Need for Departure

Need for Departure
John 16:16-18

16 A little while [mikron] , and [kai] ye shall [theoreo] not [ou] see [theoreo] me [me] : and [kai] again [palin] , a little while [mikron] , and [kai] ye shall see [optanomai] me [me] , because [hoti] I [ego] go [hupago] to [pros] the Father [pater] .
17 Then [oun] said [epo] some of [ek] his [autos] disciples [mathetes] among [pros] themselves [allelon] , What [tis] is [esti] this [touto] that [hos] he saith [lego] unto us [hemin] , A little while [mikron] , and [kai] ye shall [theoreo] not [ou] see [theoreo] me [me] : and [kai] again [palin] , a little while [mikron] , and [kai] ye shall see [optanomai] me [me] : and [kai] , Because [hoti] I [ego] go [hupago] to [pros] the Father [pater] ?
18 They said [lego] therefore [oun] , What [tis] is [esti] this [touto] that [hos] he saith [lego] , A little while [mikron] ? we cannot [ou] [eido] tell [eido] what [tis] he saith [laleo] . KJV-Interlinear

16 'A little while, and you will no longer behold Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.' 17 Some of His disciples therefore said to one another, 'What is this thing He is telling us, 'A little while, and you will not behold Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?' 18 And so they were saying, 'What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is talking about.' NASB

Their names are enshrined in painted windows and on artwork all over the world. They are revered as saints and as fathers of the Christian church. Some organizations even go so far as to claim one or the other of the apostles as their organizations beginning or first leader.

But here we see, there was utter confusion amongst the eleven. Judas, you remember, has already departed and was now conversing with the chief priests and elders.

Jesus is giving his last face to face Bible class. In a matter of hours He will be arrested, tried in six different trials, and then crucified. Once arrested, His personal interaction with the eleven will cease. They will see Him, from a distance, as He is paraded down the streets carrying His cross, and they will see Him hanging on the Cross, again from a distance, and they will see and hear the darkness, the judgment, and the storm when God executes judgment against all of mans sins, on Him (Jesus Christ), and then there will be silence save the voice of Jesus' final words after His work was completed.

Then the eleven will not see Him again for three days and for three nights. That is, three complete 24 hour periods. They will perhaps help in placing Him in the grave, but this is not disclosed. They probably had nothing to do with that, but heard about it through the grape vine as to where He was laid to rest.

In three days they will see Him again, but as the resurrected Christ in His pre-glorification state. Then in 40 more days, He will ascend into heaven bringing with Him a huge procession of Old Testament believers, out from the old Paradise, and into the new Paradise. There will be a tremendous ceremony wherein Christ will be crowned and seated at the right hand of the Father, and there He will remain until the Rapture.

No one will see Him as a man, again here on earth until the Second Advent. And that event has not yet occurred. No one will see Christ until they die and go to heaven, and thus we, when we die, are absent from the body and face to face with the Lord.

So now here are the eleven, confused, and bewildered as to His words. They are thinking of their own futures, and not really listening to what Jesus is saying. As we will see, Jesus knows they want to ask questions, but their questions are for their own subjective interests, and not for the purpose of promoting their own spiritual lives. We recall that from yesterdays lesson, as Jesus wanted to teach them more, but they were not ready for more.

So it is with each one of us. Often times we get into moods. Possibly because we get frustrated with life and God just stops teaching us until some type of disaster hits us between the eyes, then we wake up (hopefully), and get back with our Bible study program. The apostles were at that point.

Now for our current history. Can't let this day pass without a few words regarding the capture of Saddam. By the time this study is received, all will know about his capture. And the capture is a very good thing. Often times evil is allowed to continue even in an elusive reputation form because there is a huge following of folks who worship at the feet of their evil leaders. When that occurs, that indicates a small population of believers or very few prayers are being answered regarding the evils of this world.

This capture indicates that the world is more better off than we could hope. Saddam has been captured and his reputation for evil will now be overshadowed with his trial. With spiritual growth presumably up in this world, or at least positive volition toward God, then that means less trouble of all types and more blessing.

If Saddam had continued to be elusive, then that would be a good indicator that positive volition toward God was on the decrease and that would mean trouble. This capture also means that those in politics and elsewhere who opposed this war, should be somewhat silenced in their opposition. They are fools and certainly would never make good world leaders.

But as in everything else, we continue to be challenged with our continued positive volition. We can become complacent and thus drift away from God, and that would mean trouble. Better to remain on ones guard, stay positive, stay in fellowship, and keep on the advance toward spiritual maturity. Only good will come of that.

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