The more I read of her words, the fewer I could find of my own. Jesus is working to bring the disciples to an understanding of the time approaching. Preparing them to open themselves to the Spirit.
Jesus’ comments, in John 14:18-31, stand as a puzzle. The disciples can ‘feel’ the promise of His departure. The notion of being left behind has ‘taken hold’ for the disciples. Then, “The world won’t see Me but you will.”
No surprise, the other Judas says, “Huh?”
Jesus adds the puzzling idea, “I’m in the Father, you’re in Me, I’m in you.” And “I will not leave you as orphans.”
This night Jesus proposes no do’s and don’ts, just a promise of the greatest hope: That, if we love Him, we will be given a Spirit, taught by, reminded by, given peace by that Spirit. In this fact, we can rejoice.
This reminds us of the loss of our own loved ones, gone before us. Right now we feel a big hole. Surely the disciples, perhaps more than the 12 that day, felt a sizable sadness, and a “Huh?”
As we stand today on Palm Sunday, with green stems waving, let us be reminded, day-by-day, of the hope that our lives will echo the promise of the Father and the Son ‘in us’, today, all this week, all this life.
Let us, with the disciples, answer Jesus’ call on our lives. May the Spirit find fresh welcome in our hearts as we seek to live lives that reflect the love and mercy we have been shown.
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