Words from the Rock
I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am.
John 7:33–34 NCV
Jesus is in the temple when he makes this announcement. He says it loudly enough for all to hear, but he’s directing it to the religious leaders who have just confronted him and are now attempting to have him arrested. Naturally, his words confuse these “educated” men. They can only assume that Jesus must be putting together some kind of devious plot to overthrow them. They even begin to fret that Jesus plans to take his teaching abroad, perhaps to the Jews who live in foreign lands. That is a huge concern to them. What if his ministry would expand? What if he would influence Jews to abandon their religion for his “heresy”?
Yet there are others in the temple who are growing increasingly interested in Jesus. They’ve seen some of his miracles and heard some of his teaching, and they’re beginning to ask themselves if this man might truly be the Messiah. Of course, this only makes the religious leaders more fearful and jealous, and this drives them toward the final chapter of Jesus’s earthly life.
It seems pretty obvious what Jesus is saying to these religious leaders. He’s telling them that he’s going back to the one who sent him—his Father. He already told them they don’t know his Father. Now Jesus is saying they won’t be able to find him once he’s gone. Furthermore, they won’t be able to go where he’s going—simply because they have refused to believe that he is God’s Son. They have rejected Jesus, and as a result, they have rejected the very same God they thought they’d been serving. They are sealing their own spiritual fate.
But Jesus has revealed himself to you. You know why he came to earth, what he did, and where he has gone. He wants you to believe in him so that one day you can join him in heaven. Where the unbelievers sealed their fate by dismissing Jesus, you seal your fate by believing in him.
My Prayer
Dear God,
I don’t ever want to be like the Pharisees, rejecting you and the one who sent you. Thank you for sealing my fate with you so I can join you in heaven.
Amen.
Final Word
In this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.
1 John 2:25 NLT
Stone for the Journey
I will be welcome in heaven because of my relationship with Jesus.