I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
John 16:28 (ESV)
On the night Jesus was betrayed, He spent time preparing His disciples for what was to come. And included in that was what we might call Jesus’ mission in a nutshell.
Jesus told His disciples that He had come from the Father. This is the language of an emissary, one who represents another. But Jesus was more than just an emissary of the Father. John began his gospel by making it clear that Jesus (the Word) was in the beginning, was with God, and was God (John 1:1-3). He is one with the Father (John 10:30). And when we see Jesus, we see the Father (John 14:9).
Jesus came into the world. This describes His incarnation, becoming a human and living among us (John 1:14). Jesus did not come into the world just to pay us a visit. He came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). And those who believe in Him will escape condemnation and have eternal life (John 3:16-18).
And now, Jesus told His disciples, He was leaving the world and returning to the Father. He was facing the cross the next day, followed three days later by His resurrection. And forty days after that, He ascended into Heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 1:3).
But before He left the world to return to the Father, He promised that He would return for those who were His. And that we would be with Him in His Father’s house, in the place He is preparing for us (John 14:1-3). And that is the great hope we have as believers. That the one who came from the Father and has returned to Him, will come a second time and take us to be with Him forever.
