chapters, and there is a fruitful study to be found in the changes rung on these " bells of sweet accord." Let it suffice to say that departure from the point of view of mere separation passes into the idea of a journey, and thence into that of a goal to be reached, a " going home."
1. It was that parting hour of mysterious thoughts, of agonized affections, which is sometimes experienced when we are sure that death stands at the door and waits ; when but a few minutes are given for parting words and loving reciprocations. Only, their Master was in the fulness of life and health. But for this
^ H. Drummond, The Ideal Life, 63.
204 AN EXPEDIENT DEPARTURE
mysterious assurance they could not have thought of His death. He reiterated it in their incredulous ears, and poured out mysterious and lofty consolations — greater thoughts, more spiritual sanctities, more loving sympathies than had ever fallen from His lips before. They were awed and perplexed as well as sorrowful.
2. Then His departure was the disappointment of their greatest hopes. Upon their Jewish standing-ground all their hopes of His Messianic Kingdom were frustrated — they " trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed Israel " ; and now He tells them that, instead of sitting upon the throne of His father David, He is about to die. Not only were they losing more than affection ever lost before, but the fabric of their most cherished hopes lay in ruins at their feet. And it seems to have produced in them a stupor of feeling almost approaching to paralysis. " Does none of you even ask Me whither I go ? Hath sorrow so entirely filled your heart because I have spoken these things ? Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. Whatever sorrow My going away may cause you, it will be to you a transcendent blessing. If I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I depart I will send Him unto you ; and when He is come He will work mightily in men, convincing them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Y"ou cannot understand now the things that I have to say to you concerning this great mission of the Holy Spirit. I can only assure you of its truth and greatness and blessing. It will be to you more than even My personal presence with you."