28 “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
His divine earthly mission nearing a completion, our Lord now clearly summarizes to His disciples His redemptive work in a mere sentence. He had come from His Father – His Incarnation; He had entered the world – His Humiliation; and now He was preparing to go back to His Father – His Ascension. He left His Father’s side lovingly condescending to enter into mankind’s world. This was where His business lay and this was where He came to attend to it. He left His glorious abode for this strange country – His expansive palace for this paltry dwelling - His glorified body for a mere jar of clay. Indeed, the prophet Isaiah gives us deeper insight into our Lord’s earthly appearance:
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:2-3 (NIV)
Earlier in John we are given further clarity regarding our Lord’s mission on earth as well as His focus and firm resolve to the adherence of it. Our Lord knew fully His Sovereign Authority, His origin as well as His coming destiny therefore He acquiesced to voluntarily take the place of a lowly servant in order to demonstrate to His guys what their behavior should emulate. If He, being God, took the place of a servant, how much more should His followers do likewise? As children of the King we have confidence to stoop we have strength to serve. John states:
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:3-5 (NIV)
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13 "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." John 13:12-17 (NIV)
“Christ became what we are that He might make us what He is.” Athanasius of Alexandria
Our Lord was heading back to His Father yet His work would continue on in heaven. Though physically away from His church, He would remain spiritually present and remain so until the end. He would be our great High Priest – our Intercessor - sitting at the right hand of God – living to intercede for us. The writer of Hebrews tells us:
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. Heb 7:23-27 (NIV)
Not only that, He has not left us as orphans but has given believers the deposit of the precious Holy Spirit as a guarantee of what is to come. The “deposit” of the Spirit is in essence a little bit of heaven in the believer’s life with a guarantee of much more yet to come. We are told by Paul in Ephesians:
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory. Eph 1:13-14 (NIV)
“The Holy Spirit is not a blessing from God, He is God.” Colin Urquhart