Gene’s Daily Scriptural Postings

When He Left: John 16:16-33

Focus Passage: John 16:16-33 (NIV)

While Jesus wanted to be clear with His followers, sometimes we as His followers can get things twisted in our minds when reading some of the things that He has said. As an example, a simple reading of a statement Jesus shares with His disciples prior to being arrested and crucified may cause us to be confused over what He actually meant.

During this final conversation with the disciples before His arrest, Jesus tells them, “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” (v. 24)

The next big thing to happen was Jesus’ death, and if we look for evidence that says Jesus went to the Father at death, we may find some verses that could help support that theory. However, just three days later, Jesus clearly stated that He had not yet returned to the Father. Jesus tells Mary, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17)

According to what Jesus told Mary, it was following the resurrection that Jesus ascended to heaven. Did He do this before meeting them in the upper room and while fishing on the lake, or was this a statement that foreshadowed the official ascension forty days later?

I don’t know the answer to this, but the clear truth John shares in His gospel is that Jesus did not leave to go to the Father at His death. Instead, Jesus’ death and resurrection marked the completion of His earthly ministry, and signaled the start of His heavenly ministry on our behalf.

This means that Jesus is in heaven right now looking at our life’s record. Jesus isn’t doing this to find reasons to keep us out of heaven. There are too many reasons to keep us out of heaven than even He could count. Instead, Jesus is looking for reasons that give us entrance into heaven – and the only reason we have that works is having accepted the free gift God has offered to us through Jesus’ death on the cross. We accept His gift by placing our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus, and when God finds this declaration in our life’s record, we are able to be saved for eternity.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!