On that holy and horrendous night,
Jesus’ final, the Passover of betrayal, he both warned and encouraged his
disciples:
“A little
while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will
see me.”
~John 16:16 (NRSV)
He wanted them warned of the grief
they would experience shortly, as well as the joy they would eventually
experience, “a little while” from then, when they were to again be reacquainted. Jesus said
this in response to the disciples’ sadness that he would soon be gone to the
Father and that the Advocate would soon arrive to continue the work of God,
from within them, in the world.
Grieving Disciples
Having spent the better part of
three years hanging on every word that Jesus spoke, witnessing his miracles,
learning the apostolic trade, the disciples were about to be cast into an
oblivion of sorrow. In the meld of all the emotion was disparate guilt upon
varying levels of betrayal, with many of the disciples feeling they’d let Jesus
down. And like we often do, they had.
Of course, hearing all these
instructions, warnings and encouragements at the Last Supper gave the disciples
no clearer conscious impression; but they would call on memory of all Jesus
said. In all these instructions, including the hope of the joy to come past the
sorrow, was built the purpose of the Church—the Mission of God in the world.
We may understand that the joy
Jesus promised would come ahead of our reacquaintance with the Lord, because of
the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.
Visions Of Jesus – Here And To Come
Upon the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit, we, again, like the disciples, gain a glimpse of Jesus, our Lord and
Saviour. Whilst these glimpses are not visual, they are more importantly
spiritual.
These spiritual glimpses are hope
for our souls. In the conquest for life, and dealing with regaling fortune and
misfortune, and whilst we suffer, in joy we’ll complete our race.
Jesus helps the disciples’
confused understanding of what he discusses by using the metaphor of a woman in
labour. Whilst they were to suffer, like the woman with fierce contractions,
and be saddened by the pain likened to childbirth, they would soon realise the
joy of knowing this new life—their presentation before the Father.
The beauty of this new vision is
that Jesus is our mediator. No longer will we ask of him, but through him we
will ask the Father directly.
***
We may have sorrow now, but joy is
inevitably to follow. Preceding a new life is the pain of childbirth. When a
mother enjoys sight of her baby the pain is quickly forgotten. We too will soon
roll past this difficult life into incontestable joy.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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