A Strange Recognition

 

 

In John 16:25 Jesus says, “An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language.”

 

Then in 16:28 He says, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.” As we ponder these words, let’s keep in mind how our journey in the Upper Room began:

 

“Jesus knowing that He would depart out of this world to the Father…knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God” (see John 13:1 – 4).

 

The theme of Jesus coming from the Father and going to the Father will continue into John Chapter 17 and beyond. It is a theme that begins in John Chapter One and continues throughout the Gospel, evoking perplexity and derision from many, and yet drawing His brothers and sisters to Him, into Him, and into that same glorious and loving journey to the Father. As you read the Gospel of John look for the statements and allusions to coming from the Father and returning to the Father. What do you see?

 

This was Jesus’ Way of Life in the Incarnation, it is to be our Way of Life as well as we abide in Him. We are to be ever and always leaving the world and going to the Father; as we follow the Lamb wherever He goes the Father’s Name is written in our hearts and minds (Rev. 14:1 – 5); our union with the Trinity (and with one another) is inexpressible.  

 

But back to our passage, when Jesus makes the statement, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father,” what reaction might we expect from the disciples? What might our reaction have been? If we place ourselves in the Upper Room, if we imagine ourselves as having been with Jesus for 3 years, if we think about the events of Holy Week that have led to the Upper Room, if we review what Jesus has said in John chapters 13 – 16, if we consider all these things, what might our reaction have been?

 

Would these words of Jesus have been enigmatic to us? That is, would they have been a puzzle, yet another statement of Jesus’ for us to wrestle with in order to understand it?

 

Keep in mind that Thomas had said, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” (14:5).

 

Judas (not Iscariot) had asked, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” (14:22).

 

Recall that earlier in Chapter 16 the disciples were asking, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’? What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about” (16:17 – 18).

 

Throughout the Upper Room there has been perplexity among the disciples over what Jesus is saying about going to the Father, why should we not expect continued puzzlement over, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father”?

 

However, instead of more questions, the disciples respond with, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech. 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” (16:29 – 30).  

 

What has happened between 16:17 and 16:29? What was enigmatic a few moments ago has now become clear. What was once a figure of speech is no longer a figure of speech. The “hour” of 16:25 has arrived or at least is dawning. Jesus is saying the same things, but they are hearing Him in a new way.

 

May I gently say, that when we want God and others to dumb down His revelation of Himself, when we want His Word simplified for our microwave attention spans and our congregations that are accustomed to hearing messages centered on their needs and desires and whims, that we forego the invitation and opportunity to be captured by the glory of God in Jesus Christ. How often I have heard people say in small groups, “Why doesn’t God just say what He means?”

 

Our Father wants us to know Him, He wants relationship, He is not interested in us passing some kind of learning standards exam; Jesus loves us enough to work with us, to bring us along, to challenge us, to be patient with us…and we want nothing of it. We want some kind of AI assistant to give us the answers in lieu of relationship. Sometimes we can be fools.

 

For sure the disciples have had glimpses of recognition over the years.

 

Andrew followed Jesus, bringing his brother Peter with him (1:40 – 41).

 

Philip followed Jesus, bringing Nathanael with him (1:45).

 

Nathanael was given a promise of revelation to come (1:50 – 51).

 

The disciples received a glimpse of His glory at Cana (2:11).

 

The disciples were taken aback when they saw Him with the Samaritan woman, this was beyond their understanding, in one sense it was out of their world (4:27).

 

What were they thinking when He spoke of the Father in 5:18 – 47, even as the religious leaders sought to kill Him?

 

What were they thinking when He fed the multitudes, walked on the water, and spoke of Himself as the Bread of Life in John Chapter 6?

 

Even if the disciples did not understand all that was happening in John Chapter 6, they knew enough deep inside them to say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (6:68).

 

What did the disciples think when Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” (8:12)?

 

There is a steady and often enigmatic progression of unveiling in the Gospel of John; on the night of His betrayal, in the Upper Room, Jesus draws His disciples deeper into the mystery of Divine koinonia, the mystery of the Trinity, the mystery of knowing Him, the mystery of becoming one in Him, of knowing a unity as His People in the Trinity.

 

If we will submit to Him, bow to Him, abide in Him, and trust Him…we will begin to hear Him and see Him; He will say the same things but we will actually hear what He is saying, we will see what He is saying, we will become what He is saying. We will say, “Wow, now You are speaking plainly.”

 

How we forget, if we have ever known, that the “natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them” (1 Cor. 2:14).

 

What cord did Jesus strike in the hearts of the disciples to elicit, “Now You are speaking plainly…now we know”?

 

What do you think?

 

Do these words of Jesus strike a cord in your own heart?