Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. (Jn. 16:7)
Why did the Holy Spirit not come during the ministry of Jesus, but must only come at Pentecost? Why did Jesus say that it is to the disciples' advantage that He do away, so that He can send the Holy Spirit to them? I admit these were questions that I did not really think about when I first saw these questions. After all, Jesus said it, and that is how the ministry of the Gospel is to be done. Jesus came to live and die on the Cross for our sins. Once redemption is accomplished, then it can be applied to us who believe, and that is the "job" of the Holy Spirit, isn't it?
Upon consideration of the biblical narrative and biblical theology, a few more reasons came into focus. First, Jesus' role is that of the suffering servant, and the next time He will be present is when He comes again as King. Since now is the time of salvation, clearly Jesus had to ascend into the heavens, as the Final Judgment is not yet come. The Holy Spirit on the other hand has always been about changing of the heart (c.f. Ezek. 36:27, 37:1-14), and therefore comes at Pentecost. Second, Jesus because of His incarnation is has a body and is therefore local. While Jesus in His divine nature is omnipresent, that is through His Spirit, not His body which remains fixed in a specific space (we deny the Lutheran view of the ubiquity of the human nature). The Holy Spirit, as not having being incarnate, is everywhere without qualification. In the time of grace, the Holy Spirit will "function" better to call the elect from all nations without creating a new geopolitical presence in this world.
Perhaps other Christians can think of other reasons why the Holy Spirit only comes at Pentecost after the conclusion of Jesus' ministry. But I am certain nobody who is not trained in the intricacies of "classical theism" and the "Great Tradition" will ever come up with this reason provided by Adonis Vidu!
The growth of the capacity for the Spirit in Christ's human nature is predicated on the priority of the hypostatic union and therefore on the grace of union over Christ's habitual grace. That is to say, the operations of Christ do not flow from a quasi-independent human nature but specifically from the God to whom the human nature is united in the person of the Son. The hypostatic union is not constituted by the ongiong deification of Christ. Rather, the latter is the consequent of the former. That said, the terminus of this deification is a fully pneumatized life. (Adonus Vidu, The Same God who works all things: Inseparable Operations in Trinitarian Theology, 274)
We seem to be faced with an apparant contradiction in the teaching of the Scriptures. On the one hand Christ explains to the sorrowful disciples that he must leave to go to the Father and that unless he does to the Father the Spirit will not come. On the other hand we are promised the continued presence of Christ ot the end of the age!
The key lies in thinking through the ascension of Jesus Christ along the lines of the transfiguration and penumatization of his human nature.... (Ibid., 275)
As God, Christ could draw the Spirit at any moment; however, God had determined to pour the Spirit precisely through the humanity of Christ, as the "Spirit of His Son" (Gal. 4:6). This takes place through the progressive pneumatization of Christ's human nature. ... (Ibid., 278)
To rephrase it clearly, Vidu's answer to why the Holy Spirit did not come down during the ministry of Jesus is: The Holy Spirit was present already, "incarnate" in Jesus, and working to spirit-filled, to deify, to "pneumatize" Christ's human nature. This process of deification of the human nature begins with the hypostatic union and continues on till ascension, where Christ's human nature is fully fitted and spiritual. Only then can salvation come as the Spirit through Christ's humanity work in us.
I think it is safe to say that for most Christians who read the Bible, Vidu's explanation is so far out it should not merit consideration. When in the Scriptures is what Vidu is claiming to be true taught? Vidu is imposing a foreign concept on Scripture, and twisting it to fit his philosophical program. What does it mean for a human nature to be "pneumatized"? In what way is that still a human nature?
In pursuit of ressourcement, Vidu is reinterpreting classic evangelical doctrines on Christ and salvation. Christians should take note and reject this ressourcement, and ignore the cries of "biblicism" thrown our way.
