And willing rather to be absent, &c.— This may be understood as spoken with respect to death; and then it will imply, that a Christian, as soon as he dies, is present with Christ: or it may mean, that he wished for Christ's coming, that his whole man might be translated from this state of absence. Some have argued from this text, not only against the sleep of the soul during the intermediate state; but that pious souls, when departed from our world, go into the higher heaven, where they dwell with Christ; and are not, as some have supposed, in a place where they have only a transitory sight of him on some extraordinary occasions.
Related Commentaries of 2 Corinthians 5:8
2 Corinthians 5:8
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.