“Jesus said, "I know where I am going and where I come from. I am going away and you will not be able to find me. You can't come where I am going."”

When Jesus spoke of going away He was speaking about His return to His Father and to His glory. That was precisely where His opponents could not follow Him because of their disobedience and their refusal to accept Him. They had shut themselves off from God. God sees the beginning from the end. Jesus was equally aware of the hearts of His accusers. They did not desire to know God; they desired personal praise. They had no desire to confess sin but covered up their plotting with attitudes of self-righteousness. They also attempted to trap Him in the matter of the woman taken in adultery. Jesus showed Himself to be too smart for the rulers in this situation. Then there was the attempt to have His testimony discounted based on a legal technicality. Now they were seeking to make fun of Him personally.

Since the rulers’ reasoned they would certainly be going to heaven, they concluded that Jesus must be going to hell. Ironically, God sees. He knows. His omniscient qualities tell us that these people are not going to follow Him, and they are the ones who will be going to hell.    

How can people be so blinded by their traditions and prejudices? Can we admit to ourselves that we do not know all the answers and leave many of the unknown things in God's hands?  He calls us to follow Him by faith, not by sight. It is enough that God sees.    

There is an interesting article written by Mary Peterson. She tells us of an insect called the Processionary Caterpillar which feeds on pine needles. Of interest is that they move in a long procession through the trees, one leading and the others following eyes half closed and head pushed against the posterior of the one ahead.  One scientist enticed a group of caterpillars unto the rim of a large flowerpot, getting the first one connected with the last so the procession had neither beginning nor end. To his surprise, the caterpillars did not grow tired of the useless circling. They did not set off in some new direction despite plodding around and around for seven days and seven nights. They would have kept that up until exhaustion and ultimate starvation overtook them, even though there was an ample supply of food visible and close at hand. Sheer force of habit kept the caterpillars from changing their direction even to their own destruction. That is not unlike the religious teachers and pharisees who were blind to the light. They did not see, but kept their eyes focused on the law without realizing what the law was trying to show them. Around and around, they would go.

Jesus told them they would die in their sin. “You cannot go where I am going”. Why? Because they were not following Him. This is a good lesson also to ask ourselves in other areas of our lives. Do traditions keep us from the change that we so desperately need?    

We can't know for certain what lies ahead, but Jesus sees.  God knows the beginning from the end. Can we trust Him? Only Jesus knows all the facts, even the hidden facts.  Jesus' claim that any judgment He passes is not a human judgment; it is God's judgment.

This serves as a reminder that we are not to trust our own judgments in spiritual matters; our knowledge is limited. We are not impartial. We must not trust our own way of looking at things.

Prov. 3:5,6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thy own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."