“A little while, and you WILL NOT SEE ME; and again a little while, and YOU WILL SEE ME (because I’ll be raised from the dead), because I go to the Father…Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A LITTLE WHILE, and you WILL NOT SEE ME; and again A LITTLE WHILE, AND YOU WILL SEE ME‘?” (John 16:16, 19)
“These things I have spoken to you in FIGURATIVE language (paroimia: a symbolic or metaphorical saying); but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will TELL YOU PLAINLY (parrhēsia: fearless, frank, and plain speech) about the Father, for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.” (John 16:25-28) Jesus taught this the DAY BEFORE He was crucified.
On the THREE OCCASIONS when Jesus told them HE WOULD BE CRUCIFIED, they did not have a “clue” as to what He was telling them!
- “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and BE KILLED, AND BE RAISED THE THIRD DAY.” (Matthew 16:21)
- “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and BE KILLED, AND AFTER THREE DAYS RISE AGAIN. HE SPOKE THIS WORD OPENLY.” (Mark 8:31-32)
- “And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and BE KILLED, AND BE RAISED THE THIRD DAY.” (Luke 9:21-22)
How do we know that the disciples were “clueless” about the resurrection? “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb BRINGING THE SPICES WHICH THEY HAD PREPARED (they were coming to put spices on the dead body of Jesus). But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and DID NOT FIND THE BODY OF THE LORD JESUS. (Luke 24:1-3) An angel told them “He is not here but IS RISEN! REMEMBER how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee…” (Luke 24:6) So, they ran back to tell the disciples, “And their words seemed to them like IDLE TALES, and they DID NOT BELIEVE THEM.” (Luke 24:11)
“But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, MARVELING (thaumazō: questioned, wondered) TO HIMSELF at what had happened.” (Luke 24:12) John tells it like this is his writings, “Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple (John), and were going to the tomb. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and HE SAW AND BELIEVED.” (John 20:3-8)
IT MAY TAKE US A LITTLE WHILE TO UNDERSTAND BUT WHEN WE DO, WE NEED TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS!
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham