Read: John 16:16-30 NLT – Sadness Will Be Turned to Joy – “In a – Bible Gateway
‘“In a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again.’ Some of the disciples asked each other, ‘What does he mean when he says, In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me, and I am going to the Father? And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”’ John 16:16-18 NLT
Jesus’ disciples had a challenging time understanding what He was teaching them. I guess it would be fair to say we wouldn’t either. Jesus had spent three years with these men and was ready to leave them. Here in today’s text Jesus was summarizing the events which would take place in a few days from all He had taught them. Jesus told them plainly what was going to occur when they arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover but it didn’t register with them. To be fair, maybe it didn’t register with them because it seemed impossible. Each time Jesus told His disciples that He would be handed over as a criminal and be killed He always told them of His rising up in three days. But it was still hard for them to understand.
The disciples begin to understand as Jesus says He had been speaking to them figuratively. Then He said to them, “Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.” (Jn.16:28 nlt) This is a reference of Jesus’ ascension into heaven after he is raised from the dead. They finally got it. The disciples believed Jesus is the Son of God who came from the Father. They may not have understood everything, but they knew enough that Jesus is God who had come into the world to save sinners.
You may be struggling to understand all there is to know about Jesus and God the Father. God’s salvation plan may sound far fetched in its simplicity that it doesn’t register with you. But it is that simple. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn.3:16 nlt) Believe what you don’t understand.
