John 16:16-24 A Little While

John 16:16-24 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

16 “In a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father.”

17Therefore some of his disciples asked one another, “What does he mean when he tells us, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?” 18So they kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he’s saying.”

19Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you trying to determine with one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me’? 20Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. 21A woman giving birth has pain, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, because of her joy that a person has been born into the world.

22 “So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. 23In that day you will not ask me anything. Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete.

A Little While

I.

It was still Holy Thursday, just like last week’s Gospel where Jesus gave them the “new” command to Love one another, based on his great love for his disciples and all people. After that, Jesus spoke to the Eleven some more in the upper room.

Eventually he said: “Get up. Let’s leave this place” (John 14:31, EHV). But there was much more to tell the Eleven. Jesus continued his teaching to them as they walked along, on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, where they would be met by the betrayer. Today’s Gospel is part of that continued teaching.

As they walked along, Jesus had a riddle for his disciples: “In a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father” (John 16:16, EHV).

Do you like riddles? I grokked some riddles the other day. To ask Siri or Google is so last year; these days you grok. If you don’t know about it, Grok is an AI, an Artificial Intelligence. So I asked Grok for a riddle. It gave me 5, which I tried to solve. I got all five, eventually, with some further hints from Grok.

As the disciples walked along in the late evening, they tried to think of solutions for Jesus’ riddle. It’s not hard to imagine the night shadows shifting all around them. The obvious choices might have initially seemed to be that Jesus would step out of view among the evening shadows, and then back into view again. But what about that other part? What about “In a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father”? That made the riddle confusing. “So they kept asking, ‘What does he mean by “a little while”? We don’t understand what he’s saying’” (John 16:18, EHV).

We have the benefit of hindsight. “In a little while you are not going to see me anymore.” Jesus was about to go to his death. As they lurked around the various trial venues, the disciples would witness Jesus being beaten with whips to within an inch of his life. After his conviction, they would join the sad procession out to Golgotha—the place of the skull—where he would be nailed to the cross he had dragged there. Hours later, they would see his lifeless body hanging there, and then being taken down and placed in a tomb. The rock would be rolled in front of the mouth of the tomb with a crashing finality. They would not see him anymore.

They needed a hint, but not from artificial intelligence. “Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, ‘Are you trying to determine with one another what I meant by saying, “In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me”? 20Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice” (John 16:19-20, EHV).

The trials to come were nothing but pro-forma—just done for the sake of covering all the bases. The religious leaders had been plotting the final outcome for days, weeks, months; maybe even years. Cheers at the final disposition of the prisoner Jesus would go up from the crowds who finally got their wish to “crucify, crucify.” The private rejoicing of the religious leaders would be even greater. With Jesus’ death, their positions were secure.

The same thing that would bring weeping for the disciples would bring joy for the unbelieving world. It would all happen in a little while—just a few hours after Jesus spoke these words.

II.

In the moment, Jesus’ hint at the solution to the riddle didn’t really help the Eleven. Listening to the riddle and the hint and trying to analyze it and figure it out, they were baffled.

What they didn’t realize is how much they needed Jesus’ death, as much as it would pain them to witness it. Walking along with Jesus after the Passover meal, what they thought was most important was for Jesus to be around—to be with them, to keep guiding them, to keep teaching them. Maybe, with him around, they would even gain fame and popularity.

The Old Testament had a concept of a kinsman redeemer. If a person was deeply in debt, the redeemer could bail him or her out—paying the penalty that was required. The story of Boaz and Ruth was an example. Boaz married Ruth and redeemed her late husband’s land.

All people, not just the Eleven, need a Redeemer. A conscience was put inside each one of us to let us know that certain things are not right. The conscience hints at a “someone” who we are accountable to for the things we do that are not right. The things we do that are not right are called “sin.” Sin puts us in debt to the One we are accountable to—God.

As for the Eleven, shortly their need for a kinsman-Redeemer would become more apparent. They would fail miserably to support Jesus in his hour of need, as he prayed in the Garden. All of them would turn tail and run when the soldiers’ arrest of Jesus was completed. Peter would have his threefold denial of Jesus, just as had been predicted. It would all happen “in a little while.”

Each one of us has misdeeds that are also sin. Each one of us needs the same kind of Redeemer to pay for our debts before God.

In a little while after Jesus told them these things, they would be filled with sorrow. But it would all change a little while after that. “...and again in a little while you will see me... 20 your sorrow will turn to joy” (John 16:20, EHV). Jesus would rise again from the dead—from the grave. It would only be a little while. Jesus would rise on the third day, victorious not just over death, but over sin and Satan, too.

When they would finally understand all that happened in that short period of time, the Eleven would come to realize that Jesus brought new life into their lives of despair. His resurrection would turn their sorrow into joy. It would all happen “In a little while.”

III.

One of Grok’s riddles to me was: “What has keys but can’t open locks?” If you’ve heard it before, don’t jump to an answer just yet. I seem to be thinking about Catechism and doctrine things all the time. My first guess was: “Forgiveness of sins for the kingdom of heaven.” After all, Jesus told his disciples about forgiving people their sins. We call it “the Ministry of the Keys,” the “keys” to the kingdom of heaven. It seemed like a good guess to me.

Maybe sometimes a riddle can have more than one solution. “In a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father” (John 16:16, EHV).

A little while after he spoke to them, Jesus would die and they wouldn’t see him any more. A little while later, he would rise, and they would see him. But then, there would be another “little while,” and they wouldn’t see him any more again.

Our church year will shortly speak of that “little while.” Jesus would ascend into heaven. After he disappeared behind a cloud as he rose into heaven, they wouldn’t see him any more—for “a little while.”

Jesus’ ascension into heaven wouldn’t fill his disciples with sorrow, the way his death on the cross had done, but they would certainly miss him. They would miss being around him; they would miss being able to ask him questions and get definitive answers; they would miss his parables—and his explanations of the parables.

But Jesus had told them his ascension was coming. He was going away to the Father. By this time Jesus had told them about the mansions in heaven. He had told them he would go to prepare their place. The payment for their sins was necessary to prepare their place, but Jesus was also ascending to the Father’s side to prepare their mansions and ours.

As they waited for Jesus for “a little while,” the disciples would be his witnesses, as Jesus had told them to be. Millions and billions of people over the centuries would come to believe in Jesus, too, because they wrote down their experiences in the little while they had remaining.

“A woman giving birth has pain, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, because of her joy that a person has been born into the world. 22So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (John 16:21-22, EHV). There was a final “little while.” At the end of that “little while,” each disciple would go to that eternal mansion prepared for him, and the joy of being with Jesus would never be taken away.

That joy belongs to you and me, too. Now you wait. From time to time you might experience sorrow. Sorrow is there because there is sin in the world. When Jesus is ready, in a little while, your sorrow will cease forever. Just like the Eleven, you will be with Jesus in heaven, and no one will take your joy away from you.

IV.

“Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete” (John 16:23-24, EHV).

Soon the disciples will find themselves in the middle of living the riddle Jesus has given them. It will only be after everything is complete that they will understand the riddle.

There is something important for them, even as they live the riddle: prayer. There will be moments of weakness to come. Peter would sob in his weakness when he finally realized he had denied Jesus three times. All of them would reflect on their cowardice and their own moments of weakness throughout that three-day period, and beyond.

Weakness causes a lack of comfort, both for them and for us. When there is a moment of weakness—a lack of comfort—there is a solution: prayer.

“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.” The disciples had not been diligent in prayer. Perhaps you can relate. Do you pray only when you finally acknowledge your weakness and lack of comfort? Do you think your prayers are bothersome to God?

“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, EHV), the Bible tells us. So we pray. But we pray, always keeping in mind that God’s answer might not fit our will. Paul asked that his “thorn in the flesh” be taken away, but the answer was that God’s grace was sufficient for him. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that the cup of suffering he was about to endure would be taken away from him; but then he said: “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42, EHV). Always punctuate your prayers with “if it is your will, Lord.”

Pray without ceasing, for “a little while,” until the Lord Jesus calls you home.

Grok’s riddle for me was: “What has keys but can’t open locks?” My first guess was about the Ministry of the Keys—forgiveness. Grok gave feedback and a further hint:

This is a creative, abstract interpretation! The riddle is aiming for something more concrete, though. The “keys” refer to physical objects that resemble keys used for locks but serve a different function entirely. Picture an everyday item that has multiple “keys” you interact with, but they’re not for opening anything.

The solution, if you hadn’t figured it out, is a piano, or an organ. Quite different from the Ministry of the Keys, but something we use all the time at church.

Jesus’ riddle: “in a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me,” is far more profound. Remember always, as you pray without ceasing, that you will only be waiting to see him for a little while. Amen.