It is always difficult to say goodbye to someone you love, particularly someone who has had a profound impact on your life. Grief is one of life’s greatest mysteries in the way it can cast its shadow over all aspects of your life and come and go so unpredictably that it can take your breath away. You can imagine then how painful and confusing it must have been for the disciples who were now having to come to terms with grieving the loss of Jesus a second time.

Yet, here was Christ insisting that it was ‘to your advantage’ for them that He should go. How could it be better for them? Well, now through the benefit of over 2,000 years of hindsight we know the power of the Holy Spirit, the ‘Advocate’ that Jesus spoke of, that moved in and through the disciples and the Early Church and moves just as powerfully in and through us all today. As much as it would have been hard for the disciples to hear, Jesus was right in giving them hope that all would work out for the best.

For, this same Spirit still convicts the world as Jesus explained, but the Spirit also inspires, enlivens, and emboldens. The Spirit stirs within our hearts, often disturbing and disrupting us, but also leading us into a deeper encounter with the Risen Christ.

Take some time to notice the Spirit stirring within your heart and leading you into a deeper encounter with the Risen Christ.

By Steph Jorna