I'm Coming Back!
Scripture Reading — John 14:1-4
“I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
—John 14:3
In John 1:14 we read the good news that Jesus, the divine Word, came to dwell with us. And today we see its glorious result: we will dwell with God.
Jesus was about to leave his disciples, and that would cause them much anxiety and fear. But he was quick to encourage and assure them with words of hope: “I will come back and take you to be with me.”
What a deeply personal, loving thing for Jesus to say! Jesus doesn’t want to spend eternity without us, his disciples, his friends. He is determined to take us to his Father’s house!
And the Father will smile and say, “Welcome! Come in; enjoy yourselves! Let’s celebrate, for your salvation is complete, just as we intended from long ago!”
Together with the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have been working to save us and to restore all things that were corrupted since the fall into sin, including the creation itself. From the call of Abraham, to the formation of his people Israel, to the coming of Jesus through that nation, and on to the formation of his church led by the Holy Spirit, God has been shaping history and building his kingdom so that all who call on his name may be saved to live forever with him (see Genesis 3; 12; 2 Samuel 7; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1; Acts 1-2).
God with us, and we with God—the way it’s supposed to be.
Jesus, it’s humbling to know that you want us to live with you forever. Come back soon, so that with you, the Father, and the Spirit, we can enjoy full life together. Amen.
About the author — Harvey Stob
Rev. Harvey Stob and his wife, Audrey, served as missionaries in Argentina for eleven years. They then served churches in Cincinnati, Ohio; Ridgewood, New Jersey; and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Harvey retired from full-time pastoral work in 2009. He and Audrey have three children and seven grandchildren.
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