Some of Jesus’ disciples said to each other, “What does he mean: ‘Soon you won’t see me, and soon after that you will see me’ and ‘Because I’m going to the Father’? What does he mean by ‘soon’? We don’t understand what he’s talking about.”

John 16:17-18

Happy Monday, friends! The news from here in North Carolina is that I am feeling a lot better this morning. I am grateful for rest, and medicine, and vaccinations that took the vicious edge off the Covid.

This Sunday Rebekah and I attended church via YouTube (grateful for the technology), and are continuing to convalesce, taking things cautiously and easily.

Today I’m sharing a few excerpts from a Lenten meditation that particularly resonated. The scripture (above) is from John’s account of The Last Supper:

POP QUIZ

Pop quiz time:
Question: What did the disciples say more than almost anything else (other than “Who remembered to bring lunch?”) during their three years with Jesus?
Answer: “Huh?” “Duh?” “Run that by us again,” and “We don’t understand what the Master is saying.”

That said, we really do have to give the disciples some credit. This was two thousand years ago and their world was very flat – almost two-dimensional in every regard. Everything they understood was clearly defined in terms of “This is what we see,” “This is what we feel,” “This is what we have been taught is true,” and “This is what we can know experientially.”

It was often a real struggle for The Twelve to grasp Jesus’ teaching because he referred to a world that was beyond the scope of their language or their experience. I believe it was to the disciples’ credit that they didn’t just swallow every ounce of what Jesus said hook, line, and sinker. They were willing to ask questions.

We too can ask hard questions:

Jesus is still happy for us to ask questions: hard ones and more basic ones too. Our God is not so small that we cannot legitimately wonder sometimes. In fact, the more neatly wrapped and tidy my God becomes, the more I have diminished the idea of deity through my small imagination and my lack of faith.

The more neatly wrapped and tidy my God becomes, the more I have diminished the idea of deity through my small imagination and my lack of faith.

I know this much in the realm of faith and trust. “But I am not ashamed, because I know the one I have put my trust in. And I am sure that he is able to protect what I have put into his care until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

What do you trust God for, that you mostly cannot see?

Prayer: You are huge and beyond pinning down, God. Sometimes your majesty and power and greatness seem beyond our ability to understand. Help us to keep our feet on the ground. Grounded that is, in the experience of your generous grace. Amen.

Today’s post excerpted from Reaching Toward Easter