¹⁹ “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.

Oh, to have been there in the Upper Room with the disciples to see Christ in person, how could anything possibly be better than that? To experience His very real presence in person, to break bread with Him, to sit and listen to the living, breathing, Son of God, to lap up every word, dwell on every facial expression. With aroma of the Passover lamb roast wafting through the air, and the warm bread and the sweet taste of wine lingering in our mouths. The foreboding, confusing words of the Master, whose teaching was like a loving father preparing us for His trip away, where we cannot go—all that is lost at just having His presence with us. The experience of the moment – why does anything have to change?

Yet, change must come, and it will be for the better. In fact, what was coming would be far better than the physical presence of Jesus. In simple terms, when He returns to them, they will see Him, but the world will not. They will live, and by implication, the world will not. Things will hugely change. At present, in the Upper Room, there were severe limitations on Jesus, who had “… emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:7). In His pre-resurrection “form of a bond-servant” He could not be everywhere present, in the physical sense. While the disciples enjoyed the presence of Jesus in the Upper Room, what about Joseph of Arimethea (Matt 27:57) whom the Scripture states was a disciple of Jesus, or Nicodemus (John 19:39), who gave evidence of faith by assisting in the burial of the crucified Jesus?

But there was coming a time, which is now here, when the presence of Jesus through the Holy Spirit would be everywhere present. That was why it was so significant at the Great Commission for Jesus to say to them, “And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). His spiritual post-resurrection presence is far better than His physical pre-resurrection presence. And it is every bit as real; actually, by faith the presence of the Holy

Spirit can be said to be “more” real. In fact, Jesus tells us in our passage for today, “Because I live, you will live also.” This is life eternal, to truly know Him (John 17:3). This is abundant life (John 10:10). This is life indeed as God intends it. This is better than pre-resurrection, pre-crucifixion life. This is having the presence of Jesus in our lives forever and ever. Without end! Never to be orphans and separated from our heavenly Father.

Lord, I praise You for the life You have given me. This is true life, indeed.