Jesus speaking in His “Farewell Discourse” at the Last Supper tells the disciples that they will weep and mourn while the world rejoices, but that their grief will turn to joy.
Context Matters
Jesus has much to say on the evening before the Crucifixion. Our Lord washes the Apostles’ feet, demonstrating that their Priesthood is an office of humble service. In 2 Samuel 11:8, we learn that bathing one’s feet is fathering a child. In their priesthood, the Apostles bear many spiritual children.
The Apostles are also commanded to love one another as He has loved them, and that He will go away to prepare a place for them. Where He is going, they cannot go at the present time. Yet, if they love Him, they will do great things, and the Holy Spirit will come to guide them even as the Spirit reminds them of what they have been taught.
In the future, they will be persecuted and expelled from synagogues and suffer martyrdom. When it happens, their death will be celebrated by their executioners as a pious act. Through all this, the Holy Spirit will guide them.
And so it is that in a little while they will not see Him, and in a little while they will see Him. Their pain will be like that of a woman’s childbirth contrasted with the joy that follows a ministry that produces a new birth to those who become their followers in Christ.
The Reality of the Apostles’ Discipleship
It seems to me that God, in His prudent wisdom, does not reveal our particular future before it becomes proximate in time. Like an automobile driving at night, we do not know what is further ahead until we drive forward. If we knew, for instance, when we would die, every day would be a countdown. Time is our slowly forward-moving vehicle.
The Apostles were invited to follow Christ, joining Him in a mortal destiny that followed brutal persecution and certain horrific martyrdom. All grounded in a promise that thereafter, their joy would be complete. This discourse by Our Lord preceded the reality of His death, such that it occurred without the context of a known Resurrection.
The Reality for some Modern Disciples
Some Catholics find it awkward to bless themselves at a restaurant when having dinner with Protestant friends. And some will not share the particulars of the Catholic faith in conversation, worried it might affect a valued relationship. Some are called to martyrdom.
Father Mike Schmitz, in one of his Hallow homilies, once quoted another who asked: “How much would you have to hate a friend to know about heaven and hell, and not share the Good News with that friend?”
How I wish I were a better Disciple at times.
The future joy of those in Christ
The joy of experiencing Jesus after the Resurrection was the promised occasion of the “in a little while” joy for the Apostles, even as they came to understand a future joy after their own deaths.
Our promised joy lives in our knowledge that the Resurrection is proof that Jesus and His words are Truth and Life. Therefore, our own future resurrection is not simply an article of faith but one of trusted certainty. Truly, truly, we will also share someday in that same joy. Let us live accordingly!
