Wednesday in Holy Week

This morning about 15 of us gathered in the dark stillness at Restoration.  On Wednesday during Holy Week, the church remembers Jesus’ words to his disciples in the Upper Room.  We read from John 13 and listened as Jesus dips his bread and hands it to Judas with the instruction to do what he is going to do, quickly.  (Jesus is always in charge.  He is even Lord over His own betrayal…)

A couple of weeks ago we talked about Jesus’ words in John 12, that the one who serves Jesus gets to be where Jesus is.  ‘Where I am, there my servant will be also…’  Jesus was talking of his coming glory.

But today, Jesus says in John 13:

33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’

‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’  All of us are called to follow Jesus and to take up our cross, but Jesus is the unique One who can bear the sin of the world.  We truly cannot enter into the utter abandonment from His Father, the crushing weight of guilt and shame, and the scathing injustice of One who knew no sin to bear the iniquity of us all.  Truly, where Jesus is going, we cannot come.

Yet, Jesus chooses to go…  For His glory and the glory of His Father.  For love.  For reconciliation of creature to Creator.  For the purpose of making right that which was broken.

Where He is going, we cannot come.

Yet, He goes.