Jesus is in the Father; we are in Jesus; Jesus is in us. Is this not the great mystery?

“Now comes the mystery.” - Last words of evangelist, Henry Ward Beecher, March 8, 1887

If we are to be sincere, if we are to be honest, if we are willing to be real about our faith and our beliefs, we must regularly return to the realization that much of what we embrace is a mystery. As the hour of Jesus’ death loomed closer and closer, He was sharing with His disciples final words that were simple to understand yet so full of mystery that they could not comprehend.  Jesus held nothing back.  He made it very clear what He wanted His disciples to know and to remember. His words transcend time and distance to speak to us today: love, obedience, truth, fear… and being left alone. Listen as Jesus speaks into that concern:

“I will not leave you as orphans: I will come to you.  Before long the world will not see me any more, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you,” (John 14:18-20).

Is this not the great mystery again? Jesus is in the Father; we are in Jesus; Jesus is in us. Someday, the mystery will become our full experience. Beecher’s last words reflect that he understood that death was his passage into full reality of God. “Now comes the mystery,” he knew.

For now, though, on this side of the grave, we live it by faith.

Oh, Jesus. Thank You for being real and honest with me. Thank You for speaking into my fears with truth. Thanks for holding nothing back in the final words You spoke to the disciples—the words that You speak to me today. You have not left me. You have come. You live and I will live because I am in You! Amen.