Daily Devotion for Tuesday 15th July 2025
St John 16: 25 – 33
‘I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.’ His disciples said, ‘Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’
Reflection
The disciples’ moment of clarity reads like the end of a story. “Now we know!” they declare. “Now we understand!” But Jesus knows better. And with good reason.
There’s something deeply human about mistaking the lightbulb moment for the destination. The instant when the penny drops and, suddenly, we think we’ve arrived. But recognition is not the end of the story, but the beginning of transformation. The disciples have grasped something profound about Jesus – that he knows all things, that he came from God – but this glimpse of truth is the starting point, not the finish line.
It calls to mind the Zen teaching story where a student rushes to his master declaring, “I’ve achieved enlightenment!” The master smiles and says, “Wonderful! Now your real work begins.” The disciples have experienced their moment of breakthrough, but Jesus understands that belief is not a destination – it’s the starting point for a transformative journey.
Jesus responds to their excitement with characteristic gentleness and devastating honesty. “Do you now believe?” The question hangs in the air. Because he knows what’s coming. The scattering. The abandonment. The reality that their newfound certainty will crumble when tested by actual crisis.
And that’s the point. Faith isn’t a moment of intellectual breakthrough. It’s a lifetime of learning to trust even when the clarity fades. Even when the neat answers dissolve. Even when – especially when – we find ourselves scattered and alone.
The disciples think they’ve reached the summit, but they’re standing at the basecamp. Their confident declaration is not the end of their education but the beginning of their real apprenticeship in following Jesus. Sometimes the most dangerous moment in faith is when we think we’ve figured it out.
But there is something more as well, there is the comforting assurance that their faith is merely embryonic, not misplaced. And that, in the end, the one whom they recognise can be relied upon.
Prayer
God of deepening mystery,
when moments of clarity come,
help us receive them as invitations
rather than destinations.
Save us from the illusion
that understanding equals arrival.
Grant us courage for the long apprenticeship
of living what we glimpse,
trusting that your love holds us through every season. Amen.