Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”
Gospel Trivia:
In this meeting with his disciples, Jesus shared what will happen at the "end of the world," or in the final judgment when God will come to rule all of humanity. It is very different from the dramatic scenes of the apocalypse that the Jews were nourished with by the Old Testament.
Instead, Jesus tells them:
- That the Trinitarian God (the Father and Jesus through the Spirit) will dwell on ALL who believe, and that such a relationship is available to anyone through faith;
- That this appearance of God refers to an immediate presence of intimacy and love between humanity and the divine; it is a personal presence and relationship, accessible to all, and made possible only through love, faith, obedience and forgiveness; and
- That this union brings peace -- not the OT definition of peace of receiving all of Yahweh's gifts including material prosperity -- the peace of Jesus which is the absence of inner turmoil in the midst of the worst storms and most difficult challenges.
The peace that we have is a measure of God's presence in our life. It is the "end of the world" in the sense that this is the destination meant for all of us.
References:
- Nil Guillemette, SJ, Hungry No More (Makati: St. Paul's Publications, 1989), pp. 197-199.
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