16 “A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” 17 Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
Message: The Disciples' Confusion
Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."
What the Lord is Saying: If anything, it seems Jesus is speaking to the disciples in simple ways in hopes that they will understand him, but despite this they remain confused as he gives this final discourse to them. And yet Jesus is not telling them clearly where He is going. Simple describes his vocabulary, but clearly describes specifics. He said to them in John 13:14, "Little children, I am with you a little while longer....Where I am going, you cannot come." Here he is speaking of being glorified in which He knows He will be ascending to God in heaven after dying on the cross for all sins. He will bear the punishment of all sin, being our atonement. In 13:36 He says, "Where I go, you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow later." He is going to heaven and at some point the disciples will be with Jesus in heaven as well and then He mentions His Father's house in 14:2.
It is normal for the disciples to want to know all the specifics when Jesus makes these statements. I am the same way today. We are the same way today. We want to know it all. We aren't ready to behold only some of the details. God wants us to trust him, but many don't want to trust God because they expect to know everything, to get every question answered. We know a great deal and we know that when we have faith in Him and believe in Him he hears us and saves us. We know these things.
When I look at today's passage, Jesus is either talking about His death and resurrection or maybe He is simply speaking about His crucifixion from the time He is captured to seeing Jesus on the cross. I am not sure. Jesus is going to change before their eyes. And what we need to do is trust Him. Most likely based upon the next verses He is talking about His coming death on the cross. Coming alongside the disciples I need to trust Him.
Summary: Jesus is telling the disciples He is departing to a place they cannot see Him, but they will see Him again another time, another place. And we can trust Jesus without knowing all the details.
Promise: In times of uncertainty, I need to come to God and let him know I am confused and ask Him to comfort, not necessarily to get all the answers, but to place our faith in Him.
Prayer: Lord, I trust You and I thank you for giving me clarity often with the details of my life, but if I don't understand it all, then let me still trust You and believe in You. You have not let me down and You have promised me eternity and so therefore I can trust You for that. I am your follower and am grateful for things that I do know yet still. Thank you for speaking to me and revealing things to me. I remain close to You.
Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.
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