Within the Bible is the record of creation, the fall of humanity, the great successes and failures of people of faith, the prophesy of redemption through the Christ, the fulfillment of it in the life of Jesus, the history of the early church, and the future that awaits all of humanity when Christ returns for the grandest of grand finales.
The Bible is the source of truth, for those who choose to accept and follow the message held within it’s pages. Although my understanding of the Bible is incomplete, I believe that it is where the answers for all of life are to be found.
Recently I came across what I thought were conflicting messages, all within the same setting, spoken by Jesus himself. Then I looked more closely, and understood that I had only known what was being said, in part.
It is the Passover feast.
The disciples have been cleaned up (foot washing), fed up and soon to be split up.
Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” (John 13:36)
Then, in the next chapter (still around the table, in the upper room), and seemingly just moments later, Jesus says,
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)
So … you can follow … but not now.
Jesus had to die. He had to suffer and experience separation from his Father, to complete his purpose for coming to Earth. This was something that only Jesus could do, a voyage only he could take, so he told them, you cannot follow now.
He had to go and prepare a place for them, for us. But he didn’t just leave them/us here, with no hope, for he promised to come back and take you to be with me.
These verses have even more meaning when you read 1 Corinthians 15:50-54:
“I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the deadwill be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
I will never fully understand all that Bible teaches, but it does not negate the fact that it is truth, and that it is applicable yesterday, today and tomorrow.
“Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known.”
1 Corinthians 13:12
itsawonderfilledlife 