I Have Overcome the World

Introduction

There are few verses in Scripture more comforting for the suffering, frustrated, or broken soul than this. Like children lost in the woods, we in this world long for a light that promises the safety and knowledge that we’ve been found and will be led back through the terrorizing forest safety. This is a verse for those who are tired of injustice, of stress, of their own sin, of pain, and of disappointment when they see the world advancing so actively against this church. Christian, this verse is for you.

In this verse there is both a warning and a comfort, an admittion of the reality of the inhospitable climate of this world and the assurance of Christ’s ability to keep us safe in it. May we be blessed to disect it in order to find the greatest comfort in it.

Tribulation

Instead of walking through this verse word by word, we are going to through it by starting with the tribulation Jesus promises, then lookvs at the way Jesus overcame the world, and then the nature of the peace which Christ gives believers.

In this speech to his disciples, Jesus was not shy to tell his disciples what following him would mean for them in this world. Tribulation is a result of sin in the world, both in the rejection of God and the recieving of the natural consequences of sin. Along with the tribulation that comes simply from living in a sinful world, Christ’s followers, sharing in his victory over sin as we will see in a few moments, will have additional tribulations. The greek word means both distress and the trouble that causes internal distress. Jesus uses the word to describe a woman’s sorrow in childbirth in verse 21.

John 15:20 ESV

Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

John 16:1–4 (ESV)

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

Despite the disciples eagerly telling Jesus that now they understand him and who he is, theirs will not be a story of victory here, but of abandonment and fear. Christ will instead model for them, and us, what true faith looks like. He tells them they will leave him alone, but he is not alone because he is aware of the Father’s presence even as he faces his wrath. This leads us to the second part of this text we will look at.

Jesus Overcame the World

While Jesus is quick to point out the additional trouble that his followers will have in this world, he tells them to take heart because he has overcome the world. What exactly is meant by this?

We know from the Great Commission in Matt 28 that Jesus had been given “all authority in heaven and on earth.” In that sense, Jesus had overcome any established power in existence by having it given to him by the Father. Just as a lottery winner might “Overcome” their oppressive boss by buying out the company he works for and thus gaining authority over them, Jesus overcomes the world by being given the authority that previously was (wrongfully) claimed by Satan.

But specifically, Jesus has overcome the system of this world, the beast of revelation 13, through his suffering and death. In his resurrection he proved the cross to be, not his place of defeat, but the site of his greatest victory.

Beyond this, John’s theology develops in his epistles to name all believers as overcomers, overcoming by their faith in the one who overcame all.

1 John 4:4 ESV

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 John 5:4–5 ESV

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

The Resulting Peace

The fact that we will have trouble in this world gives us anxiety, but the promise that he has overcome the world brings peace. But what is the nature of this peace?

This peace is not outward, as it happens during the troubles mentioned here and previously in Jesus’ teachings to his disciples. The peace of Christ here is not an external peace that can be measured by external circumstances.

The peace is not societal, as this would go against the response Jesus promised from the world.

This peace is not subjective or the result of simply looking at life in a positive way, it is based on reality and truth.

The implications of this peace are focused on future realities, eternal life, and what he accomplished on the cross.

Conclusion

But what does this peace mean for us? and how can we live in the truth of it?

A life lived by faith is a life with victory in apparent defeat, in trust in what is not seen, in peace when life and the world is anything but. In the words of the Apostle Paul

2 Corinthians 6:8–10 ESV

through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

Peace exists in the enduring knowledge that Jesus has overcome all that overcomes us, and thus we who abide in Christ by faith have also overcome it through him. This is a hope, not in our ability or in what we can see, but in the reality of Christ’s power that will be made quite clearr to us if we walk faithfully according to that knowledge. Then we will always have peace, peace in his promises which are more than the charms and securities of this world could ever provide.