John 16:16-24 | "Your Joy May Be Full"

I. Reading of Scripture

John 16:16–24 ESV

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

This is God’s Word, Amen!

Pray

John 16:16-24 | “Your Joy May Be Full”

II. Introduction

A. Introduction to Theme

The topic or theme of this third Sunday of Advent is Joy.

What is joy?

Joy very simply, is gladness (BDAG). A great happiness (LN). It is a cause for celebration!

Joy is closely related to peace, in that joy is defined in God’s presence. Where God is, God’s joy is too.

David wrote of the king in Psalm 21:6 —

Psalm 21:6 ESV

6 For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

Joy is intrinsic to who God is, so that even what God speaks causes joy.

Jeremiah the prophet found joy in God’s Word, saying —

Jeremiah 15:16 ESV

16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.

Joy is a good gift and fruit of God’s Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The good news of the gospel message is that God is not only just and a God of judgment. God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit is also a God of joy!

This season we celebrate that Jesus came to give us joy, and that Jesus Himself IS our joy!

The Christmas story in Luke 2 says it this way:

Luke 2:8–12 ESV

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

As we think about the birth of Jesus — his first advent, and how that event brought great joy to the world, we are invited today, to consider what it means to have and live with this joy that Jesus gives.

B. Introduction to Text

Our Scripture focus on this Joy Sunday is John 16:16-24.

This text presents a conversation between Jesus and his disciples, and that word “joy” is a repeated theme.

Jesus speaks with his disciples about a context for joy, a certainty of joy, and a completeness of joy.

This text culminates in an invitation that represents Jesus’ desire for his disciples, and Jesus’ desire for all of us —

“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (Jn 16:24)

“That your joy may be complete.”

We have learned this Advent season that in Jesus, we have a hope that is guaranteed, and a peace that is perfect. Today, we learn that we also have in Jesus, a joy that is complete.

A joy that is complete is full.

Think of a glass filled with water. There comes a point where that glass is full and no more water can be added without the glass overflowing.

In the same way, for Jesus to be our joy means that there is no room left for anything else, or anyone else, to add any more joy to our life! We’re full!

Church — God wants us to be a joyful people, so full of the joy of the Lord that we don’t have need for other things to give us joy.

Other things can make us happy, but they cannot make us joyful because we have all the joy that we ever need in Jesus.

We are not re-defining joy, we are re-sourcing joy. The source of our joy, is God Himself: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Perhaps Jesus’ disciples had a simple understanding of this, because they find themselves in a bit of a panic when Jesus makes this puzzling statement:

III. Exposition

John 16:16 ESV

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

There is a tension in Jesus’ words both in timing and in what is seen.

A tension of timing is reflected in two periods of time that are coming. Jesus doesn’t give details of when or how long. He only says “a little while.”

That is not a joyful statement.

My children ask “When is it time for a snack?” I say “a little while.” They are not happy.

My children ask: “Are we there yet?” I say, in “a little while”. They are not happy.

Many of us find joy in information. Knowing what will take place, when it will take place, how it will take place, and being able to prepare and anticipate and control what is to come.

Complete joy is not found in information. We will always be lacking information.

Jesus’ words not only create a tension of timing, but also a tension with what is seen.

The word “see” is used twice in verse 16 in our Bibles, but in the Greek it is two different words for “see.”

The first “A little while, and you will see me no longer.” (16a)

That is the word θεωρέω. This has the sense of observing with continuity and attention (LN).

Jesus is about to die. The cross is at hand. The way in which his disciples have seen Jesus, in the flesh, observing his devotion, his prayer, his miracles, his way of life, day after day — that is about to go away.

He will be taken from their sight. His body will be buried in a tomb and sealed with a stone, unseen.

If we’ve ever driven to an unfamiliar destination, and followed someone else’s vehicle to get there, we know the sinking feeling when we get caught by a red light or miss a turn, and our guide vehicle disappears from sight.

Jesus, their leader and guide, will no longer be seen in the usual way after “a little while.”

But then Jesus goes on to say:

“And again, a little while, and you will see me.” (16b).

This word for “see” is a different word, ὁράω, a more commonly used word in the New Testament that simply means “the capability of being seen” (BDAG). It is the word for sight. Visibility.

Jesus will be visible again after a little while.

This speaks of the resurrection to come, when his disciples will see Jesus again, raised to life again. But they will not see him in the same way.

Many of us find joy in consistency. In tradition. In familiarity. In routine. Again, knowing what will take place, when it will take place, how it will take place, day after day, year after year, finding joy in the way it’s always been done.

“That’s just the way it is.” “That’s how we’ve always done it.”

Complete joy is not found in tradition. Traditions at one time were birthed as something new. Even traditions, habits and routines change!

Has this not been the lesson of 2020?

All who found joy in information and tradition, were confronted with unknowns and uncertainties, and found themselves robbed of joy.

We all must ask ourselves as we reflect upon this past year and the coming of the next — have we maintained our joy in 2020? Are we as joyful now a we were last December?

This has been a difficult and challenging year, but If this has been a joy-less year for you, then you were drawing joy from the wrong well!

The joy of Jesus is satisfying, plentiful and compete. There is no need to supplement with other sources.

John 16:17–18 ESV

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.”

The disciples lack knowledge. They don’t understand.

So Jesus helps them to understand, and gives them:

A CONTEXT FOR JOY | (16:19-20)

A context gives circumstances for understanding.

A context for joy is needed, because there exists a lot of imitation products in the market — imitation joy. Things that look like joy that people buy into, but do not provide the real deal. Fake joy.

John 16:19 ESV

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’?

By the way, we would save ourselves a lot of time and heartache if we would just ask our questions to God first.

What a joy to know that our Father already knows what we need before we ask him (Mat 6:8). And that we can approach Him and ask Him (Heb 4:16).

So many divisions and misunderstandings in the body of Christ, the Church, result from un-asked questions.

Pastorally, let me give us this instruction —

“Never speak or act before we ask.”

Jesus saw his disciples asking themselves these questions — yet Jesus was right there for the asking and they never asked him!

Before you come to your pastor with a question — ask God first.

Before you speak to another brother or sister, or act upon a frustration in the church — ask God first.

I guarantee, many joy-robbing divisions, and misunderstandings, and things that cause unnecessary fear and anxiety would be avoided if we all asked God first before speaking or acting.

Jesus knowing that they wanted to ask him, graciously gives them an answer.

And this is a gracious thing because his disciples do not deserve an answer! God’s Word says “You do not have, because you do not ask” (Jas 4:2).

They did not ask, but Jesus graciously answered them anyway:

John 16:20 ESV

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.

There is a context for joy.

There is a joy that belongs to the world, and there is a joy that is brought into the world. The two are different!

While the disciples of Jesus are weeping and lamenting (these are words that belong to a funeral setting and there will be such a setting upon Jesus’ death) while the disciples are weeping and lamenting, the world will rejoice. Think about that!

Things that cause the world (the κόσμος) to rejoice will cause us as Christians to weep and lament.

Let us not get too comfortable in this world. While this world offers things that will make us happy and glad, the joy of this world is not the joy of Christ.

When we enter into this Sanctuary space, we enter into a place that reminds us of this — we enter into a place where together we may experience a joy that is out-of-this-world!

If we find our hearts becoming joyful in the entrapments of this world, then our hearts are not full with the joy of the Lord because room has been made for other things.

Jesus said:

John 16:20 ESV

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.

“Your sorrow will change to joy.”

This phrase has Old Testament grounding.

Psalm 30:11 says of the LORD —

Psalm 30:11 ESV

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

Jeremiah speaks of the salvation of the LORD —

Jeremiah 31:13–14 ESV

13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.”

This changing of sorrow into joy is the work of the Lord bringing what is not found in this world to this world, bringing the joy of Heaven to Earth.

For us, joy has scars of sorrow. Like peace, we don’t know true joy until we taste it for the first time. Then we realize that all that we thought was joy was really not.

The invitation of the Christmas season and for all today is to enter into the joy of the Lord!

Jesus supplies and illustration, and with this illustration he introduces a —

A CERTAINTY OF JOY | (16:21-22)

John 16:21 ESV

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.

This illustration is quite literally, pregnant with meaning.

For God’s people, Israel, this imagery was used before in the Prophets. A woman giving birth was the imagery used of the LORD’s discipline of his people and deliverance of them in Isaiah 26.

And certainly it applies to the work God is doing in delivering his people through the anguish and death of God’s own Son, on the cross.

As we think about Jesus’ birth, remember that there was a righteous and devout man named Simeon, whom the Holy Spirit was upon as he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Simeon was in the temple when Mary and Joseph presented the child Jesus according to the custom of the Law.

Luke 2:34–35 ESV

34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Mary would experience sorrow on earth. No only in the pain of giving birth to Jesus, but also in the pain of watching him die.

What a demonstration of faith for Mary to have said:

Luke 1:38 ESV

38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Jesus illustrates that when the hour of birth arrives, there is anguish. But when the baby comes, the sorrow is remembered no more, and there is joy.

And Jesus applies this illustration to the disciples:

John 16:22 ESV

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.

This word for “see” is the word ὁράω. Simply meaning, “sight.” And it is not that the disciples will see Jesus, but that Jesus will see them.

He will rise again, with a real resurrection.

And knowing that Jesus sees them, will cause their hearts to rejoice.

We can’t see Jesus in the flesh. But we know Jesus sees us.

This is why our joy belongs to Jesus! Because if our joy belongs to something else, something we see, then what happens when what we see is taken away from us? Or changes? Or is lost? What happens when our eyes get old and our sight fades? Will our joy fade too?

What happens when all we see is war, disease, destruction? Will our joy fade too?

Jesus says:

John 16:22 ESV

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.

With Jesus, our Joy is Certain. Secure. Unquestionable. Unfading.

Just as we put valuables in a safe and lock them up to protect them from a thief, so too, our joy is secured away in Jesus and nothing, no nothing can take our joy away that is secured in Him!

Our joy is stored in a safety-deposit box. A thief cannot even access our joy because it’s not stored here on earth, but in Heaven!

At the end of this text, Jesus speaks once more about joy —

A COMPLETENESS OF JOY | v.24

And complete joy in Jesus is displayed as both a gift of understanding, and an invitation for asking.

John 16:23–24 ESV

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.

The disciples did not ask Jesus to explain what he meant by “a little while.” Ordinarily, they would learn a lesson that they could and should ask him next time they have a question.

But Jesus says no — in that day you will ask nothing of me. But you can ask the Father in my name!

Just as a ticket gives us access to a restricted event, the name of Jesus gives us access to the Father in heaven!

There will be much we won’t understand as Christians in the world. There will be much you won’t understand as you read and study God’s Word. That is by design! You can’t understand the things of God without God’s help because they are things that are spiritually discerned.

As wonderful as it would be to sit in a Bible study with Jesus in the flesh, and ask him questions, that is not sustainable. Because in the flesh, in his humanity, Jesus would not remain forever.

But Jesus took on flesh, to make a way for us to go straight to the Father on our knees, in His name!

And whatever we ask in His name, we will receive in His name. Because if we truly ask for something in Jesus’ name, we are asking for what Jesus is asking for too. We are not asking alone.

Jesus says:

John 16:24 ESV

24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

IV. Conclusion

A. Gospel Proclamation

Everything our joy needs, God supplies, in Jesus.

If we are joy-less, He is joyful. And God will give in the name of Jesus everything we need for joy in Him.

So If we are anxious for lack of access to the Father — Jesus says: Ask in my name! The Father will hear in my name.

If we are fearful for lack of knowledge — Jesus says: Ask! The Father will give it to you.

Whatever we are going through, whatever sorrow, anguish, uncertainty or pain — we may have joy through it all.

Because Jesus died for our sin, was buried, rose again, and ascended into heaven! And he took our joy into Heaven with Him! It is secure there!

And God sent the Spirit down to indwell all who have faith in Jesus, so that in His name we may have joy now and forevermore! Not an earthly joy, but a heavenly, eternal, lasting joy!

B. Application

We as joyful Christians, live as Hebrews 12:2 says —

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

James 1:2–4 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

The message is this:

In Jesus, our joy may be full!

In Jesus, our joy is complete.