Gospel Reading for May 29, 2025 – John 16: 16-20
SUPERHERO
Jesus said to his disciples: “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not know what he means.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”
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Jesus was preparing his disciples for the day when he would be crucified on the cross and thereafter, die on the cross, but all would not be lost because he would reappear to them. He knew that they would suffer so much grief. Who would not? Jesus was a SUPERHERO to them because they witnessed all the miracles he did that no one could. And then, their SUPERHERO is arrested, bound, scourged, crowned with thorns, made to carry a cross uphill in an already debilitated condition, then nailed to the cross and died. For them, what happened was unbelievable and very painful because after all, they had been together for 3 years, and although not written in the Bible, must have taken care of each other, and must have had fun times with him too. It was only John the Beloved who stayed with Jesus up to the end perhaps because being very close to Jesus, he understood that all this was part of God’s plan and was temporary. Remember that when he entered the tomb with Jesus’ body no longer there and saw the linen cloths that were wrapped around the body of Jesus as well as that which was wrapped around his head still lying in the same place, he believed.
Unless we listen closely to his Word, read with our hearts in prayer, and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us, it will not be easy to understand what Jesus is saying, or what he is saying to us personally.
Lord, may we spend time to listen/read your Word, so we may always feel your presence in our lives!
