You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.
John 14:28 and 29
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Greater than I
This verse has been fiercely fought over. In the fourth century Arius used it to argue that the Son was a created being, lower than the Father. The Council of Nicaea rejected that in 325. Others explained it this way: here Jesus is speaking as a man.
Yet the point here is something else. Jesus asks his friends to be glad for him. He is going home. Real love doesn't only look at what it is losing itself, but is glad for what the other gains. That is hard when you have to let someone go.
Question for today
Can I be glad for someone, even when their happiness costs me something?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you went home and asked your friends to be glad. Teach me not to begrudge others their happiness, even when it hurts. Amen.
My prayer
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