After appearing to his disciples for forty days after his resurrection, Jesus is asked, “Are you going to restore the kingdom now?” To the shock of the apostles, Jesus says instead that he is leaving. He says that it is better that he go, so that the Holy Spirit will come. Jesus doesn’t do the things that apostles might have been implying in their question. He doesn’t kick the Romans out. He doesn’t fix the world. He leaves. Yet, he promises, “I will be with you always.”

We too can find many ways in which we would like Jesus to come and “restore the kingdom,” to “fix the world.” Like with the apostles, Jesus doesn’t promise to fix all the problems we encounter in this world. Rather, he promises to be with us. He has sent us his Spirit, and in doing so is more present to us today than he was when walking the earth with his apostles. Pentecost is a chance to remember the presence of Jesus in his Spirit and hear his calming reassurance, “I am with you…peace.”