John 16:16-33
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I have been excited to preach this text. It has one of the first verses that I ever memorized:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
When I memorized it all I knew was that I was constantly anxious and I wanted the peace that Jesus offered. There are problems in the world but it is somehow possible for us to have peace.
The simple thing to want is for our problems to just go away, but the truth of the matter is that the work of Jesus is far more thorough than that. When we seek the Lord, He will change us so that our lives are conformed more and more so that we look more like Jesus.
His promises are richer than our desires.
Join me in praying that God would help us understand the richness of His word and that we would cling to His promises
Recap
Recap
John tells us that
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
and that this Word is Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke the earth and everything in it into existence, including people. People were made in the image of God. We we made to have dominion over the earth, to represent the God who made us, all for His glory.
Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden with God but they sinned and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This brought shame, relational strife, suffering, death, and ultimately separation from God. They had direct access to God, but lost it through sin, through disobedience to their Creator.
The punishment for their sin was death, but God was merciful and delayed that punishment and promised to save humanity from this curse that we brought on ourselves.
Rebellion continues and so we have the flood and the disinheriting of the nations at Babel, but God is again merciful and makes the nation of Israel from Abraham and Sarah, a people for His own possession.
Even with the teachings of the law and sacrifices, the people still did not follow the Lord with all their heart, they still sinned. And so the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the grace and mercy of God and He came to save us - sinners.
Jesus came on a mission from the Father. The world worked against Him (Satan tempting Him, Jews persecuting Him) but He remained faithful. Now He is leaving the world (after accomplishing His mission), going to reign in heaven, and sending the Spirit to indwell believers that they might be strengthened to persevere in continuing the mission, all to the glory of God.
I just wanted to make sure that we could pay our bills and that our toilet wouldn’t leak, but Jesus offers direct access to God the Father.
A little while...
A little while...
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 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’?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 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’? 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. 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. 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. 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. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus came from the Father and now it is time for Him to go back to the Father. In fact, that is the time frame for all of the gospel books. These accounts tell us what Jesus did here on earth. Since the Holy Spirit did what Jesus promised He would do, come and remind the disciples of all that Jesus said, we have it recorded and we can read what happened.
Jesus spoke in a figurative and mysterious way a lot of the time because it was not yet time for the disciples to understand, or the devil and his demons for that matter. They might have tried to stop Him. We see this with the apostle Peter in Matt 16
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
We see this in action movies too. The good guys will think the villain is unstoppable, with no way to win, except for the hero. The hero has a plan, but he won’t share the plan because someone might try to stop him. This how we get lines like, “there’s something I’ve got to do”. They go off alone and the other characters will see the hero sacrifice himself from a distance, unable to stop him. They’ll be screaming, “NOOO!!!”, or crying. One character will be holding another character back as they try to go to the hero and stop them, but they will be out of reach, only able to watch.
Jesus is not some action hero. He is far greater. He doesn’t come up with the plan to be crucified after He has exhausted all His other options, it was planned from eternity past.
After the coming of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost that Jesus, after performing “mighty works and wonders and signs”, was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Ac 2:22-23)
There was a plan between the Son and the Father to redeem lost humanity. This plan involved Jesus being born of a woman, though without sin, being placed under the law so that He could fulfill the righteous requirements of the law and pay the penalty for sin, pardoning said sin, and meriting eternal life for all those that the Father gave to Him. Jesus obeyed the Father’s will so that the Father would be glorified in the Son.
Jesus had a mission - redeem all of the those that the Father has given Him so that they can spend eternity with the Father, glorifying Him.
Jesus lived to do the Father’s will, to the Father’s glory.
“See me no longer”
“See me no longer”
This plan required that in a little while, the disciples would no longer see Him.
Jesus will be betrayed by His disciple, Judas, and the chief priests and guards will arrest Him in the garden of Gethsemane. It will be at that hour when the disciples will be scattered and leave Him alone, just as He predicted.
Jesus was going to the cross, and it was there that He was going to die, the righteous for the unrighteous.
And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
It is at this point where in the movie, the other characters stand at a distance and are helpless to intervene.
Jesus died and was buried.
Jesus word here is doubly fulfilled, they saw Him no longer and they wept and lamented. Their teacher, their leader, their Lord, died. He’s gone.
They no longer had a visible hope. There was no longer someone that they could see, or come to when there was a problem.
Now, whenever there was someone sick, or someone fighting spiritual warfare, there was no Jesus to turn to.
Now, whenever there are fears and doubts, there was no Jesus to turn to. If Romans decide that they have had enough of the Jews, they are just done for.
Now, what could the societal outcasts do? There was no Jesus to turn to.
Their eyes could no longer see Jesus and they lost hope.
And the world rejoiced. The chief priests thought their chief opponent was done. There wouldn’t be any more interference from Him and His disciples.
“Again a little while, and you will see me”
“Again a little while, and you will see me”
But after three days, Jesus was raised from the dead that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Jesus told them that they would see Him again after a little while - and so they did. The Holy Spirit later gave the disciples understanding about this and other Scripture that foretold this.
Ps 16:10 says,
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
They Holy Spirit taught them that this was a prophecy about the Messiah. Jesus was raised from the dead proving that He was the Chosen One of God, that everything He said was true -
including His promise of eternal life for those who believe in Him
including His promise of preparing a place for them to be with the Father
including His promise of them being able to approach the Father directly in prayer
Jesus’ words are good. You can take them to the bank and cash them. They are good for every penny. Every word He spoke is absolutely true and trustworthy.
This is cause for rejoicing, and there is nothing that can or should take this joy away from followers of Jesus.
Should these things go under “Ask, and you will receive” or stay under the resurrection section?
There is no problem so great that it can overcome Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. You know why?
Shame
Worthlessness
Purpose
Fear
Of provision
Of man
Of death
On this side of history we know that Jesus succeeded, He redeemed those that the Father gave Him. Boom, done. Story over right? No, there is more to God’s plan. He far mightier than that. It would be too simple a thing for Him to just snap His fingers and bring His now redeemed people to heaven and the story end. There was prophecy yet to be fulfilled. The Lord’s holy name needs to be vindicated. It was profaned by Israel when they were constantly unfaithful to Him, constantly disobeying His commands and breaking His covenant.
And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
There was a plan for a New Covenant, that would result in a redeemed people living to do the Father’s will, to the Father’s glory.
God's plan involves using crooked sticks to draw straight lines. So Jesus, on top of redeeming lost humanity, was also laying the foundation of His church. He chose His apostles, they followed Him around, and He taught them. The past few weeks, since the start of John 13, we have been seeing Jesus preparing them for the time of His departure.
Jesus lived to do the Father’s will, to the Father’s glory. He modeled this life for the disciples - love God, love others - so that they would be a people who lived to do the Father’s will, to the Father’s glory.
This was the plan that God had:
Jesus would pay the penalty for sin for all who believe in Him, so that they could be with the Lord for all eternit
Things were never out of God’s control, and Jesus came through on His mission
you will see me no longer - death, burial
you will see me - resurrection, glorification
going to the Father - ascension