“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18 (NIV)
Notice Jesus doesn’t say, “You will not be orphans.” He says, “I will not leave you as orphans.”
This is the promise of the resurrection. Jesus says, “I am going to die. And when I do, you will go through the orphan experience. But it will not end there. I won’t leave you there. I will come to you.”
This is taking us to the heart of true Christianity. The great promise of the gospel is Christ Himself—“I will come to you.”
Christ being taken from them would make the disciples orphans. Only Christ returning to them, being present with them, could restore what they lost. He doesn’t say, “You will go through the orphan experience, but you will have forgiveness, or ministry, or even heaven.” He says, “You will have me! I will come to you.”
Charles Spurgeon says that Jesus does not promise, “I will send you sanctifying grace, or sustaining mercy.” But He says, I will send you “the only thing that will prevent you from being orphans, ‘I will come to you.’”
Why do you think Jesus promised His disciples that He would come to them? What does His promise mean to you?
