But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.
“This will only hurt a little.”
Ever hear that when you were a kid? Or how about, ”This will hurt me more than it hurts you.”
When we are little we do not understand the importance of vaccinations or medication. When I was in fourth grade there was a flood. Hundreds of homes were affected and ours was one of them. It was Christmastime. I remember spending that Christmas in a hotel while all our belongings were in a house that was slowly filling with water.
After the floodwaters had crested, I remember visiting our house with my parents. I had my rubber boots on and by the time I was done exploring they were full of water. Once I fell into a submerged window well and was up to my chest for a moment. I remember the water was chocolate brown. After the waters receded there was a coating of mud everywhere it had touched.
What I didn’t think about at the time was what made the water muddy. The farms around our town had flooded and all the fertilizer provided by the farm animals had been swept up in the flood waters. The sewers backed up, too. The waters were a toxic mix of mud and bacteria.
As a precaution, everyone who had been exposed to the flood waters had to get typhoid shots. I use the plural “shots” because there were a series of three shots. They were not something l enjoyed or looked forward to, yet I understood that they were better than getting sick.
Jesus is about to let an incredibly excruciating thing happen to him. They are coming to kill him and he is not going to defend himself. He knows it is going to hurt but he also knows it is necessary. The disciples do not know what is going to happen. They don’t understand. To them, the idea of Jesus going away is like getting a shot for no reason at all.
Question: How would you have prepared the disciples for Jesus’ departure?