Arise, Let Us Go

In Jesus’ farewell sermon (John 13:31-17:26), I have been frequently struck by the last word in the fourteenth chapter: “arise, let us go from here”. Did Jesus intend, with this word, to conclude a part of a speech he had already started in one place, and completed in another? What we do know is that Jesus, after the sermon, will proceed alone to His Death and Resurrection. As for the disciples, they will all be scattered. By this word, Jesus is not encouraging anyone to be scattered, He is rather summoning the community to beginnings conditioned by His Pascha. This is the method of work in the Church, that the community gets moving, while Jesus is addressing it. No beginning is correct, whatever its goal, in which we would not be listening to the Word of a God Who wants to lead us always to His Great Pascha.