Jesus is still talking along the lines of returning home to His Father’s heavenly court to take up His co-regency. The disciples are still expecting a restoration of the literal Davidic Kingdom of Israel. Their blindness here is almost painful.
Having just told them of the Comforter to come, Jesus reaffirms that they will not have to proceed alone. He will be back. He says this knowing they don’t get what He means, but will understand later when it actually happens as a historical event. When it happens, the world will no longer see Him because He will not take a human physical form. But He will be alive, something that they need to remember once the Crucifixion and burial comes. In that same sense, they will also live — it will be an accession of eternal life, a gift that comes to them because He will raise from the dead.
When that day comes, they will finally understand how they can be united with Him in the Holy Spirit. Up to now, the Holy Spirit did not typically enter the hearts of men, but drove them via proximity. As men drew near to Jehovah with their hearts, it was like the wind filling the sails of their souls. After the Ascension, the Holy Spirit would enter the soul and unite with them, more like a ship with a motor. The Spirit that comes will be a manifestation of both the Father and the Son, indistinguishable in the human experience.
But it will still require faith. Jesus builds the image based on the Old Testament parable of Himself as feudal master. One who truly embraces the covenant that Jesus offers becomes family; their familial passion will be obvious. And it will be considered the same commitment to the Father, because the Father and Son will be indistinguishable in human experience. Such people will get to know God as a Person, the Father closer than any human father could be.
The other Judas (Jude, AKA Thaddeus or Lebbeus) was just as lost as the others when he asked how it was possible that they would see Him and the world would not. How could this Messiah-King reign over Israel if only a handful could see Him?
If you were on the same track as Jude, you would think Jesus had ignored the question. Instead, Jesus was explaining why the question was missing the point. Anyone who is committed in faith to Jesus as Lord will embrace His message. This would amount to moving into the shadow of God’s divine favor, which has been standing there waiting for us since the beginning. When someone stands in God’s favor, both Father and Son will invade that person’s being in the form of the Holy Spirit. They will know that they are not alone.
This is not so with anyone who rejects that same message. Without that message, it is impossible to stand in God’s favor. No one can find it without a heart of faith, because the message itself is structured for the heart alone. This message did not originate from Jesus; it is the same ancient message of Jehovah from the Garden of Eden. Jesus merely came to make that message so obvious no one can pretend they can’t get it if they but wanted it.
“They will know that they are not alone.” Yes, indeed, we are not!