John 16:16-33

Momentary Sorrows, joy that Overcomes the World

John 16:16-33

Intro

What do you do when you get sad? Do you have little tricks that help you recover your joy? One thing that people who struggle with depression and anxiety often say is that they struggle to control their thoughts. Often, certain thoughts will recur and become so intrusive that they cannot control them. They may have a sad thought that just grows in their minds and comes to dominate their thinking, until that's all there is. It's a deadly feedback loop, and the only way to get out of it is to interrupt that process by changing the thought patterns. Therapists call this cognitive-behavioral therapy, which sounds fancy, but it's just a way to reframe your thinking. Scripture calls this renewing your mind (Rom. 12:2). Now, there are secular ways to reframe your thinking that may not be helpful to a Christian. But on the eve of our Lord's departure, He gives His disciples a helpful way to reframe their thinking, especially when they face the destructive onslaught of excessive sorrow. Often, the best way to reframe your thinking is to remind yourself that there is more to your life than whatever that one recurring thought is. Jesus gives His disciples a few reminders, things He wants them to remember, and if they do, it will help them to recover their joy. He doesn't sugarcoat the truth; they will have sorrows. But sorrow will give way to joy when they remember that Jesus has overcome the world.

First Reminder: It won't last forever.

It can be hard to put ourselves in the shoes of the disciples, especially since none of us have ever lived with Christ in the intimate way they did. Jesus warns that very shortly they will be overwhelmed with sorrow. He makes the puzzling statement that in a little while they will see him no longer, and then in a little while they will see him again (16). It's a cryptic statement that has the disciples questioning one another about what it might mean. He doesn't spell it out completely for them, but with the benefit of hindsight, we know now he is referring to his death and subsequent resurrection. However, they don't yet have the imagination to understand that. What they can understand is an analogy. So, Jesus describes the process they will shortly go through from sorrow to joy. It's a very similar process that a woman in labor goes through. I am told that this is the greatest ordeal a woman will go through in terms of both sorrow and joy. Sorrow because it is incredibly painful, but it is also incredibly joyful for in the end you will receive a child. Once you have your child in your hands, it makes all the struggle, all the pain and suffering worthwhile. Your child puts all that in perspective. That's what will happen for the disciples. The momentary sorrow of His death will give way to inexpressible joy at his resurrection.

Now, this doesn't mean the sorrow isn't really painful. Imagine staking your whole life on following this man from Galilee, who you believed with your whole heart was the promised Christ. Along this three and a half year journey with him, you entertained hopes that he was going to restore the kingdom of God. Some of the disciples were trying to maneuver themselves into key positions in the new economy. Others dreamed of finally putting down the Roman oppression, sticking it to the man. But in a moment, all those hopes and dreams would be dashed. Each of them would scatter in sorrow and fear when their Lord was betrayed, tried, and then crucified. That's a sorrow you and I have never experienced. For as long as I've known Christ, he has been a risen Christ, a triumphant Christ, a Christ who defeated death. But for the disciples who walked and talked and ate with him, His death would have shaken their world. But the key is their sorrow would only last for a moment. "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (Ps. 30:5).

There is a moving scene in the movie "We Bought a Zoo" with Matt Damon, where the character of the father encourages his son that sometimes in life all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage; just twenty seconds of embarrassing bravery and amazing things can happen. The father had learned that as a journalist who wrote about all kinds of dangerous and thrilling things. It was also how he summoned the courage to meet their mother, who in the story has passed away. The principle behind twenty seconds of courage, is the idea that in the short-term you can endure very hard things since you know it won't last forever. No one provides us a better example of this in action than the Apostle Paul.

2 Corinthians 4:7–12 ESV

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

2 Corinthians 4:16–17 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

After listing the horrors that accompanied the Apostle Paul in his ministry he then says that all those hardships were just "light momentary afflictions." That there is the key to enduring suffering, to enduring sorrow - you have to remind yourself that they are temporary. That they won't last forever.

For the disciples, the sorrow of losing Jesus to death would soon give way to the joy of receiving him back in the resurrection, and not merely as some great teacher who might reform Israel, but as the savior of the world. The resurrection relativizes the suffering of the cross, for it means that Jesus has overcome the world. For us, the sorrows of this life are nothing compared with an eternity of suffering. For the sorrows of eternal death, in agony and pain, separated from all eternity from the glory of God is the stuff of nightmares. When you consider whatever situation you are sorrowful about right now, and compare that with enduring that same kind of suffering forever, there is no comparison. It's in those moments that you can remind yourself that sorrow is only ever momentary, that this won't last forever. Only then can you begin to see that God is working all things together for your good, including your suffering.

So your first reframe is this: instead of saying to yourself "this sorrow (fill in the blank) will never go away, there is no solution that I can see, and it will be my ruin" you need to say, "this sorrow is real, but it will only last for a moment, because my life is a moment, and then my sorrows will be over forever. In the meantime, Jesus gives two more reminders that help to bolster you when sorrow threatens to undo you. Not only that it will be momentary, but that you have access to support while you endure.

Second reminder: You have access to support

Knowing that our sorrows have an end, that they will not last forever, is a balm in times of suffering. Momentary sorrow gives way to joy when you remember that Jesus has overcome death and hell, providing access to the Father which was lost because of sin. When you are at peace with God because your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer under His wrath and judgment, then your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you" (22).

So, in a pre-crucifixion cryptic sort of way, Jesus encourages the Disciples to reframe their thoughts when they face sorrow. He reminds them that in a little while, they will see Him again, having accomplished their redemption, providing them access to the Father through his death and resurrection. Then no one and nothing will take away their joy. So, when He leaves the world to return to the Father, they can be assured that they can ask the Father in His name, and He will respond. Not merely because Jesus asks Him to, but because He loves the disciples.

What lies behind this love of the Father for sinners like the disciples, like you and I, is the work that Christ has accomplished to save ruined sinners from sin. The truth is, when the Father looks at you, He doesn't see a ruined sinner; He sees you clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And why? Because of v. 27, "you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

Faith in Christ, which is the belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, secures your salvation. All those who have trusted in Christ have received a transfer through imputation. Your sins were imputed to Christ, and His righteousness was imputed to you, both His active and His passive righteousness. That means what separated you from joy, the cause of all sorrow, namely sin, has been dealt with by Jesus. Now you have access to joy, because you have access to the Father. Real joy is delighting in God, which you were made to do, but lost the privilege when Adam plunged mankind into sin. Now Jesus has restored us to fellowship with God, so we can glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Joy is not dependent on your circumstances. You can be facing unimaginable horrors and still have joy. The apostle Paul is our example here, the same as with peace. Real genuine peace can be yours even when you are facing down the open hostility of an enemy. Why? Because you are at peace with God. This helps us to understand what Jesus means when he tells you to ask the Father, in His name for joy, so that your heart may be full (23-24).

Joy, at least lesser joys, can come in myriads of ways. You can find joy in sunshine on a beautiful day, or in a good meal, or a good conversation, of the love you find in a meaningful relationship. But real solid joy, or better, the fount of all joy comes when you are in a right relationship with God. In reality, unless you have that, you can't have real joy. You might have happiness, but not joy. Happiness will ebb and flow with your circumstances, but joy is lasting.

So joy is found when you are in a right relationship with God, but we also know that joy can be lost because we know our experience of fellowship with God can be lost. I say experience intentionally which I will come to in a moment. Fellowship with God is most often broken when we sin. For when you sin you want autonomy, you want to be God determining right from wrong, and deciding for yourself what is good, true, and beautiful. When you sin you turn away from God. When you do that you lose communion and fellowship with God, not because He abandons you, but because you abandon Him. When fellowship is broken, you often lose assurance too, and joy along with it.

Jesus reminds His disciples that when they have sorrow, they can be assured that they have continued access to the Father in His name. Jesus calls them to pray. Prayer is to your relationship with God, what talking is to every other relationship. What happens to a relationship when you never communicate with each other. It will quickly die. Relationships are formed by talking, they are maintained by talking, although in our sinful condition they can also be destroyed by talking, or a lack thereof. So it is with prayer, you are keeping up fellowship with Him when you lift up your heart to Him in prayer.

Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of his Spirit; with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies. (Larger Catechism #177)

But more specifically, we should pray for joy. When we face sorrows, when we are feeling absent from the Lord, then we come to the Father, in the name of Jesus, asking that he would fill our hearts with delight. If that break in fellowship was due to our own sin, we confess it asking the Lord to “restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Ps. 51:12).

Sometimes, when we are overwhelmed with sorrows, you need to be reminded that you have support, you have someone to flee too for refuge, you have access through Jesus to the Father. And if in those moments you can remind yourself, I belong to God; I am His and He is mine, and that the Father loves you, then you can find comfort and strength to recover your joy no matter what your circumstances might be.

So the second reminder Jesus gives you to reframe your thinking when you face sorrow is: you have support. Now let us consider the third reminder.

Third Reminder: Jesus has overcome the world.

Now the disciples claim they are beginning to understand. But Jesus is skeptical that they really do, for shortly when he is betrayed and sentenced to death, all of them would scatter from Him. But he is not alone, since nothing can separate Him from the father, that is except those harrowing three days when he continues under the power of death. But as we will see, even in death, Jesus is not separated from His father, for he will bring him back to life again.

Jesus’ brings his farewell discourse to a close by summarizing what he has taught them. He wants to remind them that in Him they will find peace. Just as in the joy Jesus offers His disciples, His peace is not derived from their situations. In fact, the reason they will so desperately need to remember that in Christ they will have peace is precisely because they won’t find it in the world. Instead, in the world we will find trouble and suffering. How fitting then, that as he ends his teaching moments before he is to be betrayed, he gives them His peace, commanding them not to lose heart when sorrows threaten to overwhelm them for he has “overcome the world” (33).

What a subtle, but thrilling statement. One that expresses His confidence in His sovereign plan. Imagine those words ringing in your ears when you run when he is snatched by the Jews and taken to His death. What could they mean? “I have overcome the world” (33). Not I will, and certainly not I might, but I have conquered the world. In Greek that verb is Perfect in tense, meaning that action took place in the past but has continued on-going significance.

How can Jesus, who has not yet gone to the cross, not yet suffered and died to atone for sinners, and has not yet been raised from the dead, how can he claim victory over the world now. While it is true that Jesus had not yet accomplished that victory, but in reality it was as good as done already when God first announced it on that fateful day when Adam sinned in the garden. When he said I will bruise the head the serpent he was saying in effect I will overcome the world. And since nothing can thwart God’s plan, nothing can intervene that might change them, for the decrees of God are irrevocable. Just as His character they are immutably fixed in the mind of God, and in His good providence will come about in the right time. As Peter preached on Pentecost, “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed” (Acts 2:23).

The disciples will need to keep with them the confidence that Jesus has conquered the world because their eyes will deceive them, and even after His resurrection, the disciples will be confronted by the world who hates them and will make all kinds of trouble for them, and if they do not remind themselves daily that Jesus has overcome the world they will be overwhelmed by sorrow and collapse in despair.

It’s no wonder since this fact was impressed upon the Apostle John that he makes frequent reference to it in his letters and throughout the Apocalypse. Of the twenty-eight times the word for overcome is used in the NT, twenty-four of them are from the Apostle John. This is the verb form of the Greek word Nike, which means victory (which I named my son). The victory of Christ over the forces of darkness and evil, over sin and death, is the greatest triumph ever told. And what a paradoxical victory it was, Jesus defeating death by His death; Jesus winning by dying. The world didn’t see that coming.

It is His victory over the world that becomes the assurance that allows us to overcome the world, too. As John says in his first epistle,

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 Jn 5:4–5).

It is your faith in Christ that overcomes the world. No doubt John was thinking of these words of Jesus when he wrote that. “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (33). How do you know you will be able to endure the trouble and suffering you will encounter in the Christian life? How do you know whether you will overcome sorrow? Well, Jesus gives you this third reminder, so that you will always remember Jesus’ has overcome your sorrow, he’s overcome all the troubles this world brings which make you suffer.

It is absolutely essential that you remind yourself of this when the world troubles you, for how else will you take heart? That command of Jesus means to be courageous, to have courage, or to be bold. Which you will need every bit of, for just as Jesus conquered the world by dying, so must you. As John sees in the Apocalypse, “they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Re 12:11). How will you overcome the world and the trouble and sorrow it brings? By dying; by loving not your life, but by faith, being willing to give it up to follow Christ.

In the world you will have troubles, but be courageous and face each one, knowing that you will overcome the world because Christ has overcome the world, and in Him you are more than conquerors. And you can do so because you have the peace of Christ. Which I will remind you is the peace that comes from your relationship with God being restored, so that you are no longer His enemy. And if you are at peace with God, then you have joy, joy that Christ has overcome the world.

Conclusion

These three reminders help to reframe thoughts that are stuck, focused on the troubles we all face as we go through life. Troubles like backaches, and car problems, and relationship problems, and wayward children, and bills that pile up; troubles like food addiction, and slothfulness that keep you doom scrolling on your phone until you get brain rot. To get out of those cycles, you need to remember what Jesus promises here. Sorrow is, but for a moment, it will end. The best is truly yet to come. In the meantime, you have access to the Father, in whose presence is fullness of joy, for at His righthand are pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16:11). From that joy and peace found only in Christ, you can have courage to face the onslaught of the world’s trouble for you know Christ has overcome the world. Amen.

Lord’s Super Meditation

This meal is also a reminder, but not a bare reminder as if it were some kind of memorial, but a visceral reminder of the costly sacrifice of Christ. Since it was His death that overcame the world, we see here portrayed in these visible words his broken body and shed blood, signs of His death in broken bread and poured out wine. But these are also seals and seals authenticate, declaring to you that Christ is yours. In that way they certify that you have died with Christ, and so you too, by faith, have overcome the world. And like the peace offering in the old covenant, you eat at this table with Christ as a celebration that you are at peace, your sins have been atoned for, and that means this is a feast of joy and mirth. So don’t hang your head in sorrow, this is not a funeral, but a celebration that Jesus overcame death by the power of an incorruptible life. A life he shares with you, by giving you His peace, so that you can go out from here and face the troubles of this world, and the joy of the Lord will be your strength. So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.

Charge

Sorrow gives way to joy when you remember Jesus has overcome the world. So when you face sorrow, when you face the troubles of this world be of courage and remind yourself of these three things: it won’t last for every, you have the support of the father through prayer, and don’t worry Jesus has already won, he has already overcome the world. Amen.