KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF LOVE
[With Reference to the Events Concerning Jesus’ “Passion,” note how Jesus’ love is amazingly displayed throughout and therefore ‘stand in awe of God, the Most High.’]
Lesson Twenty-one
JOURNEY TO GETHSEMANE – [Approximately 1 mile, uphill] (Cont’d.)
Jesus’ Discourse & High Priestly Prayer – (John 15 – 17)
(f) Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – John 16:16-22
16“In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
17Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, `In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and `Because I am going to the Father’?” 18They kept asking, “What does he mean by `a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
19Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, `In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
V.18-19 – … Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this … – From previous experience, they should have realized that Jesus would have known their thoughts. Note Mark 9:33-35 – 33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
Application: Let us ask the GOD OF LOVE to help us to always remember the following.
Hebrews 4:13 – Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Psalm 139:4 – Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
Therefore, a part of our daily prayer should be Psalm 19:14 – May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
V.17 – Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, `In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and `Because I am going to the Father’?” – This was fulfilled as follows:
[a] See John 20:11-17. V.11 – but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb
… the tomb … The following passages supply further information: John 19:41-42 – 41At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Matthew 27:59-60 – 59Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.
Joseph – For additional information on him, note: Matthew 27:57 – As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.
Mark 15:43 – Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
Luke 23:50-51 – 50Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.
John 19:38-40 – 38Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.
V.40 – … Linen – Matthew 27:59 – Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
V.12 (John 20) – and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. Refer to image of The Ark of the Covenant, which is symbolic of this.
V.17 (John 20) – Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, `I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” Contrast Matthew 28:8-10 – 8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Clasped his feet – It is inferred that Jesus could now be touched, as by then He had “returned to the Father.”
[b] John 20:19-23 – 19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
[c] Acts 1:1-5, 9-11 – In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Application: With reference to Acts 1:11b let us thank the GOD OF LOVE that this promise has been extended to us. Note Philippians 3:20-21 – 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
(NLT) 20But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.