Not all good things come to an end - Oct.14-18

When Jesus received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. John 19:30

All good things must come to an end. We lose pets, vacations are too short, loved ones pass away or great jobs are left. The latter of which is the circumstance that I found myself in this past week. After nine years working with a fantastic group of people I had to say goodbye in order to pursue another opportunity. It was hard, these are people that I’ve come to know and care about, and who have come to know and care about me. All of us have experienced the end of something good, and reading through the last of the gospel of John this week I really sympathized with the disciples during the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus.

Here was Jesus, their friend, teacher, and Lord. The Messiah prophesied from scripture, the man with whom they spent years doing the work of God, dead on a cross. The agonizing sorrow they must have felt. Sure, they would have experienced good things coming to an end before this, but they had likely come to believe that this was the one good thing that would have no end.

And they were right!

“Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?” Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic,“Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.” John 20:15-16

I love this moment, the moment where the idea that all good things must come to an end was absolutely destroyed by Jesus. Here he is, standing before Mary, not just a good thing but the best of all things, even death couldn’t bring it to an end and we see in Luke 1:33 and Isaiah 9:7 that this will continue as Jesus’ Kingdom will have no end!

Brothers and sisters be encouraged, though we will see good things in this life come to a close, our eternal life and joy with Jesus Christ will go on forever!