John 16:16-20 (NRSV)
Read John 16:16-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 16"A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me." Verse 17Then some of his disciples said to one another, "What does he mean by saying to us, 'A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" Verse 18They said, "What does he mean by this 'a little while'? We do not know what he is talking about." Verse 19Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'? Verse 20Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.
Devotion
Confused, the disciples wonder amongst themselves one last riddle from their Lord. What can this mean? Where is Jesus going? What pain? What joy? The answers will come quickly in the days ahead. In the midst of grief, the world is a riddle. Nothing makes sense. We only know the pain we feel and its devastating cause. And yet our Lord promises an ease to the suffering. Our pain is his pain, and his pain is ultimately our joy.
Prayer
Giving Christ, the joyful scene of waving palm branches will soon be marred by the violence of your death. You foresaw, and yet you went ahead, paying a terrible price for such a precious gift: our eternal life. We thank you, we praise you. We ready ourselves for the week to come. Amen.