John 14:29

And now I have told you before it come to pass. Foreknowledge is a mark of divinity. The God who sees all times as present, who knows the end from the beginning, can announce what is coming. Jesus has told the disciples that he will be betrayed, that he will suffer, that he will rise, that he will depart. These are not guesses or hopes but announcements of certainty. That, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. When these things happen, the disciples will know that Jesus knew. They will not be able to dismiss his teaching as the rambling of a good man caught by circumstances beyond his control. They will see that he walked toward the cross knowingly, that he announced beforehand what would happen, that he rose as he said he would. Belief will be vindicated by the alignment between prophecy and event.

We stand at the vantage point of two thousand years, looking back at these events. We can read Jesus's predictions in the Gospels and then read the accounts of their fulfillment in the same documents and in history. The disciples had to wait. They had to walk through the terror of his arrest and death, not knowing whether his promises would hold. In their confusion and grief, they clung to his words. And when he appeared risen, they understood. For us, the pattern is similar. Jesus has promised his return, his judgment, his final restoration of all things. We walk by faith, not seeing. But we have his word. And we have the evidence of his past faithfulness to give us confidence that his future promises will be kept.