Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. (John 16:32 NAS95)
The contrast strikes deeply. Jesus already knows the disorientation that will come to His disciples at the time of His arrest. While the disciples know Jesus, their eyes and heart have not yet become attuned to the One Who always accompanies them. Jesus, on the other hand, carried a memory, an indelible sense, in His heart of permanent ongoing interaction with the Father. The awareness Jesus holds in His soul of His Father’s presence, even through the most difficult circumstances He had yet to face, tells of a love He experiences in every moment. The disciples don’t quiet understand — yet.
The words, “I am not alone” when Jesus stands on the verge of abandonment by every other relationship in His life bespeaks a confidence. Love surrounds Him when the absence of all visible evidence confronts Him. Jesus sees the One Who always accompanies Him. In fact, the whole evening He’s tried to persuade His disciples that His Father never ceases in His attention to them. Jesus wants them to know that the Kingdom, His Father, remains accessible at all times and in every place. He longs for them to see and pray with their eyes. The Father nurtures life, and the evidence abounds everywhere. When the Father nurtures life from the grave in the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples’ eyes and heart grow in their attunement to the Father and His presence. They begin to pray and understand with they heart and their eyes. I long to stay attuned to the Father as Jesus did and His disciples learned. He accompanies with love that nurtures life. We’re not alone.
For Reflection:
“As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, and You set me in Your presence forever.” (Psalms 41:12 NAS95)
- Imagine yourself seeing Jesus physically after His resurrection. What would happen in your heart and soul upon seeing Him?
- What things can you practice to help cultivate an ongoing sense of God’s loving presence and attention to you?
