We are bound to troubles and difficulties one after another. No one is without exception from this law of life. Simply and plainly speaking, it is not possible to avoid but go through. Not alone many troubles in human relationships in the midst of daily ordinary lives, no one is free from the fear of death, a formidable foe for humanity. That context is the theme in this tiny scripture in the Gospel of John written by the one whom the Lord loved.
The Eleven Disciples were troubled in hearts due to the daunting announcement of the betrayal and departure through means of death uttered by Jesus. What is our Lord's treatment for the troubled disciples (including us)?
First, Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled." Why so? It's because as they believed in God who made the promises for them in the Old Testament, now they shall believe also in Jesus Christ the Lord. It's the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ for His disciples to believe in Him who came not only to save us but to impart His life. In Jesus Christ, we're now living under the new covenant which is a whole new arrangement for living. "Everything coming from God, nothing coming from me!"
Jesus details why let not our hearts be troubled. "In My Father's house are many places for you. I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." Where was He going? Was He not going to the Father in heaven all but through the cross of shame, guilt, and death. It implies from His agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Judas' betrayal kiss and arrest, the mockery and beating before the Sanhedrin, the terrible scrounge by Roman soldiers, and finally to the crucifixion.
The mystery of Christ has been disclosed on the cross where God demolished the formidable power of sin and death including all the sins of shame and guilt and at the same time God raised and highly exalted the Son Jesus Christ above every name in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. The glorious morning of the resurrection followed according to the scriptures. That's how our Lord Jesus Christ went to the Father in heaven.
What's next? He says, "I go to prepare a place for you and will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." This is the assurance of His second coming. In fact, He has already come into the hearts of His disciples by means of the Holy Spirit. In the Spirit, we're in Him and He in us just as He was in the Father and the Father in Him during His earthly ministry (John 17:21).
When are we going to physically see Christ Jesus in His coming with the armies of angles at the mighty trumpet call? When we breathe the last breath on earth, each one shall see the Lord Jesus Christ in His majestic coming in the cloud with the archangels. Paul describes this event in 1 Corinthians as the momentary without any delay at all. "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep,but we shall all be changed--in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NKJV)
So, we will be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever. It doesn't necessarily mean the future. It's true that we will be with the Lord forever after this life. But it is also true that we're with Him now in the Spirit. Jesus says this when the two Greeks came to see Him. “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor." (John 12:23-26 NKJV)
Notice what Jesus says, "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also." Where is now our Lord Jesus Christ? He is in glory, seating at the right hand of God. In the Spirit, we're also seating with Him now. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-7 NKJV)
That's how our Lord Jesus Christ made the special treatment for His disciples including us when their hearts are troubled. Is it not encouraging you?
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