Small Group 7/16/20
Notes
Transcript
Grief turned to joy.
Grief turned to joy.
When was the last time you felt a sense of loss that turned to joy?
16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”
Here Jesus tells the disciples that they would soon lose Him. The One who spoke and showed so much hope would soon be leaving. The man who lead them with teaching, miracles and more would be leaving but they would see Him again.
17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”
18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.”
Jesus wanted to teach the disciples things that would be hard for them to learn. Their initial reaction was a flurry of questions. Finding the answer to those questions required patience of them.
19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’?
20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
How would the disciples later see Jesus?
Who is it that Jesus talks of sending?
How does His arrival bring joy to the disciples and to our lives?
21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
Holman New Testament Commentary: John B. Grief Turns to Joy (16:17–24)
When pregnancy culminates in delivery, the cause of pain becomes the cause of joy.
Jesus promises a joy to the disciples that no one can take away. How is this joy possible?
There are countries in the world where being a Christian ruins your ability to work a job and will likely end you in prison.
Even in America there are many ways were people act on us influencing our lives.
How is it possible to live with an un-stealable joy in America, China, and Russia?
23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Remember how the disciples were after the death of Jesus?
17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.
When we pray in Jesus’ name, it connects us to him by faith, it honors him as God, and proclaims his lordship in our lives.
As Hughes points out, “Praying in Christ’s name means coming only in his merit, not our own. Christ’s full name is Lord Jesus Christ, which means Jehovah, Saviour, God’s anointed. It is this name whose merit we must humbly pray. We cannot think that somehow God will hear us because of our virtue. We come by virtue of his merit. Poverty of spirit is the basis on which we approach God, and our on-going poverty is the crown of blessing. If we learn this, if we come to God in poverty of spirit, we can expect our prayers to be answered” (Hughes, II, pp. 102–03).
Kenneth O. Gangel, John, vol. 4, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 302–303.
Because of Jesus’ work and that of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to ask with greater authority than we naturally possess. We can come to God with greater confidence than we should have because we ask in the name of Jesus.