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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| Tissot |
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.
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| Tissot |
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
April 29, 2018
John 16:1-33
Spring blossoms are often called
The Easter season is almost over. Christ gives us, his disciples, foreknowledge that the beauty of His resurrection body is about to disappear from view. In less than two weeks He will ascend to his Father. He will still be present on the earth, but in a hidden way. He promises, however, to send His Spirit, the healing Spirit of love and understanding, to reside in human souls. From there, God’s healing Spirit will germinate in souls, setting fruit. These fruits of the Spirit, fruits of love, comfort, and understanding, will over time mature and ripen. In time they will become fertile seeds we sow as words and deeds of love in the world.
But meanwhile we disciples must all endure times of uncertainty, of anxiety and grief. Christ assures us that this is a necessary transition, a phase, when the joy and beauty disappear, and the coming phase of joy is not yet. One gateway closes; the other has not yet opened, and we seem stranded in between.
While conditions ripen, our task is to endure; to bear the lonely pain with hope and expectation, until the door of fruitfulness opens.
The poet gives us something of this in-between mood:
…I am very worried and happy
…And there is nowhere I would rather be
alive or dead
than in this world,
….meanwhile
housing perpetual births and disappearances
and [I] am glad (the wind is blowing, it is written, adore
the wind)
and am speechlessly grateful and glad and afraid
I don't mind saying that I am scared
to death of God: I am
afraid and blind and ignorant and naked and
I'll take it!…..
I can't grasp it, but I am so very glad.*
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