Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you — this is counterintuitive: Jesus' departure is actually advantageous (sympherei—profitable, beneficial) to the disciples. His physical presence, bound to space and time, limits his accessibility; once he ascends, he can be universally present through the Spirit. The sending of the Paraclete depends on Jesus' departure; resurrection and ascension make Pentecost possible. The loss of Christ's physical presence is the condition for gaining his universal presence through the Spirit.

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