Ye May Be Also

I'm sitting here at the library. One of the staff members is tapping on the foot of a rough looking woman who has fallen asleep. Again. A little while ago, she was coughing, barely able to clear the congestion in her throat. I was sitting here thinking, "I'm not sure she can maintain her airway". She looks like she's been taking drugs. Homeless? Probably. Twenty five feet from me there sits a disabled woman in her power wheelchair. She can hardly form words. Sounds are mostly grunts. Her caregiver was interacting wonderfully with her until the caregiver said, "Do you care if I go get something to drink?" That was probably 30 -45 minutes ago. The door to Panera is close by and she just got back with her 16 ounce cup of iced tea. There's a curly-headed guy in his early 20s to my right. He has his earbuds in and was mouthing the words to his music and bobbing his head when he thought no one was looking.

We're an odd bunch, us humans. Tired, desiring rest and peace, lonely, distracted. We're much the same as the group of disciples Jesus was talking to at the last supper. One was about to deny Him. Another was going to betray Him. All would forsake Him. But in one simple phrase, He summed up the heart of God: "that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3 ASV). That love and desire for relationship with His creation was the heartbeat of Jesus.

"That where I am, there ye may be also" . . . He says it to the sick, drugged, homeless woman.
"That where I am, there ye may be also" . . . He says it to the lonely disabled woman. And to her caregiver.
"That where I am, there ye may be also" . . . He says it to the curly headed 20-something.

Jesus stands against the backdrop of our humanity and in unimaginable and lavish love He cries: I am going to the cross so "that where I am, there ye may be also!!"

"He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." Isaiah 53:11