A Message from Pastor Kaji

“I will not leave you orphaned“ is a profound statement for anyone who has suffered from the experience or the anxiety of abandonment. That would be true of the disciples, but it is also true of you and I. As I think about this passage, I wonder what the disciples would’ve brought to this interaction. How would they receive this promise? Would they believe Jesus? Do you?

The next part really begs the question: who gets to see Jesus? I think there’s a way to interpret this passage thinking that we’ve got to have it all right in order to see Jesus. But I think that’s not what he’s saying at all. Remember that a theme in the Gospel of John is that even though Jesus was in the world, the world did not know him. Which means that Jesus can be right there among us, but if we haven’t done the work to recognize him, we could miss God at work right here and now.

What other kind of questions does this passage raise for you? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. And I can’t wait to see you in church. 

Pax Christi,

Pastor Kaji

SCRIPTURE
John 14:18–24 (Year B, p. 172):

18 [Jesus said,] “I shall not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you all. 19 Yet, in a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live you all also shall live. 20 On that day you all will know that I am in my Abba, and you all in me, and I in you all. 21 The one who has my commandments and keep them is the one who loves me and the one who loves me will be loved by my Abba; I shall love that person and reveal myself to them.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Jesus, “Rabbi, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “The one who loves me will keep my word and my Abba will love that person and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine rather, it is from the Creator who sent me.”