From this world to the Father

Thursday May 13, 2021

Jesus, knowing that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father and having loved those who belong to him in the world, loved them to the extreme. John 13. 1

I came out of the Father and came into the world; now I leave the world and return to the Father. John 16. 28

From this world to the Father

Jesus, who came from heaven, recalls the moment when he will ascend to heaven, after his death and resurrection. He speaks of "passing from this world to the Father", of "leaving the world and going to the Father" : not to heaven, but to the Father. For him, what characterizes heaven is the presence of his Father !

After Adam's disobedience, man organized himself independently of God, in a system that the Bible calls "the world", and of which Satan is the head (John 14:30). "All that is in the world - the lust that is in man, the lust of the eyes, and the pride due to riches - comes not from the Father, but from the world" (1 John 2:16). There is a fundamental opposition between "the Father" and "the world", and Jesus felt it deeply, as he had come "from the Father... into the world". All his life on earth was consecrated to his Father, whom he had come to reveal to men (Matthew 11.27). Nothing in him met the lusts of the world. His life there was marked by suffering, contempt, rejection, and finally the cross.

Jesus is going to leave his disciples. He anticipates the time when his work will be accomplished. He does not describe the splendours of heaven to them, he tells them that he is going "to the Father". Jesus, the beloved Son, is going to leave this world where he suffered so much, to go to his Father, whose whole will he has accomplished, until death.

He can console his disciples. He goes "to the Father", but he will no longer be alone there, for he has prepared a place for them in his Father's house. He will return to take them from him (John 14. 2, 3).

Source (The Good Seed)