Need for Departure

Need for Departure
John 16:28-33

28 I came forth [exerchomai] from [para] the Father [pater] , and [kai] am come [erchomai] into [eis] the world [kosmos] : again [palin] , I leave [aphiemi] the world [kosmos] , and [kai] go [poreuomai] to [pros] the Father [pater] .
29 His [autos] disciples [mathetes] said [lego] unto him [autos] , Lo [ide] , now [nun] speakest thou [laleo] plainly [parrhesia] , and [kai] speakest [lego] no [oudeis] proverb [paroimia] .
30 Now [nun] are we sure [eido] that [hoti] thou knowest [eido] all things [pas] , and [kai] needest [chreia] not [ou] [echo] that [hina] any man [tis] should ask [erotao] thee [se] : by [en] this [touto] we believe [pisteuo] that [hoti] thou camest forth [exerchomai] from [apo] God [theos] .
31 Jesus [Iesous] answered [apokrinomai] them [autos] , Do ye [pisteuo] now [arti] believe [pisteuo] ?
32 Behold [idou] , the hour [hora] cometh [erchomai] , yea [kai] , is [erchomai] now [nun] come [erchomai] , that [hina] ye shall be scattered [skorpizo] , every man [hekastos] to [eis] his own [idios] , and [kai] shall leave [aphiemi] me [eme] alone [monos] : and yet [kai] I am [eimi] not [ou] alone [monos] , because [hoti] the Father [pater] is [esti] with [meta] me [emou] .
33 These things [tauta] I have spoken [laleo] unto you [humin] , that [hina] in [en] me [emoi] ye might have [echo] peace [eirene] . In [en] the world [kosmos] ye shall have [echo] [echo] tribulation [thlipsis] : but [alla] be of good cheer [tharseo] ; I [ego] have overcome [nikao] the world [kosmos] . KJV-Interlinear

28 'I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again, and going to the Father.' 29 His disciples said, 'Lo, now You are speaking plainly, and are not using a figure of speech. 30 'Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.' 31 Jesus answered them, 'Do you now believe? 32 'Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 'These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.' NASB

Jesus gives a quick summary of His mission. He was sent to earth in accordance with a plan which the Father authored. He came in to the world of His own volition, and viola, here He is.

Now there is a job to do. He has been here fulfilling His prophecy and purpose. He is about to complete the work that only He can do, and that is to go to the Cross, and there receive the punishment of mankind's sins. Then once His work has been completed, He will return to the Father in heaven, there to be glorified.

A glorification and position which Satan lusted for, but was given to Christ. Satan did not earn nor did he deserve it. Jesus Christ did. In 1 Tim. 3:16 we know that Jesus was revealed, vindicated, witnessed by others, recognized, believed, and glorified. He is God who became man in order to save us all from our own demise.

So now Jesus tells the apostles that here He is, and now He is about to complete His mission, and then He must return to the Father. They are not questioning who the Father is. They know that He is talking about God the Father. They know that He is God himself, that He is the Messiah. They just lack something in their soul which prevents them from making the connection to the reality of what is about to take place.

In everything we learn in life we have four fundamental levels of comprehension. First, we learn. We hear something and we may or may not understand it. This is merely perception. Second we learn a little more and we begin to understand. We begin putting pieces of information together such that they begin to make sense. Two apples and two apples make four apples. Third we next believe what we have learned. We can count the apples - one, two, three, four. Yep, we have four apples. The last step is that we need to apply what we have learned, to our life. And that is where we fully accept that which we have learned and commit it to how we will live our life.

A little different example. We see the storm clouds and learn that there is a storm coming. We get on our rain coat, or go to the storm cellar. We know that the clouds gathering are real and can be dangerous (hail, tornado, etc.). So we take the appropriate actions in our life. We accept the weather situation.

A lot of us know and understand many things in life, but when we are faced with accepting them and utilizing them in our lives, we generally fail. We fail in commitments, we fail in diets to use a simple example, we fail in obligations we have to others.

Now the apostles believe that Jesus is the Christ. They know He came from heaven, and will return. But note one little missing piece of information in these verses. Jesus said nothing of the sacrifice required during His stay here. He just said He came here and will return to the Father.

The apostles acknowledge their understanding of this, but their understanding is shallow. They know the facts, but do not fully comprehend the meaning and purpose of why Jesus came in the first place. They know and understand the mechanics of the sacrifices, the bull is killed on the alter in a very violent and graphic fashion, but they don't relate them (the sacrifices) to His first advent.

So Jesus questions their understanding. 'Do you 'really' believe?' Then He tells them that their faith is in effect very weak. When push comes to shove, they will vanish into thin air. It will be every man for himself.

If they really believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, the creator of the universe, the one who holds all things in this universe together, the one who controls history, the one who made each one of them, and the one who keeps them alive. If they really believed and understood that this life is not our final chapter in our individual lives, but merely an interim staging phase wherein we prepare ourselves for the next phase, our eternal life.

If they really understood this and more, then they would not have feared the chief priests. They would not have feared the Romans. They would not have feared death itself.

But, even though God himself is standing right there before them, they feared the things of this world more than they trusted God. Though they will abandon God, He will not abandon them. He, through His word, is here to give them, and us, peace (spiritual maturity), so that we will escape the grip of the world.

Jesus Christ was attacked by the world (all those ideas and beliefs and philosophies which try to water down Gods Word), and defeated it. Jesus Christ was attacked with the filth of humanity (mans sins), and He took them on and cleaned them all up (application to justice to sin).

Apart from Gods work, man would be no better off than any animal, to be born, live and die, decaying to dust from whence it came. But since God did what He did on the Cross, we have a higher opportunity, to live on forever. Not only this but we have many more opportunities to advance to spiritual maturity and to gain far more blessings and privileges and honors for eternity, things far beyond even our imaginations.

The question then becomes, 'Where is our level of acceptance of Gods word in our lives?' Do we hear it, understand it, but then just let it float right through our little brains, out our ears, and spill out onto the ground? Or do we really think about His word, about just what life is all about, about what we should be doing to maximize our spiritual life?

We have seen that the apostles, men who have been revered in history, were in fact klutzes in their spiritual lives, at least early on, but they did overcome their failures. So if they can make it in their spiritual lives, why not us? And of course everyone of us can make it in each of our spiritual lives.

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