Sadness Will Be Turned to Joy

¹⁶ “In a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again.”

³³ But Jesus told them, “I will be with you only a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me.

⁴⁰ but God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear, ⁴¹ not to the general public,^[a] but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

³ During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

²⁸ Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”

²² So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.

² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.^[a] Because of the joy^[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

¹⁸ No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. ¹⁹ Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. ²⁰ When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

²² Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”

²³ Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. ²⁴ Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.

³ Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

⁵ “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going.