Why did the Lord Christ say, “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 depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7)?

St. Augustine says, “For at that time the apostles were not yet fitted even to die for Christ, when He said to them, ‘You cannot follow me now’ (John 13:36) … and yet afterwards a countless number both of men and women, boys and girls, youths and maidens, old and young, were crowned with martyrdom; and the sheep were found able for that which, when the Lord spoke these words … Well, then, let us grant that it is so, that many can now

838 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 5.11 (NPNF II/7:31) amended.

839 See St. Macarius the Great, Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian , trans., A. J. Mason (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921) Homily 2.4: p. 14, amended.

bear those things when the Holy Spirit has been sent, which could not then, prior to His coming, be borne by the disciples.”⁸⁴⁰