We Will See Jesus...And Rejoice!
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The presence of Jesus is a comfort to those who love Him.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
The appearing of Jesus Christ is our hope.
1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
While the world/earth is groaning under the weight of the curse upon it, we groan waiting for the return of Cheist, both His Rapture when He takes us suddenly from this earth in a rescue operation, and His Second Coming when He comes to judge the earth.
We wait.
I believe that is what Jesus is referring to here, for reasons that I will show you.
Jesus is again, telling these men that He is going away.
This is now the fourth time that He tells them this:
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
“After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
“You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
“But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
Jesus must go away from them.
They are filled with sorrow:
“But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
They are being told that Jesus is going to send another like Himself, the Spirit of Truth.
By the Spirit of Truth, they will testify against the world that they are guilty and their preaching will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
The result of this activity will be hostility, hostility from the world they are preaching against and towards them.
They will need peace, and they will have it…in Him.
They are being told that the Father has things and is giving those things to the Son.
They are being told that they will be left alone for awhile, but that He is coming back.
They are being told that their involvement in the synagogue will come to an end.
Yet, with all of this, Luke tells us:
And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.
The Deliberation of the Disciples-vv.16-18
The Omniscience of Jesus-v.19
The Illustration of Their Joy-v.20-22
The Deliberation of the Disciples-v.16-18
The Deliberation of the Disciples-v.16-18
John 16:16–22 (NAS):
16 “ A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.”
17 Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?”
18 So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”
Given the heart condition of the disciples, it is no wonder that they are deliberating among themselves.
They are men who are bring told magnificent things, troubling things.
And, on top of all of this, Jesus is leaving them.
After His teaching about the Spirit of Truth and their co-ministry with Him, He reiterates that He is leaving and they will not see Him, but then they will see HIm.
It might be hard to know exactly what Jesus is meaning here.
Heaven and hell
His resurrection and private meetings with the disciples?
His ascension?
A spiritual sense?
“A little while, and you will no longer see Me…”
“A little while, and you will no longer see Me…”
Definitely a reference to His death.
He will be taken from them.
He will be removed from their companionship.
He will die and be entombed.
“A little while” = the time from now until His death.
Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me.
“Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
“After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
This is a brief period of time before He is taken away from them.
In a brief period of time, He will be gone.
They will not have Him any longer.
“And again a little while, and you will see Me.”
“And again a little while, and you will see Me.”
But, there is another brief period of time, and they will see Him again.
This can refer to the period from His death to His resurrection, but before His ascension.
It can also refer to His time from His ascension to the Rapture.
KEY:
Verb -
John 16:16 (UBS5)
Μικρὸν καὶ οὐκέτι θεωρεῖτέ με, καὶ πάλιν μικρὸν καὶ ὄψεσθέ με3.
They “behold” Him now.
In some future day, they will “lay eyes on Him.”
What day, though?
Follow:
v.16 - “a little while”
v.17 - “because I go to the Father.”
v.19 - Jesus questions their deliberation.
v.20 - they will weep and grieve “for a little while” (v.16).
v.21 - but, like a woman delivering a child, they appearing of the child removes the anguish of the delivery. Likewise, the presence (“laying eyes on Him”) of Jesus will remove the grief of the suffering.
v.22 - “I will see you again…”
Then:
v.23 - “In that day…”
What will happen “in that day”?
“You will not question me about anything.”
Remember, they were deliberating about His leaving and coming again.
They were deliberating out of ignorance.
And, ignorance is based upon not being able to receive more revelation (cf. v.12).
In other words, they will not be in the dark concerning the will of the Father.
“In that day” = the day that they will “see” Him again.
Then, they will not need to intermediate with Jesus.
They will be able to ask the Father directly:
“In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.
Given that Jesus is going to the Father, both after His death and permanently after His Ascension…
Given that they are in the dark concerning revelation and need to ask Jesus for clarification, but in some future day, they will be able to ask the Father directly…
Given that the ministry of the Spirit is to guide them into all truth in their ministries, however….
Given these things, I think it is best to see His “little while” before they “lay eyes on Him” again as the period of time from His death to His resurrection.
John 16:16 (WPNT): A little while (μικρον [mikron]). The brief period now till Christ’s death as in 7:33; 13:33; 14:19. Again a little while (παλιν μικρον [palin mikron]). The period between the death and the resurrection of Jesus (from Friday afternoon till Sunday morning).
The Omniscience of Jesus-v.19
The Omniscience of Jesus-v.19
19 Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
Jesus knew this about the men.
This is an important insight into who Jesus was.
This is an important insight into who Jesus was.
Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble?
“What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
“But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.
And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
Jesus was aware, or “knew,” the thoughts and heart conditions of these men.
He needed to, so that He could minister to them.
He also knew the heart conditions of the people around Him:
Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.
But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men,
and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.
An Illustration of Their Hope-vv.20-22
An Illustration of Their Hope-vv.20-22
The key phrase = “your grief will be turned into joy.”
The key phrase = “your grief will be turned into joy.”
This grief that they will have from His death to His Resurrection is a brief one.
Like most times of grief, it does pass.
John 16:20 (UBS5)
ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι κλαύσετε καὶ θρηνήσετε ὑμεῖς, ὁ δὲ κόσμος χαρήσεται· ὑμεῖς λυπηθήσεσθε, ἀλλʼ ἡ λύπη ὑμῶν εἰς χαρὰν γενήσεται.
MGNTC-
θρηνέω, -ῶ (< θρῆνος), [in LXX chiefly for ילל hi., also for קין pil., etc.;] 1. intrans., to lament, wail: Mt 11:17, Lk 7:32, Jo 16:20. 2. Trans., to bewail: c. acc. pers., Lk 23:27.†
Syn.: κλαίω, κόπτομαι, λυπέομαι, πενθέω (v. Tr., Syn., § lxv).
θρῆνος, -ου, ὁ, [in LXX chiefly for קִינָה;] a lamentation: Mt 2:18, Rec.†
The period from Jesus’ death and resurrection is a period of lament and wailing.
These men will be without their Messiah.
They will also be identified as those with Him, and may have to bear the stigma Jesus left behind.
Further, they did not comprehend His resurrection and that He will be returned to them for a time.
20 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.
21 “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.
22 “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We wait for Him too.
Our hope in Him can be like those of these men from His death to resurrection.
But, we will see Him and our grief will be turned to joy, and no one will be able to take that joy from us!
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.