“What does he mean by, ‘A little while, and you will not see me; and then a little while, and
you will see me’? And why did he say, ‘I go to the Father’?” And they said to one another,
“What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”
Jesus knew that they wanted to question him; so he said to them, “You are puzzled
because I told you that in a little while you will see me no more, and then a little while
later you will see me.
Truly, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will be
sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.
Reflect
I find it oddly comforting that the apostles – those who traveled with Jesus throughout his
public ministry, witnessing his miraculous deeds and listening to his preaching – so often
did not understand. If the ones who know Jesus so well in the flesh don’t understand him,
is it any wonder that I so often struggle to understand?
Sometimes people think that having questions about our faith or struggling to understand
some point of Church teaching is a sign of weak faith. But that is not necessarily the case.
Saint Anselm described theology as faith seeking understanding. When we are asking
questions because we are trying to increase our understanding, those questions are
actually a way of strengthening our faith.
Still, we should take care to purify our motives in asking our questions. It is
easy to fall into the trap of questioning everything to poke holes in arguments and
to foster doubt. Let us turn to the Spirit of truth whose answers draw us to God.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2023