John 16:25-33
In This World You Will Have Trouble
25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus tells us that His disciples will leave Him in a time of trouble, but He will not be alone...Those people without family and friends sometimes, often times, can feel lonely and alone...Even those who have many friends and family around are not completely insulated to loneliness and feeling alone...
Jesus also here teaches us that in this world we will have trouble...We may feel anxious and grieve when we are in trouble, but we are not alone...The Father is with us...Even when we are anxious and grieving we still have hope...Jesus gives us hope...The Father and Son are our hope...Hope is one of the three great virtues in life, especially as we age and mature...St. Paul teaches us that in our lives faith, hope, and love are the great virtues as we age and mature (1 Corinthians 13:13)...These are three great gifts in our lives...
Hope is so important to life...Hope helps make us look forward to things in life...If we believe that God, who is infinite, is out there waiting as we seek Him, that hope will come as we seek (Him)... When we hunger and hope for this something that is a Greater entity than us, we want to get to be with and into that Greater entity...And when hope does not come right away, we still have this hope in our lives...But this something Greater than us cannot come into us (God is infinite and we are limited)...But we can come into Him (our soul can enter into His infinity)...
Jesus overcame the world...He overcame these troubled times and this troubled world...God is our hope...When life sends us loneliness, and we feel alone, He is there...This is what Jesus says, when His friends and everyone has left Him (when He needed them the most), He will not be alone...His Father is there...His Father will always be there in our loneliest of times, and when we feel the most alone in our lives...