Have you ever failed at saying goodbye to someone? You know what I’m talking about! You’ve been hanging out with them all night, and finally it is getting about that time to go. So you slap your knees with both hands and say, “Welp!” And everyone knows it’s about that time.
But then after you collect your things, you find yourself, twenty minutes later, standing near the door talking about who knows what.
You then both name what just happened and have a good laugh. You say, “See you later alligator!” And she says, “Oh that reminds me about this thing that happened with an alligator on our last family vacation!”
Fifteen minutes later…
This happens to me and my friends all the time. It’s almost better to try and leave thirty minutes earlier than planned because everyone knows the first goodbye isn’t the last goodbye!
In John 13, Jesus washes his disciples feet at the last upper and then launches into a multi-chapter discussion of who he is, what he’s up to, and what’s about to happen. At the end of chapter 14, Jesus finishes up by saying, “…but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way” (John 14:31).
John 15 immediately jumps into Jesus’s illustration about the vine and the branches, a bit about love, reminders about the Holy Spirit, and a chapter long prayer in John 17.
So the next time you are at the family reunion and it takes thirty minutes to say goodbye, just know you aren’t alone; Jesus did it too!
I hope this makes you smile!