Word to the Wise
Monday, June 2, 2014 - 7th Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 19:1-8 and John 16:29-33]"Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God." Jesus answered them, "Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone."
The eagerness of the disciples is deflated in this picture! I know I would not have been able to say that Jesus was speaking plainly in much of the Gospel of John! Scripture scholars write very big and long books trying to figure out some of the lines in this gospel! This is one of the reasons why I think approaching it like an art exhibit (the Farewell Discourse) or a drama (the Samaritan woman, the man born blind, etc.) is a better way of understanding how the artist/playwright, John the Evangelist works. [No, I'm not ignoring all the layers of tradition and redaction!]. However, Jesus DOES speak plainly when he tells the disciples that they are going to "turn tail and run" when things get tough at the Garden of Gethsemane. I suspect that their desertion was the first of many experienced by the community in the years that followed. The gospel is never "over and done with!"
This makes the last line of today's passage so interesting. Jesus says, "In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world." Coming as it does after warning the disciples they would desert him, Jesus looks beyond that desertion to the work that lies ahead. It's almost as if he says, "You're a bunch of knuckleheads but I have great things in store for you down the line!" I'm glad he said it. Otherwise we wouldn't have this great gospel to inspire us! AMEN