The Comforter - John 15:26-16:16

Even though dark days are coming for the Apostles, Jesus reassures them that “the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” I’ve thought a lot about why the Holy Ghost wasn’t with the disciples at that point and even though I don’t know for sure, I think that having the Spirit and the Savior together working on the people would have been too much for anyone to learn anything for themselves, it seems like there would have been a conflict with agency.  

It’s really a roller coaster of emotions, but it seems like Jesus is trying to prepare them for the transition from having Him with them all the time to learning to rely on the Spirit. He warns them further that tough times are coming, and acknowledges that “because I have said these tings unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.” This is understandable, a big unexpected change is coming, and the foreshadowing is dark and ominous, it’s reasonable for them to be apprehensive about the upcoming changes.
The disciples are probably thinking, “if everything is going to be so bad, then why do you have to leave at all?” But Jesus goes a different route with it saying, “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 depart, I will send him unto you.” The Holy Ghost is so vital that it’s worth the Savior personally leaving the earth so that the people can have him. I had always imagined that Jesus being here personally on the earth was the ideal, and that the Holy Ghost was kind of just sloppy seconds, but it appears that I’m completely wrong. I wonder if Jesus and the Holy Ghost together is what the Millennium will be, if that’s the magic combination to bind Satan?
Jesus begins to list the attributes of the Holy Ghost: 1. “Reprove the world of sin.” 2. “Guide you in all truth.” Well I guess that’s it, it wasn’t a very comprehensive list. I think that the best statement of this whole dialogue is “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” These are difficult concepts for me to understand, especially when I consider them from the perspective of the apostles because I don’t know what it was like to be in the presence of Jesus, especially when he was simply another mortal on the earth like us. I don’t know what it’s like to trade Jesus for the Holy Ghost. I don’t know to what extent they understood what he was saying or what was about to happen. I have 2,000 years of hindsight and perspective, so most of this doesn’t make sense to me.
Apparently receiving the Holy Ghost was so important that the disciples were going to be able to spread Jesus’ gospel after he died. If the Spirit was important then, it surely is important now. The IM quotes Elder Dallin H. Oaks as teaching, “How do we take the Holy Spirit for our guide? We must repent of our sins each week and renew our covenants by partaking of the sacrament with clean hands and a pure heart, as we are commanded to do. Only in this way can we have the divine promise that we will ‘always have his Spirit to be with (us).’ That Spirit is the Holy Ghost, whose mission is to teach us, to lead us to truth, and to testify of the Father and the Son.”