He knows all about all!

John 16:29-23

The disciples of Jesus said to him: "See! now you are speaking clearly, and you are not speaking in hard sayings. Now we know that you know all things, and that you do not need that anyone should ask you anything. Because of this we believe that you came forth from God." Jesus answered them: "So you believe at this moment? See! the hour is coming--it has come--when each of you will be scattered to your own homes, and you will leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have spoken these things to you that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have tribulation. But courage! I have conquered the world."

 Food for thought!

The way the disciples came to finally surrender to Jesus, is worth our notice. They leapt into full belief because they suddenly realized that Jesus did not need to ask any man anything; he could tell all about all; he could read their mind and tell them what they thought.

What did they mean? Back in Jn. 16:17-18 we find them puzzled by what Jesus had said: "Some of his disciples asked among themselves, 'What does this mean? He tells us that in a little while we will not see him, and then a little while later we will see him; and he also says, ‘It is because I am going to the Father.’ What does this ‘a little while’ mean? We don't know what he is talking about!'"

Beginning in Jn. 16:19 Jesus begins to answer their questions without asking them what they were. In other words, Jesus could read their hearts like an open book. When they realized this, they said: "See! now you are speaking clearly, and you are not speaking in hard sayings. Now we know that you know all things, and that you do not need that anyone should ask you anything. Because of this we believe that you came forth from God." In other words, Jesus' knowledge of God and his knowledge of the human heart, convinced the disciples that he was indeed no ordinary man but the Son of God.

Jesus knows not only what goes on in our mind, he also knows what will happen in each one's future. He told them that, in spite of their belief, the hour was coming when they would desert him. Here is perhaps the most extraordinary thing about Jesus. He knew and knows the weakness of his people; he knew and knows their failure; he knew and knows that they would let him down in the moment of his direst need; and yet he still loved them; and what is even more wonderful, he still trusted them.

Jesus knew men at their worst and still loved and trusted them. For us, it is quite possible to forgive someone and, at the same time, to make it clear that we are not prepared to trust that person again. Many times we say to those we have forgiven: I forgive you but will not tolerate what you have done again. But Jesus says: «I know that in your weakness you will desert me; nevertheless I still trust you.» Never in all the world were forgiveness and trust so combined. What a lesson is there! Jesus teaches us how to forgive, and how to trust the wo/man who was guilty of failure.

Jesus knew that his friends would abandon him, yet he did not reproach them, neither did he hold it against them. He loves us in all our weakness; he sees us and loves us as we are. Love must be clear-sighted. If we idolize a person and think of her or him as faultless, we are doomed to be disappointed. We must learn to love her or him as s/he really is.

Before we go, let us look at this verse here at first sight seems out of place: «I have spoken these things to you that you might have peace in me.» The point is this: if Jesus had not foretold the weakness of the disciples, afterwards when they realized how they had failed him, might well have been driven to utter and absolute despair, as Judas did. It is as if Jesus said: «I know what's going to happen; you must not think that your disloyalty came as a shock to me; I knew it was coming; and it does not make any difference to my love. When you think about it afterwards, don't despair; have peace.» Here is divine pity and divine forgiveness. Jesus was thinking, not of how men's sin would hurt him, but of how it would hurt them. Sometimes it would make all the difference if we thought, not of how much someone has hurt us, but of how much they have hurt themselves by what they did to us.

The gospel ends with words of encouragement from Jesus. Very soon something was going to be unanswerably proved to the disciples. They were going to see that the world could do its worst to Jesus and still not defeat him. And he says: «The victory which I will win can be your victory too. The world did its worst to me, and I emerged victorious. Life can do its worst to you, and you too can emerge victorious. You too can possess the courage and the conquest of the Cross. But courage! I have conquered the world.»