When Jesus died, the disciples wept and mourned. In fact, they continued to grieve and mourned even after Jesus resurrected as they did not recognize his resurrection. Then, risen Jesus’ assurance, the disciples’ weeping and fear turned into joy, as they were ascertained that Jesus was truly raised from the dead with his full body.
Jesus explained this portion of his paschal mystery,
from his death into resurrection, with an analogy of woman going through labor
to give birth, as it is integral and indispensable to his ascension and to the
Holy Spirit, another Parakletos (Advocate),
to be sent down on us.
So, Jesus said:
When
a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when
she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her
joy that a child has been born into the world (John 16:21).
And this is to explain what Jesus meant by saying:
A
little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and
you will see me (John 16:16).
Amen,
amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will
grieve, but your grief will become joy (John 16:20).
Remember, that was the night before his death, when
Jesus spoke these words. And he had already recognized the anxieties of his
disciples ever since he said after Judas left:
Now
is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified
in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and He will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for
me, and as I told the Jews, “Where I go you cannot come”, so now I say it to
you. I give you a new commandment: love one another. This is how all will know
that ou are my disciples, if you have love for one another
(John 13:31-35).
This is why as he began his farewell discourse (John
14:1-16:33), Jesus comforted the disciples, saying these words of assurance:
Do
not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me
(John 14:1).
And Jesus expound on his comforting assurance
further with these words:
And
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you
always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither
sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in
you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the
world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will
live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and
I in you (John 14:16-20).
The
Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name – he will teach
you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I heave with you;
my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let
your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, “I am going away and
I will come back to you”. If you love me, you would rejoice that I am going to
the Father; for the Father is greater than I (John
14:26-28).
Having washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-20),
Jesus began to keenly feel something deeply troubling within, as the hour of
his intense passion was drawing near (John 13:21). In light to his analogy with
labor pain (John 16:21), it was when Jesus himself began to feel his “labor
pain, as Judas was getting ready to betray him. This is why Jesus said, “ Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is
glorified in him”(John 13:31), “My
children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for
me…..where I go you cannot come..”(John 13:33).
This statement of Jesus’ impending farewell (John
13:31-33) implies both to his death on the following day and his departure to
the Father through ascension, which follows his death and resurrection. Evoking
what Jesus said to the Jews in John 7:33 and 8:21, Jesus also reminded his
disciples that they cannot follow him into his death, resurrection, and
ascension at this time. And, his farewell discourse (John 14:1-16:33) expounds
on this.
First, in the farewell discourse, Jesus spoke about
his ascension, calling it his departure (John 14:2-16:15), to prepare the
disciples to be commissioned on the day of his ascension (Matthew
28:18-20//Mark 16:15-20; cf. Luke 24:50-53) so that they would be ready to be
send out to all the ends of the earth to testify his triumphant salvific power
with joy(cf. Psalm 98), making disciples of all nations, as he remains with
them (Matthew 28:19-20), when what he promised (Luke 24:49), another Parakletos (Advocate)(John 14:16, 26;
15:26), the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; 16:13), comes down on the day of
Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41).
Then, toward the conclusion of his farewell
discourse, Jesus reiterated what he foretold: his death and resurrection (i.e.
Matthew 16:21-28//Mark 8:31-9:1//Luke 9:22-27), in John 16:16-24, upon
juxtaposing his impending death to his ascension in John 13:31-33). And, the
coming hour of his death as the beginning of the threefold glorification: his
death, resurrection, and ascension (John 13:31; 16:16, 20) is now reiterated
with an analogy of the starting of the labor pain as a childbirth is imminent
(John 16:21).
The hour of Jesus death, as foretold by Jesus (i.e.
Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23a; cf. John 3:14; 12:32) and prophesized in the Old
Testament (i.e. Isaiah 53:6-10), had finally come (John 13:31) while Judas was bringing soldiers
and officials of the chief priests and the Pharisees (John 18:2). His intense
passion into death (John 18:1-19:42) was about to start in less than a few
hours. And, to let all the things he had spoken for the disciples’
commissioning, his ascension to the Father, and the coming of another Parakletos (Advocate), the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of truth, happen, Jesus had to suffer and die and rise from the
dead.
Thus, the labor pain had begun (John 16:21), as the
disciples’ anticipatory grief of the prospect of not seeing Jesus (John 16:16a)
as he was to die imminently began (John 16:22a). But, because he would rise in
three days (Matthew 16:21b; 17:23b; cf. Psalm 16:10-11; Isaiah 53:11), Jesus
would see his disciples again with his risen full body so that they would
rejoice, with the inseparable joy (John 16:22b). Then, Jesus implied that they
would have everything they need when he would see them upon resurrection so
that they would be able to directly ask the Father in his name through their
prayers afterward (John 16:23). After his death and resurrection, with
permanent joy, the disciples would come closer to the Father, as only through
Jesus, we can come to the Father (John 16:23), reaffirming the he is the way to
the Father, as well as the truth and the life (John 14:6-7).
Now, all the anguish, angst, anxiety, fear, and so
forth, involving in the death of Jesus, are like the labor pain. These things
that may trouble the disciples’ hearts would be turned into joy upon his
resurrection. And, with his resurrection, the disciples would have more direct
access to the Father in Jesus name, through their prayers. That is why, in
fact, what had separated God from the humanity, symbolized with the curtains in
the holies of the holy of the Temple were torn open upon Jesus’ death (Matthew
27:51//Mark 15:38; cf. Luke 23:45), while the ocean of the Divine Mercy had
made accessible through the precious blood and water gushing out of Jesus’ body
(John 19:34; Diary of St. Faustina #299), as the gate of the Divine Mercy was
made open as the Father crushed the Son (Isaiah 53:10a).
We are not to keep this joy of the resurrection to
ourselves. That is why Jesus has also prepared us not only to his death and
resurrection (John 16:16-24; Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23a; cf. John 3:14; 12:32)
but also to be commissioned and to be sent out on our apostolic mission with
another Parakletos to bear fruit
abundantly, especially the fruit of love, expanding the work of Jesus (John
14:12-16:15).
As for today’s First Reading (Acts 18:9-18), Paul
continued on his mission work in Corinth, a large city, bustling with commerce
and trade. While his preaching on Jesus, his testimonies, continued to bring
more people, Jews and Gentiles, to Jesus the Christ, he was also attracting
heightening hostilities to himself from those who refused to believe. And he
was reviled in the synagogue for speaking of Jesus (Acts 18:4-7).
Knowing all these challenged that Paul faced in
Corinth, the Lord appeared to him in a vision, giving him assurance and encouragement:
Do
not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one
will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city
(Acts 18:9-10).
So, Paul kept teaching the Word of God in this city,
where moral corruption was rather a norm, for a year and half (Acts 18:11), as
to cleanse corrupted hearts of Corinthians with the words of Jesus (cf. John
15:3), perhaps, as Jonah’s preaching saved the Ninevites, whose evil way of
life had angered God (Jonah 3:1-10).
Then a group of Jews, who did not want to preach
about Jesus and his teaching, brought charge against Paul to the Roman court in
Corinth, when Gallio, who was the brother of Roman philosopher, Seneca, as well
as the tutor to Nero, was proconsul of Achaia. The Jews complained to Callio about
Paul and brought him to the court, alleging that he was persuading people to
worship God contrary to the law (Acts 18:13).
In response, as Pilate first tried the case against Jesus, brought by the Jews, but found no case against the Roman law (John 18:28-19:12a), Gallio found no legal merit to the case against Paul, reminding the Jews that what Paul was doing in the Roman colony was not against the Roman law, rather a matter of Jewish doctrinal issue (Acts 18:14-15). So, Gallio threw out the case and drove away the Jews from the court (Acts 18:16). Though Pilate were not able to control the Jewish crowds who brought him the case against Jesus, Gallio were able to do with the Jewish crowd that brought the case against Paul. This incident just turned out as Jesus said to Paul in a vision, Paul was kept under his protection (Acts 18:9-10). However, being frustrated as their case against Paul was dismissed by Gallio, the Jewish crowd assaulted Sosthenes, synagogue official (Acts 18:17). Sosthenes became their target or scapegoat for Paul, for he was actually an associate of Paul (1 Corinthians 1:1-3).
Afterword, Paul stayed in Corinth for another while
(Acts 18:18a) as he wrapped up his second mission journey, bidding farewell to
the faithful in Corinth (Acts 15:35-18:22).
Upon completing his second mission journey, Paul
shaved his head in Cenchreae (Acts 18:8), taking the Nazirite vow in accordance
with Numbers 6:1-21 to ascertain his dedication to his service for God, and then
sailed back to Syria with Aquila and Pricilla (Acts 18:18). Thus completes Paul’s
second mission (Acts 15:35-18:22), which was fruitful in making more disciples.
And, Jesus was with Paul always (Acts 18:9-10; cf. Matthew 28:20; John 14:16).
Jesus was, indeed, with Paul the Apostle on his
mission, guiding and protecting him, because Jesus the Parakletos (John 1 John 2:1) has gone through the threefold
glorification: being lifted up on the Cross to die, being lifted up from the tomb in his
Resurrection, and being lifted up from the earth in Ascension to the Father in
heaven. Because of this, another Parakletos
is sent down from the Father in Jesus’ name, so that Jesus can stay with all
the apostles as they make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20; John 14:16,
26; 15:26; 16:7), as Jesus coming to them (John 14:18, 28), not leaving them as
orphans (John 14:18).
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