16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
17 At this, 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’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another 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’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Read John 16:16-33 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
While Jesus wanted to be clear with His followers, sometimes we as His followers can get things twisted in our minds when reading some of the things that He has said. As an example, a simple reading of a statement Jesus shares with His disciples prior to being arrested and crucified may cause us to be confused over what He actually meant.
During this final conversation with the disciples before His arrest, Jesus tells them, “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” (v. 24)
The next big thing to happen was Jesus’ death, and if we look for evidence that says Jesus went to the Father at death, we may find some verses that could help support that theory. However, just three days later, Jesus clearly stated that He had not yet returned to the Father. Jesus tells Mary, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17)
According to what Jesus told Mary, it was following the resurrection that Jesus ascended to heaven. Did He do this before meeting them in the upper room and while fishing on the lake, or was this a statement that foreshadowed the official ascension forty days later?
I don’t know the answer to this, but the clear truth John shares in His gospel is that Jesus did not leave to go to the Father at His death. Instead, Jesus’ death and resurrection marked the completion of His earthly ministry, and signaled the start of His heavenly ministry on our behalf.
This means that Jesus is in heaven right now looking at our life’s record. Jesus isn’t doing this to find reasons to keep us out of heaven. There are too many reasons to keep us out of heaven than even He could count. Instead, Jesus is looking for reasons that give us entrance into heaven – and the only reason we have that works is having accepted the free gift God has offered to us through Jesus’ death on the cross. We accept His gift by placing our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus, and when God finds this declaration in our life’s record, we are able to be saved for eternity.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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