Sermon Tone Analysis

My kids have a joke that when we are spending time out with friends when I say “we are leaving in little while” or “just a few more minutes” it really means nothing!

A little while has meant 2 min, and it has meant 2 hours.

The kids have had their jackets on and ready to go, only to take them off and keep playing because we keep talking with our friends.

Perhaps one of my most ambiguous phrases in our family is, “a little while”

Its phrase always makes perfect sense in my head, however, when I use this phrase Mandee almost always follows up with, well, what does that mean?

Me: I’ll be home in a little while

Mandee: “a little while” in like 10 minutes or a little while in like 2 hours?

woe! “sometime in between 10 min and two hours… “

This language is somewhat enigmatic and ambiguous to my my family…

No one really knows what it means.

This same language also proves to be a bit mystifying to the disciples.

Throughout the gospel Jesus has used figures of speech…But in John 16.16 Jesus makes a statement, that leaves the discipled feeling bewildered and at their wits end.

What is Jesus saying here?

What is he talking about when he says “a little while”?

Now the disciples, as we will see in a moment, are very confused with Jesus’ words.

However we don’t have to be.

Verse 16 is a transition verse in John 16.

Jesus has been talking to his disciples about his ascension to the Father and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Helper.

Jesus just got done telling them about the mission and work of the Spirit as God’s divine prosecutor and how he will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement.

And when we come to verse 16 Jesus transitions away from talking about the Spirit to talking about his impending death and resurrection.

And he does so in three figures of speech.

The first is here in verse 16

When Jesus says, “a little while, and you will see me no longer” he is talking about his crucifixion, death and burial.

And then when he says, “and again a little while, and you will see me.”

He is speaking of his resurrection.

Jesus’ cryptic language greatly confuses the disciples, but it is important for us to understand what Jesus is talking about as we work through this passage.

Because Jesus continues to use figures of speech and does not come right out and speak plainly to them.

In fact, in verse 25 jesus says,

So Jesus first figure of speech is “a little while”

John 16.16 ““A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.””

And in verse 17 and 18 we see how confused the disciples get.

Jesus words clearly perplex and confuse the disciples.

“what is he talking about when he says ‘a little while’”?

“Why are we not going to see him?

“And how is it that we won’t see him, and then a little while we will see him?

Eventually it seems like the disciples threw up their hands and say, “We have not clue what he’s talking about”

Now we need to be patient with the disciples, because if we were in their shoes we would most certainly be just as bewildered as they were.

The disciples are lacking a framework, they have no category to allow them to make sense of a Messiah who:

would die upon a Roman cross

And then rise from the dead

And even further abandon his disciples so that another Counselor or Helper could come.

This story that Jesus is drawing them into is one that is scandalous, and paradigm shifting.

In a lot of ways their being confused with Jesus’ words justify what he said in John 16 12, when Jesus said,“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”

Jesus knows they cannot bear the full weight of his sovereign plan, He knows they will not be able to process all that he has in store for them… not until they see him upon the cross and raised three days later will the message of the gospel make sense.

The glory Jesus has in store for his disciples, and for his people, is far more weighty then they can possibly bear as this time.

So rather than giving them the full weight of glory, he continues to speak in figures of speech…

figures of speech or proverbs are like pieces to a puzzle… you see part of the picture on each pieces, but it takes time to fit it together to see the full picture in all of its brilliance.

The disciples are not ready for the full picture to be revealed, so Jesus keeps giving them pieces…

He offers them more pieces in the next figure of speech in vv.19-20

Jesus asks...“You want to know what i mean by this proverb, by this figure of speech?

He begins to fill in a bit more detail in verse 20,

This is the next piece to the puzzle..

Truly truly, he says....

“You will weep and lament” -

Jesus is telling the disciples that soon, in a little while, things are going to be very difficult.

They will like Mary at the feet of Jesus when Lazarus, her brother, died, weep, they will cry, they will mourn.

But not only that, they will also lament.

This is to sing songs of sorrow… Lamenting is one of the deepest expressions of grief.

Jesus is saying that very soon, in a little while, this sort of grief will overtake the disciples where they will weep and lament.

And as you do so, the world will be rejoicing

All the enemies of God, from the unbelieving jews, to the demons and ghouls, from the monsters in the darkness to the devil himself will rejoice.

CS Lewis captures this verse in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when Susan and Lucy are hiding in the bushes watching as Jadis, the White Which, and all the evil monsters of Narnia kill Aslan.

As Susan and Lucy weep over his death, all the evil monsters rejoice

Lewis writes that he could not fully describe the scene because it would be too scary and parents would not let their children read the book.

When Christ suffered upon the cross and when he gave up his spirit, all the ghouls, ghosts and demonic monsters that have warred against YHWH from the beginning, for a moment rejoiced thinking they had won.

Psalm 22 is a prophetic Psalm about the crucifixion of Jesus.

Jesus actually quotes Ps 22 1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” while on the cross.

And if you keep reading you will see that the psalm continues to describe the death of Jesus.

In verse 12 and 13 we see David mention of the Bulls of Bashan.

The Bulls of Bashan are a reference to demons who have been set against God and his people longing for their destruction.

And not only did the demonic realm rejoice while the disciples weeped and lamented.

But unbelieving Israel and the gentiles nations as well.

While Christ was in the grave unbelieving Israel thought they had done away with the trouble maker, Jesus.

They thought they had stopped the movement

All those who hated Christ and his message rejoiced

The trouble-maker was gone

The convicting power and authority with which he spoke was silenced.

The miracles and message of Jesus will no longer spread.

The Serpent perhaps thought that he had escaped the head crushing prophecy of Genesis 3:15.

Israel thought they got rid of a the great prophet who spoke of their demise and destruction.

Indeed, The disciples will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice when Christ is sacrficed upon the cross.

But Jesus goes on.

You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into Joy!

The sorrow and defeat of the cross will turn to joy when Christ is risen from the dead

The weeping and the lamenting of Christ in the tomb will turn to shouts of joy when he is brought forth out of the darkness trampling down death by death.

The Victory Cry of Christ’s resurrection caused hell itself to shake in fear.

When Jesus took that first breath after the resurrection, all the enemies, all the demonic powers, all those opposed to Christ were utterly defeated.

The world’s rejoicing over Jesus’ death turned to utter regret and defeat in the resurrection.

As Paul says,

However, the disciples still did not understand what Jesus was saying…

They still couldn’t wrap their heads around what was coming in a matter of just a few hours.

So Jesus offers them a third figure of speech.

Giving birth is terrifying.

It involves sharp pain, convulsions, breathing difficulties, a form of agony that only mothers can understand.

But most women giving birth go through it with eager expectation.

Their hearts are already set on the new life that’s waiting to come into the world.

Within moments of the birth (assuming there are no complication), mothers are deeply content and experience an overwhelming joy of the birth of their child.

Jesus’ disciples are about to be plunged into a short, sharp and intensely painful period of time that Jesus compares to being in labor.

However, when the first born of the new creation comes out of the womb of the earth in the resurrection, they will greatly rejoice.

Now, this final figure of speech is one that has deep symbolism and meaning.