Seven times the Holy Evangelist used the phrase “a little while.” Do you think he’s trying to tell us something?

Jesus, who spoke these words, certainly was his disciples. In a little while, the very next day in fact, they would experience the sorrow of losing him in death. But in a little while, on the third day to be exact, he would rise from the dead, and they would see him again. And their sorrow would turn into joy.

However, forty days later Jesus would ascend into heaven. And though we do see his gracious acts, which he after Pentecost carried out through his Apostles and continues to do so today through his ordained ministers, we do not see him. But, in a little while we will see him, when he returns in glory to bring us home with him into heaven.

A little while? It’s already been over 2,000 years! How can you call that “a little while”? “Beloved, do not forget this one thing,” St. Peter explained to the Christians of his day, “that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.”

There’s no doubt that our Lord’s definition of “a little while” is not our definition. After all, we are creatures of time. We judge when things happen by hours, days, weeks, months, and years. But God, who is from everlasting to everlasting, dwells in eternity, which is outside of time. With him there is no, “What was,” or, “What will be;” but only, “What is.”

He confessed this when he revealed his name to Moses at the Burning Bush, and through Moses to the Children of Israel in bondage, as I AM. And our Lord Jesus Christ applied that same name to himself, when he said, “I AM the Bread of life,” “I AM the Light of the world,” “I AM the Good Shepherd,” and so on. He does not call himself, “I was,” or, “I will be,” but rather, “I AM,” which led his OT people to call him, “Jaweh,” a Hebrew verb form, which translated means, “HE IS.”

I know. To us who live in time, that goes way beyond what we can comprehend. But in heaven we will, for there we too will be living in the realm of eternity. In heaven, as well as in hell (for the damned also live outside of time), there is no past or future; only what is, whether that is the suffering and despair of hell or the bliss and glory of heaven.

Compared to that, everything here in time lasts only for “a little while.” And for us Christians, that means that in a little while all our suffering, pain, and sorrows will pass away. Our Lord used a rather vivid—and on this Mother’s Day I would say a most appropriate—illustration to impress this truth upon his Apostles: “A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a man has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”

The disciples did believe that Jesus is I AM, the God who delivered their ancestors from bondage in Egypt and led them through the wilderness for forty years to the Promised Land of Canaan, and so also believed him to be Immanuel, that is, “God with us.” So when he explained to them that in a little while they would not see him, which implied he would not be with them, they were confused: “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me; and again a little while, and you will see me?’ We do not know what he is saying.”

What they did not know at the time, yet would in a little while, we by the grace of God know and believe today. Our Lord would go the way of the cross. He would offer his life for our life, suffer God’s wrath over our sins, become the One cursed of God to redeem us from the curse we sinful creatures brought upon ourselves, then be buried in a tomb far out of their sight. But in a little while, they would see him again, when he rose from the dead. And on that day their sorrow would turn into joy.

Then, forty days later, they would not see him again—in fact, not for the rest of their earthly life—for he would ascend into heaven. Yet this time they were not overcome with sorrow, just the opposite. They returned to Jerusalem with great joy, because of this promise he made to them before his Ascension, “And lo, I will be with you always even to the end of the age.”

Dear Christian, I AM is still Immanuel. The fact that you don’t see him doesn’t change that. He is still with you. In fact, you’ve met him and continue to meet him. You met him, for most of you years ago, in the waters of Holy Baptism, where he washed and cleansed you of all your sins. And you’re meeting him today, in the Word that is preached to you, for he is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us, as well as at this Altar, where you feast on his Body that was given and his Blood that was shed for you, for forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you won’t experience suffering, pain, and sorrows in this life. Everyone does, believer as well as unbeliever—for that’s the consequence of living in a world ruined by sin.

But this is your hope—and it’s a hope only Christians have—that in a little while, I AM will return to deliver you from every evil and bring you safely into his heavenly kingdom.

And on that day, that wonderful day when you see your Lord coming in the clouds with power and great glory, you will no longer remember the anguish you had to endure in this life. Instead, what Jesus said would happen to his disciples when he rose from the dead, will also happen to you when you are raised from the dead: Your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.