They are heartbroken. Worse. Jesus is speaking figuratively. And in mystery.
He is telling them he is going away. But he isn’t telling them directly where he is going. At least for now. They are confused and sad.
I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.
Then Jesus has so much to tell them.
1) When he goes, the Holy Spirit will come.
It is a good thing. Of course, Jesus wants to be with them. But he won’t leave them alone. But something special was going to happen.
In the Old Testament, God shone upon them.
When Jesus was in the world, God walked with them.
When Jesus leaves, God will live within them.
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
It’s a beautiful thing for the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in us.
2) He has more to say to them, but the disciples could not yet bear it all.
But not to worry. The Spirit of truth will come. Just because he was leaving did not mean the instruction was over or they couldn’t seek him out. The Spirit would come.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
3) You will no longer ask me things. Instead, you can ask the Father directly in my name.
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.
This is an interesting one. When Jesus was with the disciples, they could just ask him plainly about things. Like when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.
Jesus was leaving them. But he said they could not ask the Father directly in his name.
When we think of asking God, our Father, about things, we tend to ask him about things he can do for us. Matters such as healing or helping us. But is that what the disciples regularly asked Jesus when he was with them? Heal us? Help us? We need a miracle?
It’s interesting to ponder.
Again, as we talked about in a previous post, we have this interesting matter of “My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” (v. 23). Asking “in my name” is key as it represents doing his work and his ways and his will.
That is a tough one to ponder sometimes when we don’t see the answers to our prayers. I’m not sure we have all the answers to that. But I also believe we don’t need all the answers to everything to believe. It’s just a mystery humanity has wrestled with for thousands of years.
Of course, there are trite answers. But these do not always satisfy someone’s broken heart.
Jesus continues. He now tells them plainly that he is leaving this world and returning to the Father. It is another way of saying he is going to die.
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.”
Pause: Does Jesus make a funny here with his answer?
“You believe at last!” Jesus answers.
Maybe. 🙂
But now he returns to two truths that are very significant.
1) We may be alone. But we are never alone.
The disciples were all going to run away from Jesus in his darkest hour. Deserting their very best friend. Jesus said they all left him alone. BUT, at the same time he is never alone.
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.
It’s the same with us. We can be abandon by all our friends. Reject. Left alone.
If we stay in that belief, our souls will shrivel, wither and die. But just like Jesus, we have to also hold on to the hope that we are NEVER alone. Jesus is with us always, to the very end of the age.
We can be alone. But we are never alone.
That’s a great encouragement.
2) Jesus promises difficulties in our lives, but we are not to give way to despair.
Some have this idea that Jesus came to make our lives smooth and to always help us in difficulties. Jesus helps us. But he does not promise a smooth ride on this earth. In fact, he assures us of the opposite.
33 In this world you will have trouble.
We are in a war. We are in a storm. We are on a bucking bull. That’s our reality.
But just as Jesus said he was alone but not alone, now he says we are in troubled times, but don’t be troubled.
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.”
Where is our peace in this difficult time?
IN HIM
Times are bad. Times are awful. Times are hard.
But we don’t stop there. We don’t fix our eyes on these things. Why?
In him is peace.
He has overcome the world.
And we have a joy that none can take away.
John 6:5-33
but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
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.”