5th Easter
John 16, 1-33
“All these words I have spoken to you so that you will not go
astray [because you discover what destiny falls to you through being connected
with me]. For they will exclude you from their communities, and the hour will
come when those who kill you will think they are offering service to God. They
will do all this because they have not known my Father or me. All these words I
have spoken to you so that when the time comes you will remember that I told
you about it. In the beginning, I did not
need to say such things for I was with you. But now I am going away to him who sent me; yet, none of you asks
me “Where are you going?” Now that I
have said these things to you, sorrow enters your heart.
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| Reichenauer |
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is for your salvation and
healing that I leave you, for if I did not go away, the Comforter, the giver of
spirit courage, [who will stand by you in all trials, the Spirit upon whom you
can call for assistance at any moment,] would not come to you. When I now go
away, I will send him to you. When
he comes, he will call mankind to account for the decline into sin,
for the working of man’s higher being and for the great world separation; for
the decline into sinfulness, because they did not fill themselves with my
power; for the working of Man’s higher being, because I go to the Father and
you see me no more; for the great world-separation, because the decision has
already been made about the ruler of this world.
I have yet much more to say to you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when the Spirit of Truth comes, he
will be your guide on the way to the Truth that Embraces All. he will not speak out of himself, but what he hears he
will speak, and he will proclaim
to you what is to come. he will reveal me, for what he draws out of my being he will proclaim to you. Everything that
the Father has is also mine. That is why I can say, ‘He will draw upon my being and proclaim to you’.
Yet a short time you will see me no more, and again a short time
and you will see me.”
Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean
by saying ‘Yet a short time you will see me no more, and again a short time and
you will see me’, and ‘I am going to the Father’? They kept asking, “What does
he mean by ‘a short time’? We do not understand his words.”
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him and he said, “You are
wondering that I said, ‘A short time and you will see me no more, and again a
short time and you will see me.’ Yes,
the truth I tell you, you will weep and lament while other people will rejoice.
You will be filled with sorrow, but this your grief will be turned into joy. A
woman giving birth must bear pain, for her difficult hour has come. But when
the child is born, she no longer considers the anguish because of her joy that
a human being has been born into the world.
So it is with you. Now is your time of grief. But this your grief
will become the power of Spirit-Birth, for I will see you again and your heart
will rejoice, and no one can take that joy from you. On that day, you will no
longer need to ask me anything.
Yes, I say to you; from now on what you ask of the Father in my
name, He will give to you. Until now, you have not been able to pray in my
name. Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart so that your joy
may be full.
All this I have given to your souls in imagery. But the hour is
coming when I will no longer speak to you in pictures
but will tell you plainly about the Father, [so that you can grasp it in full,
knowing consciousness]. On that day, you will ask out of my power and in my
name. And no longer will I ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you because you have loved
me, and have known in your hearts that I have come forth from the Father. I
have come forth from the Father and I have come into this world. I am leaving
the [sense] world again and going to the Father, [of which you say that it is
the world of death].”
Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking in clear thought
and without imagery. Now we know that all things are revealed to you and that
you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. By this, we believe that you came from God.”
Jesus answered, “Do you now feel my power in your heart? Behold,
the time is coming and has already come,
when you will be scattered, each to his own loneliness. You will then also
leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is eternally united with me.
All this I have spoken to you so that in me you may find peace. In
this world, you will have great fear and hardship. But take courage. I have
overcome the world.”
5th Easter
May 14, 2017
John 16, 1-33
Even if unintentional, untruths obscure. They create a
kind of darkening. They
The truth of our lives is much greater than we can see.
The present current worldview obscures the true reality of life. In seeking to
control, it makes the world too small.
Christ came to enlarge the world. He came to enliven and
guide all human beings. He came to
unite all humankind. He came to reunite us with the angels, with our loved ones
who have died, to help us grow into the entire living cosmos. He is the Truth
that enlightens us. He does so, not by teaching, but by being himself the very means,
the Way to greater life. By being united in His Being of Love, humankind finds
the way forward.
