August 17, 2025
by Pastor Chuck SwindollScriptures: John 14:1–6, 16–18
We sit calmly as we read those words and as we try to imagine the disciples hearing them. But they were anything but calm! Jesus was announcing His departure, and they were struggling with feelings of abandonment. Their stomachs must have churned when He used the word “orphans,” for that is exactly how they felt.
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”
“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:1–5)
We sit calmly as we read those words and as we try to imagine the disciples hearing them. But they were anything but calm! Jesus was announcing His departure, and they were struggling with feelings of abandonment. Their stomachs must have churned when He used the word “orphans,” for that is exactly how they felt. For more than three years they had been inseparable. He was there when they awoke. He was with them through virtually every situation they faced. When they called for help, He was usually nearby and able to step in. Suddenly, all that would change. He was leaving them—permanently. And though they were adults, the sting of His departure left them feeling orphaned.
No more meals together. No more discussions beside the sea. No more quiet talks around the fire at night. No more shared laughter or tears or watching Him handle some thorny situation. Orphaned.
And yet He promised not to leave them as orphans. “Plan B” was already in motion.
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16–17 NASB)
Aha! Jesus promised them that His replacement would be “another Helper,” namely, the Holy Spirit. And, unlike Jesus, who had only been with them, He (the Spirit) would be in them. Quite a difference! Not too many days hence, when the Spirit would arrive, He would slip inside them and live within them forever. No more temporary companionship; the Spirit’s presence would be (and still is) a permanent presence. It had never been like that before. Not even in the lives of those Old Testament greats. But from now on . . . yes!
Jesus’ departure was essential for the Spirit to begin His permanent indwelling. Jesus said so. And what was true for the disciples is true for you and me today.