5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
Jesus continues his farewell discourse to his apostles before his crucifixion. Jesus has repeatedly said that he is going to be killed but it must take place and is just a part of his mission, after death he will rise to the right hand of the power (God the Father). Despite his claims his apostles are always limited in their comprehension of what this means, despite the wide span of belief on the afterlife, inherent human materialistic fears within the apostles prevent them from fully trusting what Jesus says. They’re always stuck between “this guy can literally walk on water, turn water into wine, heal the sick, raise the dead but…his death seems irreconcilable. Jesus highlights their silence, if they believe fully they should be curious about the ins and outs of the divine machinations that will take place when he goes. “None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’.”
Typical first century understanding is at least Sheol, the realm of both the righteous and unrighteous dead awaiting the final judgement, Jesus will go there but he isn’t going there to stay, they should be more curious but death is still a stumbling block to the Jews both before and after Jesus’ mission.
6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
Jesus expresses a type of confusion, not literal but as leverage to manoeuvre his apostles to the correct position of thought. Their sorrowful disposition at the knowledge of his future death is actually at odds with what will come about because of it.
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Jesus now illuminates some of the divine machinations going on in the invisible realm and how it interacts with ours. We can use what he says as “pillars” or “rules” of it, at least according to his word which we should understand as reality. It also clarifies why they should not be sorrowful. Similar to that of the Old Covenant coming to end should not bring sorrow to the Jews as it will be the advent of the greater and eternal covenant, Jesus’ earthly ministry was the means to which the Holy Trinity deemed to mediate the new covenant, it wasn’t a be all end all of itself but a means to establish it. By his going, the Paraclete will arrive, God the Spirit that will guide them into all truth and Jesus makes it clear that it is necessary for his going because that is how the Spirit will arrive. If he stays, it will not. What this means in its absolute sense can be pondered for millenia without really getting any concrete conclusions but what we do know is that it is a rule posited by the Word made flesh as a requirement for things to come.
Jesus always makes it clear that his leaving, enables him to send the Spirit to them, once again another part of this discourse that verifies the claim that the Spirit proceeds from both the Father and Son via spiration whilst maintaining that the Father is the principle root. The Filioque affirms the spiration.
8 And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
The Incarnation was wide reaching in the context of first century Palestine but in a material sense limited and pedagogical, in the context that we as a species are many people spread over the world, a single seed can be planted but something immaterial is required to spread all over. This will occur through individual Christians united by the Spirit. This combined witness of the Spirit and the little Christs going out to all nations will “convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement”. It is massively undeniable, the ethical and moral change that occurred over the past 2000 years because of Spirit that led the bride of Christ into all truth. It is not a “judeo-christian” foundation but a Christian one. It was the Christians who bore witness to Christ for 300 years to Romans and in their martyrdom converted the pagan empire, thus spreading all over the known world. Jews sought to tone down their beliefs in order to not rock the boat of the Gentiles, this is what we see in the Talmudic period of Jewry. On multiple occasions, Jews saw the pagans as allies against the Christians up until the blood of the Church converted the empire.
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more;
11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Jesus now clarifies, concerning Sin, because they do not know him. His Church will spread and every martyr will be a witness to Christ, an image of him. The world will see Christ in his legion of self-sacrificing followers. Concerning righteousness, because Jesus will go to the right hand of the Father, the be all and end all of what is “good” and “just” will no longer be left up to intellectual opinion or rabbinical bickering but defined by He Who Is. Concerning judgement because the peak of peoples understanding of the material world was that of at most, being slaves to death and the might of the sword. This world left under the dominion of the Prince of Darkness, the evil one, will be humiliated by a greater power, one that can conquer death itself and rise on the third day. This judgement of the evil one is completely coherent with Second Temple literature, extra biblical exegesis of Old Testament literature, the expectation of the judgement of both human sinners and the divine ones, this is elaborated in great depth in the texts of 1 Enoch.
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