BLESSED WITH JOY (JOHN 16:16-22)
Did you ever get lost as a toddler or young child? Perhaps you remember the awful feeling of panic as you realised you had no idea where your parents were, or how to go about finding them. The minutes felt like hours as your sense of despair increased. Then, suddenly, you were found! Everything changed. You ran into your mother or father’s arms, and your sorrow turned to joy. Everything that felt so awful before was gone, and you cried with relief.
Jesus explains to his disciples in John 16 that something similar is going to happen to them. They aren’t going to get themselves lost, necessarily. But rather, they will lose him, their beloved master, friend and only hope. They will suffer the anguish of watching him be arrested and killed, dying a terrible death, something they hadn’t expected (despite having been told numerous times!). They will, as Jesus puts it, “weep and mourn” (verse 20). They will “grieve” because their hearts will be broken, and everything they’ve lived for over the past three years will feel as though it’s crumbling to pieces.
But, says Jesus, after just a short time will come the sudden relief of being reunited. The disciples didn’t know it, but of course Jesus is referring to his resurrection, when he would be gloriously and wonderfully brought to life again, appearing multiple times to those who loved him so much. Their grief would “turn to joy” (verse 20).
Jesus says two things about this joy.
Of course, Jesus’ ultimate departure from his followers took place at his ascension, when they watched him disappear into the clouds. But his words must have continued to ring true as they were comforted by two angels, who assured them that “this same Jesus…will come back in the same way you have seen him go” (Acts 1:11). Ultimately – at his second coming – they would be reunited forever. And in the meantime, he was sending his Spirit so that his presence would be with them at all times.
So, what about us? We have the same hope the disciples had of one day seeing Jesus’ return. Life may be hard right now. There may be difficult situations, tricky relationships, or overwhelming emotions. But our sadness will suddenly turn to great joy when he comes in his glory! Anything and everything that has ever caused us grief will be forgotten, and the joy we experience will last for eternity.
In the meantime, we too have Jesus’ presence with us by His Spirit. Like the disciples, we’ll face problems and persecution, but that wonderful feeling of knowing Jesus with us can carry us through (see Isaiah 43:2). And ultimately, the thought that he is coming back will always be there to look forward to.
Does the thought that Jesus is returning encourage you to keep going through difficult times? In the meantime, remind yourself regularly that he is with you now by his Spirit.
ENTITLED TO ASK (JOHN 16:23-28)
Once, while Jesus was on earth, a Roman centurion desperately wanted him to come and heal his dying servant. But instead of asking Jesus himself, he sent some of the Jewish leaders to plead on his behalf. Later, we find out why. His servants pass on the message: “I do not deserve to have you come under my roof” (Luke 7:6). The centurion didn’t think Jesus would listen to him or grant his request. He felt how undeserving he was. He had a sense of his own smallness compared to the Son of God. “That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you,” he says (verse 7).
We can often be like that centurion. We don’t feel in a position to ask God for things. After all, we reason, I don’t deserve to. I’m such a failure – so unworthy. Why would he listen to me?
In John 16, Jesus tells his disciples that they will soon enter a new era of privileges as his followers. Until then, they had “not asked anything in [his] name” (verse 24), but after his ascension, their prayers would not only be heard – they’d be answered – and they would be invited to make them freely. There would be no barrier stopping unworthy sinners from coming before the King of Kings, because they would come dressed in the perfect, royal robes of the King’s Son.
The same is true for us today. As sinners, we don’t deserve anything from God. But clothed in Jesus’ perfect righteousness, we’re fully entitled to ask. We have the right – the privilege – because we’re asking in his name. Jesus effectively says to us, ‘What are you waiting for? This is your right. Ask!’ What an encouragement!
Jesus says three things here about this privilege:
We probably have no idea the amount of good that has been done through Christians’ prayers over the years. God is a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God. But we so infrequently take advantage of this incredible truth. James 4:2 says, “You do not have because you do not ask God”. I wonder how much we’re missing out on because we simply haven’t asked for it!
Maybe you don’t feel important enough to ask God for big things. But Jesus assures you that not only do you have the right to ask, but what you ask for in his name will be answered. Make bold requests, then, and watch as God delights to respond!
What do you think could happen if you believed you could ask for big things from God, for his glory? Have you wrongly assumed you weren’t ‘good enough’? Come to God today and believe that he’s ready to give you what you ask, because you come in Jesus’ name.
REDEEMED FROM FAILURE (JOHN 16:29-33)
Have you ever thought you would do really well at something, only to fail miserably? Perhaps your family and friends expected you to do amazingly in a sports competition, but you messed up and came last. Or maybe you were hoping to achieve great grades in an exam, but ended up with a ‘D’. Failure can feel humiliating and, as fallible human beings, we’re only too prone to experiencing it.
At the end of John 16, it feels like the disciples may finally be having a breakthrough. “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech,” they say (verse 29). At last, they’ve started to understand some of what Jesus is saying! Perhaps they feel like they’re gaining the knowledge and experience that will carry them through what’s coming. After all, they’re Jesus’ closest friends. They’ve been with him for three years, listening to his teaching and being guided by his wisdom.
But if that’s what they’re thinking, Jesus is about to burst their bubbles spectacularly. “You will be scattered,” he tells them. “You will leave me all alone” (verse 32). What a devastating blow! Despite their earlier avowals that they would never leave him and would even die for him (Matthew 26:35), Jesus predicts that they’re all, in fact, going to desert him when it matters most.
No doubt they would be feeling a sense of despair at the prospect of letting Jesus down so badly. We know that after Peter denied Jesus three times, “he went outside and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:27), a sentiment probably shared by the other disciples who had abandoned their Lord. In short, Jesus is telling them that despite their best intentions, they’re going to completely fail.
It’s a damning prediction, and perhaps one you recognise. Jesus knows that we too, as Christians, will inevitably fail him, at times in awful ways. We’re going to be cowards when we should be brave. We’re going to be selfish when we should show love. We’re going to be idolatrous, adulterous and rebellious, after all God has done for us. We might try our best to be ‘good’ and to please our Saviour, but the reality is we mess up so often. Maybe this is how you’re feeling right now. Maybe you feel like you’ve let Jesus down in a thousand ways, and there’s no hope for you.
But Jesus lovingly reassures his disciples: “take heart! I have overcome the world” (verse 33). You may fail me, he says; you may give in; you may be overwhelmed and beaten; you may be weak and frail and make a mess of it all, but it doesn’t rely on your achievements. It relies on mine! Jesus has gained the victory over the world, sin, and every other opponent. He has achieved (and continues to achieve) what we have failed to. Where we’ve let him down, he succeeds. Where we are defeated, he is perfectly triumphant.
So, although there is trouble in this world, and although we meet that trouble with so much weakness, we can have peace (verse 33), not because of us and our efforts, but because of him. That is our ultimate source of comfort – that no matter what happens, Jesus has overcome. Our sin can’t ruin it. The world and its hatred can’t ruin it. Jesus has us safely and securely in his hands for all eternity, and because he overcomes, so do we.
Do you feel like you’ve let Jesus down at times in your Christian walk? How can you practise relying less on your own achievements, and focusing more on his ultimate victory?
