Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die as believers in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, and they’ll be rewarded for what they’ve done.”
“Father, I want those you’ve given me to be with me where I am. I want them to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the world was created.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to welcome the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
We also thank God constantly for the way you received his word when you heard it from us. You didn’t accept it as a human word, but for what it is, the word of God. And that word is truly at work in you who believe.
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Jesus had always loved his disciples who were in the world, and he now loved them to the very end.