The Ascended Jesus is present with us where we are. However, he is present as the absent One. He is absent because he has left this world to be with his Father. He is now at the very centre of the heavenly sanctuary representing us before his Father. Nevertheless, he is with us by the Spirit he sends to us. Jesus and the Spirit are One, just as Jesus and his Father are one. And so, in the presence of his Father, Jesus is still deeply involved with us.

All the good things the Spirit gives to us during Jesus’ absence are the expression of Jesus’ own heart toward us. Jesus says, “I will send him to you” (John 16:7). And he sends the Spirit for the purpose of standing in his place to act towards us, as Jesus. So, The Spirit communicates the heart of Jesus towards us and is delighted to do so.

The Spirit of Christ can communicate Jesus’ thoughts about you, even at the very moment when he is thinking them! Indeed, he tells you that Jesus never stops thinking about you. So, with the Spirit in us, we know Jesus’ heart as if he were physically present with us, or should we rather say, more deeply? So, we do not merely engage in logical deductions concerning Jesus’ heart towards us, for Jesus communicates his own heart to us and in us by his Spirit.