John 16:7Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Rather, as though transporting him to heaven itself, it disposes him to think only of the things that are in heaven. For this reason “no one said that any of the things he possessed was his own.” They continued steadfastly in prayers, “with gladness and simplicity of heart” (Acts 4:32; 2:46).

This is what the Holy Spirit especially requires: “the fruit of the Spirit is joy, peace, faith, meekness” (Gal 5:22-23). Yet, you will say, people filled with the Spirit are often sorrowful. But this sorrow is sweeter than joy.

Cain also sorrowed, but with worldly sorrow. Paul also sorrowed, but with sorrow according to God. Everything spiritual brings the greatest profit, just as everything worldly brings the utmost harm.

Let us therefore draw to ourselves, through the fulfillment of the commandments, the invincible help of the Spirit, and we shall be no less than the angels. They are not what they are because they are bodiless, for otherwise none of the bodiless would be evil. Everywhere the cause of everything is free choice.

Therefore even among the bodiless there were some who became worse than men, and even worse than irrational creatures. And among those clothed in flesh there were some who became better than the bodiless.

Thus all the righteous, though they lived on earth and had a body, accomplished great deeds. On earth they lived as sojourners and strangers, but in heaven as citizens.

So do not say: I am clothed in flesh; I cannot overcome it; I cannot take upon myself the labors of virtue. Do not accuse the Creator. If virtue becomes impossible for us because we bear flesh, then we are no longer guilty.

But the choir of the saints proves that virtue is not made impossible by this. The nature of the flesh did not prevent Paul from being what he was, nor Peter from receiving the keys of heaven.

Enoch, while in the flesh, “was translated, and he was not found” (Heb 11:5). Likewise Elijah was taken up with the flesh. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob shone while clothed in flesh. Joseph, also with flesh, withstood that licentious woman.

And why do I speak of the flesh? Even if you place chains upon the flesh, there would still be no harm. “I am in chains,” says Paul, “but the word of God is not chained” (2 Tim 2:9).

And why do I speak of bonds and chains? Add prison and confinement as well, and none of this will be an obstacle to virtue. This is exactly what Paul taught.

The bonds of the soul are not iron, but slavish fear, covetousness, and countless passions. These are what bind, even if the body is free.

But passions, you say, arise from the body. This is an empty excuse and a worthless pretext. If these passions truly arose from the body, then everyone would be subject to them.

Just as no one can escape weariness, sleep, hunger, and thirst, because all these are natural, so no one would escape subjection to the passions if they were of the same kind.

But if many escape them, it is clear that defects of this sort arise from the soul’s negligence. Therefore let us cut off negligence and not accuse the body. Let us subject it to the soul, so that, having it in obedience, we may attain eternal blessings by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

“But I tell you the truth.” See how He again comforts them. He says: I do not announce to you what is pleasant for you. Yet although you are deeply sorrowful, you must listen to what is profitable.

You would have wished Me to remain, but what is profitable is otherwise. It belongs to one who cares not to spare his friends when their benefit is at stake, and not to draw them away from what is advantageous for them.

“For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come.” What will those say here who do not hold a proper understanding of the Spirit? Is it really better that the Lord depart and a servant come? Do you see how great the dignity of the Spirit is?

“But if I go, I will send Him to you.” What benefit follows from this? “And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin.”

For if I do not die for the world and go to the Father, giving Myself as a sacrifice and propitiation for the sins of the world, the Comforter will not come. How will He come if enmity is not ended through the putting to death of sin? How will He come if the Father is not reconciled to human nature?

What can the Macedonians say here, who diminish the glory of the Spirit and call Him the servant of the Son? What profit would there be if the Master departs and the servant comes? Therefore you, the disciples, will grieve because of My departure. Yet you will be gladdened by the coming of the Spirit, which will bring you greater and more important blessings.

How then did the Lord say that He had not told them this from the beginning, when it is written that, having called the twelve disciples, He said to them: "You will be brought before governors and kings"? (Mt 10:18). Although He said that they would be brought before governors, He had not yet said that they would be killed as impious men, harmful people, and enemies of God.

There is another explanation. There He said that they would have to suffer from the Gentiles. Here He says that the Jews also will bring calamities upon them. For those who cast them out of the synagogue will certainly be Jews.

Notice here, if you will, the sovereignty of the Spirit and the good pleasure of the Son. In the words, "the Comforter will come," the authority of the Spirit is expressed. In the words, "I will send Him," the good pleasure of the Son is expressed, His consent, if one may speak so, to the coming of the Comforter, and His beckoning toward it.

For one may think and reason within himself in this way. If it was better for Christ to go away, then His presence was not altogether free from some harm.

And if our profit lay in His ascent or return to the Father, then were not opposite consequences bound to come from His not departing from us?

Such a difficulty may trouble one of the simple. But guided by divine understanding toward an exact comprehension of these words, one must not be scandalized at all. Rather, one must seek the proper meaning of the saying.

Before all else, I think we must keep in mind and clearly know that, as it is written, “there is a time for every matter” (Eccl 3:1, 11), and everything is good in its own time.

Therefore the Lord’s bodily presence in this world was profitable in its own time. Likewise, again, in the proper time, and in accordance with the God-given appointment of each matter, He profitably returns to the Father.

His dwelling with the disciples must not be blamed as not very profitable because His departure later became necessary. Nor must the profit of His departure be censured because of the profit of His presence.

For both were accomplished profitably in the proper time. To disclose the meaning of this matter briefly, and to present it more clearly for the brethren, we shall repeat our former reasoning.

We shall speak in a few words about the cause of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten, and also about the profit of His departure.

Therefore, to free the one condemned by that ancient curse (Gal 3:13) from corruption and death, He became man. He sent Himself, as it were, into our nature, being Life by nature.

In this way the dominion of death was conquered, and the power of corruption that entered us was destroyed. Since the divine nature is wholly free from inclination toward sin, He bore us through His flesh.

For in Him are we all, since He appeared as man, in order to put to death “our members which are on the earth” (Col 3:5), that is, the passions of the flesh.

He also came to abolish the law of sin that had acquired tyranny in our members (Rom 7:23). Further, He came to sanctify our nature and to be for us a model and teacher of the path of piety.

He also became pure knowledge of the truth that is known, and of right life. All this Christ accomplished by becoming man.

Therefore human nature had to be raised to the summit of every good. It had not only to be freed from sin and death, but also raised into the heavens themselves.

Man had to be shown as dwelling with, and sharing the choir of, the Angels. Through His Resurrection He gave us a new power both to escape corruption and to open for us the entrance into heaven.

He also enabled the one removed from His face because of the transgression in Adam to stand before the gaze of the Father.

Understanding this, the divine Paul said: “Christ entered not into a sanctuary made with hands, nor into a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us” (Heb 9:24).

Do you hear that, while He is always before the gaze and in the nature of His Begetter, because of identity of essence, He now appears not for Himself, but for us?

What I have already said on this matter, I shall say again. He sets us before the gaze of the Father, being the firstfruits of humanity, when He went away into heaven.

As, being Life by nature, He is said to have died and risen for our sake, so also, though always seeing His Father and being seen by His Father, He is now said to have appeared.

That is, when He became man, He appeared not for Himself, but for us, as man. Thus our ascent into the heavens themselves appeared, as it were, with the completion of the divine economy concerning us on earth in the flesh.

This was in the firstfruits and first one, Christ. For He ascended as a forerunner into them for us (Heb 6:20), as the divine Paul himself says somewhere.

Precisely as man He may also be understood as the high priest of our souls, and as Paraclete and propitiation for our souls.

As God and Lord by nature, He sits together with His Begetter. Nevertheless, glory passes over to us also from this. Therefore Paul says of the Father that He “raised us up and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 2:6).

Thus, with the completion of the earthly work, it was fitting to fulfill the rest, namely the ascent to the Father. Therefore He says: “It is profitable for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you.”

To these considerations let us add another point, both profitable and true. At last, everything required on earth had been accomplished, as we have just said.

But we had to become sharers and partakers (2 Pet 1:4) of the divine nature of the Logos. Or, leaving our earthly life, we had to be transformed into another life and pass into the renewal of life pleasing to God.

This could be attained in no other way than through communion and participation in the Holy Spirit. The fitting and proper time for the sending of the Holy Spirit and His descent to us clearly came after our Savior Christ departed from here.

For while He was still in the flesh and dwelt with those who believed in Him, He appeared, I think, as the giver of a great good.

But since the time and need summoned Him to return to the Father who is in heaven, was it not fitting for Him to remain with those who honor Him through the Spirit?

Was it not fitting for Him to dwell in our hearts through faith, so that, having Him within ourselves, we might cry out with boldness, “Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6)?

Then we would proceed unhindered toward every virtue. Moreover, we would be powerful and unconquerable against the snares of the devil and the assaults of men, since we possess the all-powerful Spirit.

That the Spirit transfers those in whom He is and dwells into another condition, and transforms them into renewal of life, anyone may easily prove from both the Old and the New Scripture.

Thus the divine Samuel, when speaking to Saul, says: “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will be turned into another man” (1 Sam 10:6).

And blessed Paul says: “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord, the Spirit. Now the Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18, 17).

Do you see that the Spirit transforms those in whom He is found dwelling, as it were, into another image?

He easily transfers them from the desire to think on earthly things to the inclination to gaze only upon the things in heaven. He also transfers them from powerless timidity to a most courageous disposition.

We shall find the disciples in precisely this state. This admits no doubt. They were not only strengthened by the Spirit so as not to fear the assaults of persecutors, but were also wholly given over to love for Christ.

Therefore the Savior’s word is true when He says: It is profitable for you that I go away into heaven, for that was the time of the Spirit’s descent.

Then He added: "But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you." It is as though He said: "It is better for you that this form of a servant (Phil 2:7) leave you. Although I live among you as the Incarnate Word, I do not want you to keep loving Me in a fleshly manner. Nor do I want you, satisfied with this milk, always to desire to remain children. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you. If I do not take away the soft food with which I have fed you, you will not desire to taste solid food. If you cling in a fleshly way to the flesh, you will not be able to receive the Spirit."

For what does this mean: "If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you"? Could He not send Him while remaining here? Who would dare say this? He did not leave the place where He was. He came from the Father in such a way that He did not abandon the Father. Finally, how could He not send, even while remaining here, Him whom we know descended and remained upon Him at His Baptism (cf. Jn 1:32)? Indeed, we know that He was never separated from Him.

What, then, does "If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you" mean? Surely this: "You cannot receive the Spirit while you continue to know Christ according to the flesh." Therefore the Apostle, who had already received the Spirit, said: "Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer" (2 Cor 5:16). For he did not know even Christ's flesh according to the flesh, since he knew spiritually the Word made flesh (cf. Jn 1:14). Without doubt, the Good Teacher wished to indicate this when He said: "If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you."

When Christ bodily withdrew from the apostles, not only the Holy Spirit, but also the Father and His Son, were spiritually present with them. For if Christ had withdrawn from them in such a way that the Holy Spirit was present instead of Him, and not together with Him, whence would His promise come: "And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mt 28:20)? And whence this: "We will come to him, I and the Father, and make Our abode with him" (cf. Jn 14:23)? There He promised to send the Holy Spirit in such a way that He Himself would remain with them forever.

Therefore, when they became spiritual instead of fleshly or merely natural, carnalibus vel animalibus becoming spiritales, they would certainly be more capable of receiving the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But one must not think that in anyone the Father dwells without the Son and the Holy Spirit. Nor does the Father and the Son dwell without the Holy Spirit, nor the Son without the Father and the Holy Spirit. Nor does the Holy Spirit dwell without the Father and the Son, nor the Father and the Holy Spirit without the Son. Rather, wherever One of Them is, there is the Trinity, the one God. Yet the Trinity must be understood so that, although there is no division of essences in It, each Person is perceived distinctly. Those who understand rightly can never see in this any division of natures.

But what follows is this: "And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me. Concerning righteousness, because I go to My Father, and you will see Me no more. Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (cf. Jn 16:8-11). This is said as though the only sin were not to believe in Christ, as though righteousness itself were not to see Christ, and as though all judgment consisted in this, that the ruler of this world, that is, the devil, has been judged.

All this is too obscure and should not be discussed in the present discourse, lest brevity produce still greater obscurity. Rather, as far as the Lord grants, it should be explained another time.

The names of sorrow and consolation pass through the whole world, and participation in them falls to all people. Before the manifestation of the Lord, sorrow and consolation were not as equal in their action as they were in their names.

Sorrow certainly manifested itself in actions, as it still manifests itself now to reveal what had an end and ceased. Through sorrow and afflictions, the evil and those appointed to destruction were separated from the good, as they are now.

Consolation, however, manifested itself only in name, as though through prophecy. But the Lord acquired this name together with its action, because He had His members, that is, images of Christ, and His features divided and reflected in all His creations. For all creations conceive Him in order to give birth to Him, that is, to proclaim Him beforehand. Compare Col 2:17: “This is a shadow of things to come, but the body is Christ.”

Therefore the consolation already prepared beforehand He gave to us in actions by His Resurrection, and when He gathered His disciples in Capernaum, the city of consolation. “Capernaum” means “city of consolation.” According to Scripture, after the Resurrection the Lord appeared to His disciples in Galilee (Mt 28:16).

But sorrow, which once manifested itself in actions, is now named only by the word. The following passage of Isaiah also teaches this: “Do you see the Spirit who descends, and the salvation which He proclaimed?” (cf. Is 60:1; 61:1), and so forth.

Since our debts, because of our falling away from God, surpassed all things in their multitude, neither Prophets, nor priests, nor righteous men, nor kings were able to wipe them away.

Therefore the Son of God Himself, appearing on earth, everywhere became the captor of all. Neither in the womb, nor in birth, nor in baptism did He destroy our debts, until, delivered up to the Cross, He tasted death.

Thus His death became equal to our offenses, for through it was wiped away what all creation had been insufficient to wipe away. After the Lord had obtained for Himself the pledge of life among those subject to death, and in the nature over which death reigned, He ascended.

The Father seated Him at His right hand as the pledge of earthly beings. From there, out of His own nature, He sent upon them the true pledge, the Spirit the Comforter, the pledge of life.

For if we have been freed from slavery to sin, were we freed by a slave? In these and the following words, Saint Ephrem refutes the heretics who denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. He shows that the Holy Spirit is not a slave, that is, not a creature, as the heretics asserted.

But slaves are not freed by slaves. Pay attention to these two wondrous works. Who divided the tongues? The Father. Were those whose tongues were confused sinners or righteous? Sinners.

But when the Spirit was sent, upon whom did He come? Upon the Apostles. Were they not righteous? Certainly they were. Therefore, why did the Father confuse the tongues of sinners, while the Spirit divided tongues for the righteous and the Apostles? If so, the work of the Spirit is greater and more glorious than the work of the Father.

The Most Holy Trinity was pleased from on high that God the Father should draw the disciples to the Son, that the Son should teach them, and that the Holy Spirit should perfect them. Two things had already been fulfilled. The third also had to be fulfilled, namely that the Holy Spirit should make the disciples more perfect. But this could not be fulfilled before the Son departed.

For this reason Jesus Christ said to the disciples: "It is better for you that I go away," and so forth. As it is true that, if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you, so too, if the Comforter does not come to you, you will not become more perfect.

Therefore I must go, having accomplished the work that I had to accomplish. This is necessary so that another Comforter may come and make you more perfect.

He too is God from God, not another as God, but another as Comforter. He is the Spirit existing in His own hypostasis, proceeding from the Father and sent through the Son, that is, manifested. He too is the cause of all created things, since they are perfected in Him.

He is the same as the Father and the Son, equal in honor, apart from unbegottenness and begottenness. He was sent by the Son to His disciples, meaning that He was manifested. For in what other way could He be sent, Who is everywhere present?

Therefore He is sent not only by the Son, but also from the Father and through the Son. He also comes as manifested by Himself, because the sending, that is, the manifestation of the Spirit, is a common work.

He is manifested not according to essence, for no one has ever seen or explained the divine Essence, but according to grace, power, and energy. These are common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Proper to each of Them is His own hypostasis and all that pertains to it.

"If I do not go," and so forth, is a conditional form of speech. If it were possible to suppose that I remained with you on earth, then the other Comforter would not come to you.

The reason is this: the Lord had to be glorified through His sufferings and death as the Redeemer of mankind. Then humanity would become capable of receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The thought is the same as in Jn 7:39.

"If I do not die for the world and go to the Father, giving Myself as a sacrifice and propitiation for the sins of the world, then the Comforter will not come. For how will He come if enmity is not ended through the putting to death of sin? How will He come if the Father is not reconciled to human nature?" (Theophylact).

"I will send Him to you": see the note on Jn 15:26.

"If you are carnally attached to the flesh, you will not be able to receive the Spirit," says blessed Augustine in explanation of the Savior's words. He means that, while Christ Jesus remained on earth, His disciples remained with carnal thoughts about the kingdom of Christ. Therefore they were unable to receive the Spirit of grace.

But if the whole matter lay only in the need to elevate the disciples' understanding of Christ and His kingdom, Jesus Christ could have done this without leaving the earth. Likewise the Spirit, the Comforter, could have acted for this purpose in the disciples' souls while Christ Jesus was present.

No, the matter does not consist in this. The Lord is not speaking about the connection between the disciples' condition and the descent of the Holy Spirit. He is speaking about the connection between Christ's departure to heaven and the Spirit's descent to earth.

What, then, is this connection? It consists in this: before heaven had been reconciled with earth by the death of the Redeemer, spiritual gifts were not sent down upon believers in abundance. The blessings of the Holy Spirit had to be purchased by the Son, the Redeemer, through His acceptance of the curse on behalf of men.

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Gal 3:13-14). The Mediator of peace had to be made perfect through sufferings, so that He might fulfill the whole work of His ministry and afterward sanctify all by grace (Heb 2:10-11, 14).