The Fullness of Joy

English Standard Version Chapter 16

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

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.

I Have Overcome the World

25 “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. 26 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; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 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.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 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. 33 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.”

I still remember well the time leading up to our departure from Mozambique.

There was a lot of packing, selling things, experiencing some “lasts”.

It was a busy time, but there was one event which took place which I will always treasure.

And it was a custom that the Mozambican people had when someone was leaving and moving to another area. For us foreigners, it took place when we were leaving Mozambique and moving to another country.

They called it a despedido.

The word despedido is the noun form of the verb despedir which can be used in a lot of ways.

It can mean to fire someone or dismiss someone

In the way we experienced it, this word had a good meaning. It was a show of love and good wishes as someone was leaving.

So the guys from the hanger arranged to have a despedido for us.

We got together and sat under a shade tree, had some food to eat, and of course drank cold cokes from glass bottles.

There were some tears shed and kind wishes made. Even after spending the last 7 years trying to master Portuguese, I still didn’t understand everything that was being said.

But one thing that was not lost on me was the meaning of it. despite my lack of complete understanding, I knew that they loved us and wanted to wish us all the best in the future.

One thing that made this despedido unforgettable for me was that they presented us with this plaque:

Read and translate.

obrigado pelo teu ensinamentos, humilidade, e simpatia que partilhaste para nos durante 6 anos

As I read the passage from John today, it reminds me of that time. IT seems like Jesus is having a despedido with His disciples.

Only, it’s not the disciples who are leaving. It’s Jesus

His time for departure is almost here, and He is having a final word with them. Has been for the last 3 chapters.

But just like me under that shade tree in Mozambique, the disciples still find themselves confused about what Jesus is saying.

He’s using words and language that is hard to understand

They still don’t quite understand who He is and the nature of His ministry on this earth.

And I don’t blame them. I very much identify with them.

Because as much as I study this passage, I can’t explain it all.

And the commentators that I read all have trouble explaining this passage.

And I have even less context than they did. If they are having trouble comprehending, maybe it’s understandable that we will too.

So what are we going to do?

Some observations:

Jesus tells us what we need to know, not what we think we need to know

Jesus starts out this transition by making a somewhat confusing statement: “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

This is a confusing way of talking

Why not just say, “I’m going to be going away for a bit, but don’t worry; I’ll be back soon

And the disciples are confused.

They begin to toss it around amongst themselves.

What does Jesus mean? What is He talking about?

I understand that the Greek tenses indicate that they may have discussed this for quite some time.

For some reason, it seems like they are afraid to ask Him.

Maybe they are thinking, “Is this something that we should have understood?”

Nobody wants to appear like the dim one.

Sometimes maybe we are afraid to ask questions because we want our teacher to think that we are the bright ones.

Like we’ve been grasping everything that He has said so far.

I’ve even been in conversations where folks are talking about something that I feel like I should understand, but I don’t have a clue what they are talking about. But I’m too insecure to say, “Excuse me, can you explain what you are talking about?”

But Jesus is so patient

Hey, I think I know what you guys are talking about.

Is this what you want to know? You want to know what I meant when I said...

The disciples, are like, “yeah, that’s it!”

Jesus says, “Well, I’m not going to tell you.”

Look at verses 19-20

Jesus correctly identifies their question, but then doesn’t answer it.

Why doesn’t He answer it? I don’t know. He doesn’t say why exactly

But maybe verse 12 is a hint: I still have many things to say to you, but you can’t bear them right now

There are still so many things which it would be helpful for you to know, but you aren’t at a place in your maturity level that will allow you to accept them or understand them

I believe that for Him to expound on what He said, would have been incredibly painful and distressing for them. They just weren’t at a place where they were ready to hear the details.

Instead, He basically implies, “You guys are going to figure it out in due time.

“But meanwhile there’s something that you do need to know”:

truly, truly. You HAVE to understand this. I don’t want you to be surprised by this

Things are going to get tough. How tough? You are going to weep and lament

And while you are weeping and lamenting, the world is going to rejoice

Texas A&M beat Alabama

There are a lot of Alabama fans who were weeping and lamenting. But there were a whole lot more who were rejoicing over the same thing.

This is going to be a whole lot worse

This weeping and lamenting will come from feeling absolutely devastated, like your whole world has come crashing down.

you will look for someone to comfort you, but you can’t turn to your friends, because the world is going to be rejoicing.

Again, Jesus doesn’t tell them in detail what is going to happen. But He wants them to understand that things are not going to be very pleasant for a while

And that’s the way of Jesus. Sometimes we may get the idea or hear the teaching that if we just sign up with Jesus, everything is going to be alright.

Song “everything gonna be alright in Christ”

Fact is, many times, everything is NOT going to be alright in Christ!

Jesus wants us to understand “verily, verily, truly truly, amen, amen”, there are going to be tough times and I don’t want you to be surprised by them

In the midst of hardship, Jesus desires our joy

Not our happiness, but our joy

What’s the difference?

If you walk into any book store these days, you will find stacks of books by so-called Christian and non-Christian authors talking about how to be happy.

The world is obsessed with being happy,

That’s because we live in a humanistic society.

The philosophy of humanism declares that the reason for existence is the happiness of man

That is our end: to be happy

And any means that you can use to get to that end is OK

and unfortunately, too many of us in the Christian world are falling right in line with that.

a number of years ago, Joel Osteen’s wife created an uproar when she proclaimed “Jesus wants you to be happy. When you do good, you aren’t doing it for God, you are doing it for you, because God really wants you to be happy. And when you are happy, He’s happy.” Or something like that

And we respond, what a liberal! What a humanist! What nonsense!

But then in our conservative circles we hear, “You need to accept Jesus so that He can help you kick that bad habit, so He can turn your life around, so that you can go to Heaven when you die.

Again, it’s all about you.

It’s all about how can you be the happiest. Maybe not in this life, but in the next.

I say happiness is dependent on outward circumstances,

Whether we are comfortable

Well-fed

Whether or not things are going the way that we hoped that they would

Really, happiness is dependent on whether or not God is “coming through” on His end of the bargain.

Whether or not He’s making life go the way we think it should go. Then we are happy.

Folks, that is nothing more than humanism.

We could talk A LOT more about this

When I was single, living in Ohio, a friend introduced me to a sermon by a missionary/preacher named Paris Reidhead

It was called “Ten Shekels and a Shirt”

You can find it on Youtube, or other streaming sites.

I would encourage you all to find some time to listen to it.

But be warned: It could be like a sword going to your heart and transform your heart and motivation for being a follower of Jesus and for persuading others to be followers of Jesus.

Instead, Jesus desires something deeper and more abiding for His followers than happiness

Our JOY

He desires JOY for His followers.

“You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy

“Your hearts will rejoice and no one will take that joy from you

Earlier: “These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in your, and that your joy may be full

The reason I believe that Jesus desires joy for His followers is that JOY glorifies Him and glorifies the Father

Because, unlike happiness, joy is not dependent on outward circumstances

It is not dependent on our perception of whether or not God is holding up His end of the bargain in our lives.

Jesus does not promise that the circumstances of the disciples is going to change.

They will still be hated by the world

They will be mocked, imprisoned, tortured

They will still be persecuted and put to death

But they will Have Joy

Acts 5:41 “41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”

We see this over and over through history: Christians going to imprisonment, torture, and even death rejoicing. Why?

Because their outward circumstances were just right?

Because Jesus answered all the questions that they had?

Because they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ

And therefore, joy comes, not from a change in our circumstances, but from something deeper. It comes from the heart level.

It is a work that the Holy Spirit does in our hearts.

It is listed in the fruit of the Spirit

Love, JOY, peace, longsuffering

It’s a conscious response that we make to the circumstances in our lives

It is a matter of obedience

Over and over again in the NT, we read “Rejoice” (command form)

It’s amazing how many of those times that command to rejoice is because of suffering or in the midst of suffering

Rom. 5:3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Rom. 12:12 Rejoice in hope, patient in tribulation

Col 1:24 I rejoice in my sufferings

We rejoice because

we have been reconciled with The Father

Jesus said, “You will see me again, and you will rejoice”

They did see Him again after He rose from the grave

But then He left them. But the rejoicing did not stop. It continued even as the apostles and early Christians faced horrendous torture and death

This is because the deepest desire of the heart has been addressed:

He says, “There is coming a time when you won’t have to ask anything of me. You will be able to go directly to the Father and ask it of Him in my name. Ask in my name and receive it”. vs. 23-24

Again in vs. 26-27. He says, “I’m not going to ask The Father on your behalf, because the Father Himself loves you because you have believed in me.”

The reconciliation between you and The Father will be complete because you have received me.

You will be able to approach Him directly.

I sometimes wonder when I’m praying if I’m supposed to be addressing The Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit

But I think it’s clear, at least from this passage that Jesus’ mission was to make the way clear for us to come into the presence of the Father and bring our petitions and praise to Him

Hebrews 4:16 “16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

This is

Because Jesus has overcome the world

The work of Jesus: coming to earth, living, teaching, dying, conquering death, acending to heaven, continuing to intercede for us, and one day reigning in all authority and power

All of this is an absolute blow to the principalities and powers of the world

The trials that we face, the things that cause us to weep and lament, those things are all a result of sin and brokenness

They are all part of the systems of this world

But Jesus has overcome all of that.

We have not seen the completion of it. One day, everything will be made new and perfect.

So take heart! Rejoice