Monday, November 7

For an audio version of this, click here.

Monday

I want to begin by asking you a question –Have you ever felt that if you could just see or hear Jesus in person, then your faith in Him would be stronger?  (I have)  Listen to the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John as He speaks to His disciples.

Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.  – John 16:5-8

Apparently Jesus disagrees with the idea that our faith would be stronger if only we could see Him face to face.  He even says that it is for our good that He is gone!  Apparently Jesus had something even better planned for us after He ascended into heaven.

This must have very been hard for the disciples to hear.  They had given up everything to follow this man.  They had left homes, families and businesses behind, all for the sake of Jesus.  They had placed all of their hopes for the future in Him, and now He was telling them that He was going to leave them.  Not only this, but Jesus actually tells them that it is better for them that He leaves!  Can you imagine their confusion and frustration with such a statement?

When a loved one is very sick and near death, we say, "It will be better for them to go, and to stop the suffering. They may be wracked with cancer and suffering greatly, so we say that it is for their good to go away and be with the Lord.  But when someone we love is dying, we don't think that it is to our advantage that they go.  We want them to stay, but realize it may be for their best.  But notice what Jesus says here – it isn't for His good, but He tells His disciples, it is for your good that I go away.  After all, if the disciples really understood what was about to happen, it would be even harder for them to believe.

                For your good that Jesus is arrested?

                For your good that Jesus' ministry of teaching and miracles is stopped?

                For your good that Jesus is beaten?

                For your good that Jesus is mocked?

                For your good that Jesus is sentenced for execution?

                For your good that Jesus is nailed to a cross?

                For your good that Jesus dies in the company of notorious criminals?

    For your good that His lifeless body is laid in a cold grave?

The disciples could only see the sorrow of Jesus leaving; but Jesus' departure was an essential step in their growth as disciples.

Is God doing a work in your life that you don't understand? Has sorrow filled your heart? God isn't mad at you. He isn't punishing you. He wants to show you how all this is for your good.

Jesus wanted them (and us) to trust Him in something hard to understand: “I tell you the truth.” Jesus didn't say this because He lied most of the time.  He said this because He wanted them to make a concerted effort to trust Him at this point. Trust in God, belief in Jesus, has something to do with our will.  We make decisions to trust Him, and Jesus wanted them to trust that all this was for their advantage.

Jesus wanted them (and us) to know He had a plan: For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. They couldn't understand His plan. Sure, it's easy for us with 2,000 years of hindsight to say, "Well, don't you understand? When Jesus went away, He then sent the Spirit of God, which has a broader and more effective ministry in all the world!  There now!  Can't you see it?"  They couldn't see it. They didn't have a clue what Jesus was talking about. But Jesus knew what He was talking about. He knew how it really was true that all of this for our good!


Jeff  Frazier