P1951:2, 180:6.1
After Peter, James, John, and Matthew had asked the Master numerous questions,
he continued his farewell discourse by saying: "And I am telling you about
all this before I leave you in order that you may be so prepared for what
is coming upon you that you will not stumble into serious error. The authorities
will not be content with merely putting you out of the synagogues; I warn
you the hour draws near when they who kill you will think they are doing a
service to God. And all of these things they will do to you and to those whom
you lead into the kingdom of heaven because they do not know the Father. They
have refused to know the Father by refusing to receive me; and they refuse
to receive me when they reject you, provided you have kept my new commandment
that you love one another even as I have loved you. I am telling you in advance
about these things so that, when your hour comes, as mine now has, you may
be strengthened in the knowledge that all was known to me, and that my spirit
shall be with you in all your sufferings for my sake and the gospel's. It
was for this purpose that I have been talking so plainly to you from the very
beginning. I have even warned you that a man's foes may be those of his own
household. Although this gospel of the kingdom never fails to bring great
peace to the soul of the individual believer, it will not bring peace on earth
until man is willing to believe my teaching wholeheartedly and to establish
the practice of doing the Father's will as the chief purpose in living the
mortal life.
P1951:3, 180:6.2
"Now that I am leaving you, seeing that the hour has come when I am about
to go to the Father, I am surprised that none of you have asked me, Why do
you leave us? Nevertheless, I know that you ask such questions in your hearts.
I will speak to you plainly, as one friend to another. It is really profitable
for you that I go away. If I go not away, the new teacher cannot come into
your hearts. I must be divested of this mortal body and be restored to my
place on high before I can send this spirit teacher to live in your souls
and lead your spirits into the truth. And when my spirit comes to indwell
you, he will illuminate the difference between sin and righteousness and will
enable you to judge wisely in your hearts concerning them.
P1951:4, 180:6.3
"I have yet much to say to you, but you cannot stand any more just now. Albeit,
when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he shall eventually guide you into all
truth as you pass through the many abodes in my Father's universe.
P1951:5, 180:6.4
"This spirit will not speak of himself, but he will declare to you that which
the Father has revealed to the Son, and he will even show you things to come;
he will glorify me even as I have glorified my Father. This spirit comes forth
from me, and he will reveal my truth to you. Everything which the Father has
in this domain is now mine; wherefore did I say that this new teacher would
take of that which is mine and reveal it to you.
P1952:1, 180:6.5
"In just a little while I will leave you for a short time. Afterward, when
you again see me, I shall already be on my way to the Father so that even
then you will not see me for long."
P1952:2, 180:6.6
While he paused for a moment, the apostles began to talk with each other:
"What is this that he tells us? `In just a little while I will leave you,'
and `When you see me again it will not be for long, for I will be on my way
to the Father.' What can he mean by this `little while' and `not for long'?
We cannot understand what he is telling us."
P1952:3, 180:6.7
And since Jesus knew they asked these questions, he said: "Do you inquire
among yourselves about what I meant when I said that in a little while I would
not be with you, and that, when you would see me again, I would be on my way
to the Father? I have plainly told you that the Son of Man must die, but that
he will rise again. Can you not then discern the meaning of my words? You
will first be made sorrowful, but later on will you rejoice with many who
will understand these things after they have come to pass. A woman is indeed
sorrowful in the hour of her travail, but when she is once delivered of her
child, she immediately forgets her anguish in the joy of the knowledge that
a man has been born into the world. And so are you about to sorrow over my
departure, but I will soon see you again, and then will your sorrow be turned
into rejoicing, and there shall come to you a new revelation of the salvation
of God which no man can ever take away from you. And all the worlds will be
blessed in this same revelation of life in effecting the overthrow of death.
Hitherto have you made all your requests in my Father's name. After you see
me again, you may also ask in my name, and I will hear you.
P1952:4, 180:6.8
"Down here I have taught you in proverbs and spoken to you in parables. I
did so because you were only children in the spirit; but the time is coming
when I will talk to you plainly concerning the Father and his kingdom. And
I shall do this because the Father himself loves you and desires to be more
fully revealed to you. Mortal man cannot see the spirit Father; therefore
have I come into the world to show the Father to your creature eyes. But when
you have become perfected in spirit growth, you shall then see the Father
himself."
P1952:5, 180:6.9
When the eleven had heard him speak, they said to each other: "Behold, he
does speak plainly to us. Surely the Master did come forth from God. But why
does he say he must return to the Father?" And Jesus saw that they did not
even yet comprehend him. These eleven men could not get away from their long-nourished
ideas of the Jewish concept of the Messiah. The more fully they believed in
Jesus as the Messiah, the more troublesome became these deep-rooted notions
regarding the glorious material triumph of the kingdom on earth.