In John 16:20-22 the Lord, just before his crucifixion, told his disciples that they were going to weep, lament, and be sorrowful, and that the world would rejoice at their sorrow.  However, even with the Lord’s forewarning, the disciples were not prepared for the depth of loss they would feel, the greatness of the gulf of despair that would surround them when he was taken from them, condemned, and crucified before their eyes.  Their fear was such that they scattered like sheep without a shepherd and hid behind closed doors following his burial, expecting an immediate similar fate.  A little later we find them resigned to failure and some of them returning to their old jobs as fishermen.  But, the story does not end there.  

At the same time he told them about their coming sorrow, he also gave them hope.  He told them they would see him again and their sorrow would be turned into joy, in fact such joy that no man could take it from them.  It was this joy at the recognition of their resurrected Lord on the shore, that propelled Peter over the side of the fishing boat and caused him to swim to shore instead of waiting for it to return land.  It was this same joy that caused him and the other apostles to stand boldly together in unity on the day of Pentecost before a crowd of thousands, while Peter delivered the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who had only weeks before crucified their Savior.  With joy they faced threats from the priests and the counsel, and spoke the word of God with even more enthusiasm.

Over the years when one by one they were captured, put on trial, and executed for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, they stood firm in the the reality of his resurrection, knowing that through him everyone who is born again (through faith, repentance, baptism in his name, and being filled with his Spirit) has the same hope of eternal life.  They refused to recant their faith in Jesus Christ, because they saw him alive after his death.  As he stated to the apostle John in the book of Revelation, “I am … the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.  Although, we today who call him Lord were not there, and did not see the events unfold with our own eyes, we believe the testimonies left us by his disciples, and through the same faith have committed our lives to him, also sharing in the hope of eternal life that his resurrection brings us.

God bless and have a great week!

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