(34) You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.
These few words confused the Pharises. And apparently they confuse us, too. It sounds like a riddle. The meaning is not clear. We scratch our heads. We wonder about where it would be that he goes where we cannot follow. But ahhh! Jesus said, "where I am, you cannot come." This sentence uses two different tenses - future "You will look," and present. "...where I am," indicating right now. I remember the famous "I am" statements earlier in this gospel. Now here, "I am" is used in a seemingly different way. Or is it?
"I am" continuing to reflect on this passage...
3 comments:
Meredith. You seem to place some importance on the "I am" statements of Jesus. If I read you correctly you see them as God speaking thru Jesus.
I've heard of other spiritual writers who do that.
I was wondering if you woudl develop that idea a little.
Re the "I am" statements of Jesus. "If I read you correctly you see them as God speaking thru Jesus."
Beautiful. That's the best meaning of "I am" that I've seen. I would love to see a biblical linguist deal with it.
Meredith, I love your last sentence!
Interesting -- I could see "where I am" meaning where he is when he says it OR where he will be when they look for him, in which case he might not necessarily be there now (e.g. heaven).
However, I think you're right suggesting that he is talking about where is he at the time he speaks. I think that they could not find him where he is because they don't yet have the Holy Spirit or they are not yet fully integrated as human beings.
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