One On One: 100 Days With Jesus--PASSIONSample

The Promise: The One who is preparing us for a place   

What are we going to do now? We think that when we’re grieving. 

Maybe that’s how the disciples felt when Jesus told them that night He was going away. Like He was deserting them. He’s going, but they’re staying. What are we going to do now? 

What’s worse, Jesus wasn’t just going away—He said He was going to die. The one they sat with now at the table would be gone tomorrow. Dead. It was too much grief for them to process. 

Behind our masks, most of us nurse a troubled heart. Most likely, the thing you’re worrying about right now is wrapped in fear or anxiety or guilt or frustration. Life has its problems; it’s part of being human. 

Jesus knows all about this. He knew the disciples were turning into rough waters. Let’s sit with Him at the table as they finish up their last meal together and listen to His gentle words. Let Him speak to your heart, too. 

“Don’t let your heart be troubled; You trust God—now trust Me.” Jesus doesn’t skirt the issue. Hard times are coming, but I will help you through this. Trust me. 

Let me tell you what’s ahead, He said. I’m going home and I’m getting the house ready. At the right time, I’ll come back to get you and we’ll be together again, all in my Father’s house.

Hope. There it is right in the middle of the heartache. He’s saying, It’s not always going to be this hard. You won’t always feel alone. Your heart won’t always break. Sin won’t always be a struggle. A day is coming when we’ll be together again in My Father’s house. 

The invitation is ours, too. While Jesus prepares that place for us, He’s also preparing us for that place. Two construction projects are happening right now. 

Death and pain, even failure and crushing—somehow, they’re all part of that construction process. They’re getting us ready for life beyond this atmosphere, weaning us a bit at a time from earth, preparing our lungs to breathe heavenly air. Perhaps you’ve seen that readiness in a saint waiting at heaven’s door. 

You can sure see it in Jesus that night around the table. 

He wasn’t thinking about the pain He’d face in the morning. He was thinking about another morning, around a larger table, when He’ll sit with His disciples again. And we will be there, too. And His eyes will dance when He greets us, one by one. Welcome home. Your room is ready. I can’t wait to show you around.

That day is coming, just wait and see. It was part of the joy set before Him that helped Jesus endure the cross the next day. 

It can be part of the joy set before us here and now, to help us on our way home. 

Tomorrow: One on one with Jesus, the way