33 "My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come."
Using a most tender term of endearment to express His compassion our Lord addresses His guys with: “My children” – “little children”. This was evidently a term of strong love and affection and one that our Lord uses only here in Scripture towards His closest “family”. It was the language a loving Daddy would choose to use to his child of whom he was about to leave alone as an orphan in the world. Notice that Jesus did not address all of His disciples with this term; He waited until Judas had left the room. It was His believing followers that our Lord loved and regarded as His. Unbelievers were not Christ’s children. I am reminded of our Lord’s tender Words as He looked over Jerusalem broken hearted because of those who would not willingly turn to Him:
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” Matt 23:37 (NIV)
Knowing He would only be with His guys a little longer, He lovingly gets their attention and seeks to use this opportunity to pour forth Words they would certainly call to mind after His departure. His time was short. His hour was fast approaching. He wanted their best attention. He knew they would feel deserted and despondent and, like a loving parent, He did not want them to be unprepared. I am reminded of the verses penned in Isaiah which describes God’s love for us as being far superior to the love between humans – even to surpassing the strong bond of a mother and her babe:
15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! 16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." Isaiah 49:15-16 (NIV)
He was well aware that right after His death the disciples would be perplexed and confounded albeit for only a short season. But even a short season was too long for them not to be prepared according to His gracious and loving heart. They would certainly be missing Him, seeking Him and wondering where He had gone. Just as a small child cries and begins to want its parent whenever they leave the room, so it would be with the His disciples after our Lord’s departure and His desire was for them to be ready. Jesus’ tender care and love and mercy for His flock overwhelm me as I know they are still as constant for us as well. I am reminded of the words in Lamentations:
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lam 3:21-26 (NIV)
God’s love is loyal. He is faithful. He is the Constant One – never changing, holy, totally Other. God’s supply of loyal love and compassion is not limited – we find it afresh every morning – it is the glorious promise of Scripture. Jesus was about to depart this world and go into heaven and His disciples were to remain on earth to complete the work God had for them to do – just as Jesus had completed the work God had for Him to do. This brings God much glory. We find these Words of Jesus later in John as He prays to His Father:
4 “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” John 17:3-4 (NIV)
Likewise, those who follow the Lord Jesus - whose feet now trod this earth - are left to do the works God has prepared in advance for them to do – through His power. As we walk by faith, God has a prepared path of good works for believers which He will perform in and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are saved by grace for these works not because of them. We are the ultimate losers by not walking in them – this is the abundant life. Everything else pales in comparison. Remember, too, it is not our working for God rather God working through us. Paul tells us in Ephesians:
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:8-10 (NIV)
We are also told in Philippians:
13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Phil 2:13 (NIV)
"Fret not. Rejoice always. Do not be anxious. In everything give thanks. Serve the Lord with gladness. Be strong and of good courage. Come before Him with thanksgiving. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently on Him. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." The Bible (from The Promise – Robert Morgan)