John 16:22-23 … To See Him again (12/22/16)
“I will See You again, and your Heart will rejoice, and no one will be able to take your Joy from you. On that day you will ask nothing of me.” ~ Jesus (John 16:22-23)
On the one hand, most Christians believe that the “I will see you again” in this passage refers to Jesus literally returning from the dead after his imminent crucifixion (a la the “2nd Coming” errantly alluded to in the book of Revelation), and if this verse had been written or uttered by Paul, that belief would actually have merit … And yet this statement does not come from Paul — it comes from Jesus Christ, a man who championed a very different view of Salvation (see John 13:15-17), a very different view of Joy (see John 15:11 & John 16:24 et al), a very different view of Heaven (see Luke 17:20-21), and a very different view of God (see Matthew 5:48 & Luke 6:36 et al) …
Indeed, if we look to the evidence of the Gospels themselves, we can see quite clearly that Jesus is in all probability speaking quite literally here – that he had in all likelihood already planned his own crucifixion, and as such knew quite well that he would be literally exiting his specially prepared tomb and literally visiting with his disciples again in secret thereafter (all of which did indeed take place – see Luke 24:36-49 & John 20:19-31).
In addition, this verse speaks to the remarkable Faith that Jesus had in his disciples – and the remarkable Faith that he had in his Way; that even after all their repetitive ignorance and frequent bouts of bickering and fear and selfishness, he still believed that they would be able to truly “get it” once he departed (and once they could no longer incorrectly focus on him &/or their hopes for him being “the Messiah”, and could instead focus on his teachings and emulating the same) … For if they were to do so – if they were to finally set aside their individual fears and personal desires long enough to set his selfless Way in motion, then they would indeed have finally come to understand what he had been teaching them all along. They would have indeed finally “gotten it”, and as such would have indeed no longer needed to ask anything of Jesus – and indeed, no one would have been able to take their Joy from them (a Joy that would certainly not come from receiving rewards in “heaven” after their deaths, but rather a Joy that would be coming from within them – from the fulfillment of the endless opportunities ever-present to serve others in need – see Matthew 18:3-4 & Matthew 25:35-40 et al).
Amen … Let it be so for us all.
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