16:16-18
What does Jesus mean by this? Indeed, the disciples asked this very question.”seeing Him no more” almost certainly refers to the death of Jesus, and then the ascension to heaven. After this time they would not see him until His return. The “you will see me” could refer to the resurrection appearances, but it probably also refers to the disciples finally seeing Jesus for who He really is after pentecost.
Whatever the precise meaning, at the point that Jesus said this the disciples did not have a clue what Jesus was on about.
16:19
While the disciples were puzzled, they were afraid to ask Jesus. However, Jesus knew what was going on inside their heads. The same can often be true of us. There can be questions swirling around in our minds, but we are afraid to take them direct to God, yet He still cares about us, and about the fact that we do not understand.
16:20
We need to understand that the world hates God, it hates Jesus. Now this does not mean absolutely 100% of the population hate Jesus, it does mean the world system hates Jesus, and mankind is in rebellion against God. The “system” was about to crucify Jesus, and the crowds were about to call for Him to be crucified. The world would be rejoicing thinking that it was achieving its aims. Meanwhile the disciples would be mourning and in grief. There would be sorrow at losing Jesus, and fear for their own lives, for what the future seemed to hold. But this would not last, their grief would turn to joy. This would happen when they met the risen Christ.
I am writing this a few days after the result of the Irish referendum on “same-sex marriage”. The world is rejoicing, while those of us who respect God’s word, believing He knows what is best for the human race, mourn. But there will come a time when God’s ways are seen to be the best.
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