“And now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will see my face no more.”

He had proclaimed to them the Kingly Rule of God, both as a present reality and as a future hope. But in view of his future plans which will take him far away he is aware that this is the last time that they will see him. If he survives what awaits him in Jerusalem, God's plans for him will take him elsewhere (Romans 15:24), so that he will no longer be visiting Asia Minor. Many see this phrase as suggesting a foreboding of death, but that is to read in what is not said. It is rather an indication that he knows that whatever the future holds, it will not be a future in Asia Minor.

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