‘i will see you again… and no one will take your joy from you’
Commentary
May 16th 2012
The greatest joys, spiritual joys, do not have very much physical expression, since the most elevated feelings and sensations are often imperceptible. They are experienced as understanding, as fulfilment, as silence, and they are indestructible. This is the kind of joy Jesus is speaking of when he announces to his disciples, ‘I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.’
‘I will see you again…’ Of course, Jesus was speaking about an inner encounter, a merging with the divine world. We have to study, pray and work for a very long time to achieve this merging. Why does Jesus project this encounter into the future? Why can it not happen straightaway? Because a long preparation is needed. But once this preparation is complete it is for good, and this is why he adds, ‘No one will take your joy from you.’ Jesus expresses this idea again in a different form when he says, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’