5th Easter John 16, 1-33
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| He Qi |
“All these words I have
spoken to you so that you will not be offended 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 rob you of your
earthly existence and kill you will think they are offering service to the
progress of the world. They will do so because they cannot raise their knowing
to knowledge of the Father, nor to knowledge of my being and working. All these
words I have spoken to you so that when the time comes you will remember that I
said them to you. I did not speak to you in this way in the beginning because I
was with you. But now I am going away to him who sent me; yet, none of you has
yet the strength and courage to ask me about the realm into which I now enter.
Your hearts are full of grief and therefore closed to the things I have said to
you.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is for your
salvation and healing that I go away, for if I did not go away, the Comforter,
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. But because I go, I will be
able to send him to you. When he comes, he will bring to the world a consciousness
of how the nature of the sickness of sin works, of how people can be
reconnected with the divine world in which there is no sin, and of how the
decision about human error can be brought about. Sin is human beings not really
being able to trust in my being and in that which works out of my being within
them. The balancing of sin holds sway in my going to the Father and in not
remaining limited to appearing outwardly. Judgment works in the decision that
has already been made about the prince of outer world.
I have much more to say to you, more than you can
now bear. But only when the Spirit comes, through whom the Truth can reveal
itself to the world, will he lead you to the Truth that Embraces All. For he
will not speak only out of himself, but he will speak what he hears in the
realm of the Spirit, as the speaking of the eternal reality, and he will tell
you what is yet to come. Thus will he reveal me among men, for out of what he
takes from my being he will proclaim to you. In the realm in which my Father
works, there I also live. That is why I can say, ‘He will take from my being
and proclaim to you’.
In a little while you will see me no more, and then
after a little while you will see me.”
Some of his disciples said to one another, “What
does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more’, and then,
‘after a little while you will see me’, and ‘because I am going to the Father’?
They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not understand
what he is saying.”
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this,
so he said to them, “You are wondering what I meant when I said, ‘In a little
while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see
me.’ Amen, amen, the truth I say to you,
you will weep and deeply mourn, and the world will rejoice in this. You will be
filled with sorrow, but this your sorrow will be turned into unceasing 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 child 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 will take your joy from you. On that
day, you will be so deeply united with me that you will no longer need to ask
me anything.
Amen, amen, I tell you the truth; 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 ask anything in my name. Ask and you shall receive, and your joy
will be complete.
Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your
heart so that your joy may be fulfilled.
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 openly and unveiled about my Father, so that you can grasp it in full,
knowing consciousness. So will I proclaim to you the being of the Father. 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 will love 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.
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| Christ's Descent, Unknown |
I leave the sense world again and return to the
world of 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. This
makes us 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. But 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
John 16: 1-33
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| Sodom and Gomorrah, Nuremburg |
There is an Old Testament story in which God wants to lead
His people to a new setting. He sent two angels to Abraham’s nephew Lot to gather the people together and lead them out of
the doomed city. The angels warned them not to stop or look back during this
transition. But Lot ’s wife could not resist
turning her attention backward. Perhaps she was
fascinated with horror over the city’s destruction. Or perhaps she felt
grief over what had to be left behind. But not heeding the angel’s words, to
keep her focus on moving forward, cost her dearly. In the biblical imagery, she
was transformed into a pillar of salt, her soul trapped in trying to preserve a
worn-out past.
This is the time of the year when Christ says to us: ‘But
now I am going away to Him who sent me; yet none of you has yet the courage and
strength to ask me about the realm into which I now enter. Your hearts are full
of grief and therefore closed to the things I have said to you.’
He said this at His last supper with His friends, after He
has told them about his own destiny walk. His disciples were in shock and
grief—instead of becoming the Israelite king, He was walking toward His death.
He has compassion for their sorrow; and yet He wants to convey to them that if
He succeeds, something tremendous will be accomplished. And they will be
comforted.
Clinging to what is gone closes our hearts to the present,
and robs us of our future. Our souls need the courage and strength to
investigate the realm into which He, and we, are entering. On the other side of
dismay and death lies something higher and deeper. As the poet says:
…if you have endured a great
despair,
then you did it alone,
getting a transfusion from the
fire,
…Next, my kinsman, you powdered
your sorrow,
you gave it a back rub
and then you covered it with a
blanket
and after it had slept a while
it woke to the wings of the roses
and was transformed.[1]
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