Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 16:5-7

"But now I go unto him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have spoken these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you." — John 16:5-7 (ASV)

1. Previously, our Lord addressed what would console His disciples in their coming troubles. Here, He deals with what will console them about His departure. Our Lord consoles them about His departure with three considerations:

   1. They will have access to the Father, as promised when He said, let not your hearts be troubled... in my Father’s house there are many mansions (John 14:1–2).

   2. He was going to send the Paraclete, and so He said, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete (John 14:16).

   3. They will see Him again, as He said, I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you (John 14:18).

   He explains these three things here, but not in the order just mentioned.

   1. First, we see the promise of the Spirit.

   2. Second, the fact that they will see Him again: a little while, and you will not see me; and again a little while, and you will see me (John 16:16).

   3. Third, we see their access to the Father, in the words, and in that day you will not ask me anything (John 16:23).

   He does two things concerning the first point:

   1. He mentions that they need some consolation.

   2. He gives it: but I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go.

   Regarding their need for consolation, He does two things:

   1. He foretells His departure from them.

   2. He mentions the effect of this prediction: but because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

2. He is leaving them, going to the Father. He says, "I was with you until now; now I go to him who sent me"—that is, to the Father. This is a mark of perfection, for a thing reaches its perfection when it returns to its source: I am ascending to him who sent me ; the rivers return to the place from which they came . He went, in His human nature, to the One with whom He was from all eternity in His divine nature.

   This was explained more fully before.

3. He adds, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

   Why does He say this? For Peter had asked, Lord, where do you go? (John 13:36), and Thomas had said, Lord, we do not know where you go (John 14:5).

   Both Chrysostom and Augustine give an answer to this, but not the same one. Chrysostom says that when the disciples heard they would be killed and cast out of the synagogues, they became so sad and stunned that they practically forgot about Christ’s departure. Losing the thread of His thought, they did not ask Him about this. So Christ says, but because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Thus, according to Chrysostom, when our Lord says, and now I go to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ He is really rebuking them. They did not question Him about this: ask your Father, and he will show you (Deuteronomy 32:7); search out and seek, and she will become known to you .

   Augustine, on the other hand, thinks that the statement, and now I go to him who sent me, does not refer to the very time when He is speaking, but to the time when He was to ascend into heaven. It was as if He were saying: "You asked me before where I was going, but I will be going now in such a way that you will not have to ask me, ‘Where are you going?’ because as they were looking on, he was lifted up" (Acts 1:9).

4. Now He mentions the disciples' sorrow. For Chrysostom, this sorrow is the effect of Christ’s prediction. For Augustine, their sorrow is the effect of Christ’s departure, for they were glad to be in His presence and were attracted to Him in His human nature in a somewhat carnal way, just as one friend is pleased by the presence of another. So they were sad that He was leaving: weeping may tarry for the night—that is, the time of the Passion—but joy comes to the apostles with the morning of the resurrection (Psalms 30:5).

   It is human for sorrow to touch our hearts, but it is bad when it completely takes over our heart, because it then destroys our reason. So He says, somewhat as a rebuke, sorrow has filled your heart; do not give yourself over to sorrow ; let not your heart be troubled (John 14:27).

5. Now He mentions one of the things that will console them: the promise of the Holy Spirit.

   1. First, He promises the Holy Spirit.

   2. Second, He foretells the effect of the Spirit: and when he has come, he will convince the world of sin (John 16:8).

6. Concerning the promise of the Spirit, He does two things:

   1. He points out the necessity of His going.

   2. He shows that His going is beneficial.

   He says, sorrow has filled your heart because I am leaving; but you should be glad instead, because it is expedient to you that I go—that is, it is very necessary for you—for if I do not go, the Paraclete will not come to you. Furthermore, my departure is very fruitful and beneficial for you, because if I go, I will send him to you.

7. But could Christ not have sent the Holy Spirit while He was still living in the flesh?

   He could have, because even at His baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove and never left Him. Indeed, from the instant of His conception, He received the Spirit without measure. But Christ did not choose to give the Spirit to His disciples while He was still living among them, for four reasons.

   1. They were not prepared, for carnal love is contrary to the Holy Spirit, since the Spirit is spiritual love. The disciples were affected by a kind of carnal love for the human nature of Christ, not yet having been elevated to a spiritual love of His divinity. And so they were not yet ready for the Holy Spirit: from now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view—with carnal affection; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, before His passion, we regard him thus no longer (2 Corinthians 5:16).

   2. Christ did not give them the Spirit then because of the nature of divine help, which is to be especially present in times of need: a stronghold in times of trouble (Isaiah 9:9); for my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me up (Psalms 27:10). As long as Christ was with them, He was all the help they needed. But when He left, they were exposed to many tribulations, and so another Consoler and Helper was very quickly given to them: he will give you another Paraclete (John 14:16); whom will he teach knowledge? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast (Isaiah 28:9).

   3. The Spirit was not given then out of consideration for the dignity of Christ. As Augustine says in his book On the Trinity, Christ as human does not have the power to give the Holy Spirit, but He does as God. When He was with His disciples, He seemed to be human, just like them. So that it would not appear that a mere human being was giving the Holy Spirit, Christ did not give the Spirit before His ascension: the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39); send her forth from the holy heavens .

   4. The Spirit was not given at that time to preserve unity in the Church. We saw that John did no sign (John 10:41), and this was so that the people would not be diverted from Christ and so that the superiority of Christ over John would be more evident. But the disciples were to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that they could do even greater works than Christ had done: and greater works than these will he do (John 14:12). If the Holy Spirit had been given to them before the Passion, the people might have become confused as to who the Christ really was, and they would have been divided: you have ascended to the heights, and have given gifts to men (Psalms 68:18).

8. Chrysostom thinks that we can use this as an argument against the Macedonians, who say that the Holy Spirit is a creature and a minister of the Father and the Son. But if this were true, the coming of the Holy Spirit would not have been a sufficient consolation to the apostles for Christ’s departure. It would be like the departure of a king, where his replacement by one of his ministers would not be a sufficient consolation. Thus, because the Holy Spirit is equal to the Son, our Lord consoles them by promising that the Spirit will come.

9. Yet if the Son and the Holy Spirit are equal, why is it to their advantage that the Son leave so that the Holy Spirit can come?

   The Son left concerning His bodily presence, but He came invisibly together with the Holy Spirit. If the Son had dwelt here invisibly and said, "It is to your advantage that I go because the Holy Spirit will come," people would think the Holy Spirit was greater than the Son.