Parting Words-Part 10- Sorrow Turned to Joy

Introduction- John 16:16-28

The last couple of weeks we have considered Jesus’ instruction to His disciples regarding the ministry of the Holy Spirit first in the world (reprove of sin, righteousness, and judgment) and then in the lives of believers (guide into all truth, to shew of things to come, glorify Jesus)

Now Jesus again speaks of His departure and of the fact that He is to ultimately return to the Father.

The disciples are at first confused and ashamed fearing even to ask the Lord of what He speaks.

Yet Jesus was aware of their confusion and took the time to explain at least to some degree what He meant by these sayings.

There are important truths in this discourse for every believer and we like the disciples will find ourselves encouraged by what Jesus has said.

Confusion (Vs. 16-19)

Jesus now tells His disciples that in “a little while” they will no longer see Him and that again “a little while” and they will once again see Him and that these developments would ultimately culminate in His return to the Father.

The disciples struggled to understand what Jesus was saying to them. They discussed among themselves their failure to understand what Jesus had said and especially of the “little while” which Jesus repeated.

We must not forget that the disciples at this juncture were still not aware of the events that were about to occur.

Jesus had spoken previously of the fact that He would be taken and killed and even of the fact that He would rise again but the disciples are still struggling to make sense of it all.

You and I can look back and criticize their lack of understanding but the reality is that we would have been no different in such a moment of fearfulness, grief, and anxiety.

It seems that the disciples due to fear or possibly shame were unwilling to ask the Lord for further explanation but merely discussed the matter among themselves.

Yet because Jesus knows all things, He was well aware of their confusion and of their desire to ask Him for a further explanation of the statement He had made to them.

You and I can quite easily conclude that Jesus is here speaking of His death which was quickly approaching and then of His subsequent resurrection three days later which would ultimately allow Him to spend some forty days further instructing the disciples before He would then ascend to the Father in order that the Spirit of God would then come.

Explanation (Vs. 20-22)

Jesus does not here explicitly reveal the details of the statement but does offer up an illustration that will serve to encourage them when they see these things come to pass.

The disciples are already consumed in these moments with sorrow for the fact that Jesus is departing.

This sorrow will only be heightened when they see Him suffer at the hands of the Romans soldiers being beaten and mocked and then will grow greater still as they watch Him breath His final breath after hanging upon the cruel cross.

There is no doubt that in the hours and the days following His death there was much weeping and lamenting as the disciples mourned the loss of their Lord and searched for a way forward now that He was with them no more.

At this same moment the world (lost humanity) was rejoicing because they believed that they had ended the influence of this man named Jesus.

They were likely confident that His followers would be dispersed and that in a short time the “Christian” movement would die out and that Jesus would be soon forgotten.

Yet Jesus promises that their sorrow will ultimately be turned into joy. This is an important statement because Jesus does not say that their sorrow will be replaced by joy but that it will literally be turned into joy.

This means that the very reason for their sorrow will in the end be transformed into their reason for rejoicing.

Jesus here uses an illustration which anyone who has witnessed the birth of a child will easily comprehend.

When a mother is in the travail of labor there is sorrow and anguish and yet as soon as the child makes his appearance in the world, in an instant the sorrow and pain turned to joy at the new life that has been brought forth!

This of course speaks of the resurrection which would transform the sorrow and anguish at Jesus death into joy because of the new life it would produce and the promise of victory it provided.

Only after the resurrection would the disciples begin to grasp the significance of Jesus death in the process of redeeming lost humanity and reconciling men to God.

They would no longer be sorrowful but would instead they would rejoice that Jesus had died for this was necessary to produce the resurrection and the new life that can now be found in Christ.

This newfound joy no one could take from them for they now served a risen savior who is alive forever more!

No matter the persecution and opposition they might face they could rejoice that Jesus lives and has won the victory over sin and death!

The Implications (Vs. 23-28)

All of this, Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension would ultimately inaugurate the new spiritual reality that Jesus had promised.

The first “ask” in verse 23 is in reference primarily to asking for information. When all these things have come to pass the disciples questions surrounding these events will have been answered and they will not need to ask for futher explanation for they will be able to plainly see the significance of all that Jesus has said.

This moves to a second ask which means to make request and here again Jesus promises that the disciples will be able to ask the Father for anything in His name and they can expect to receive it.

At this point the disciples have not yet made any requests of the Father in Jesus name. So long as Jesus remains with them they could go directly to Him with their requests.

Now Jesus commands them to ask in order that they may receive so that their joy may be full.

The disciples will have joy at the resurrection but their joy will be made full when they recognize that they can have anything that they ask for so long as they ask in Jesus name (His desires being their desires).

The fulness of joy would be theirs when they truly understood their relationship with the Father through Jesus!

The disciples would not have to go to Jesus and ask Him to go to the Father but would now have the joy of approaching the Father directly because of their relationship with Jesus!

The love that the Father has for Jesus, He also now held for them because of their relationship with Jesus.

Joy is ours when we come to understand the love that the Father has for us and the relationship that we have with Him through Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

This passage provides a powerful revelation for every believer.

We do not sorrow over the death of Jesus because we understand the implications of it.

Without death there would have been no resurrection and without resurrection there could be no redemption and no reconciliation.

This passage also serves to remind each of us of the relationship that is now available to us with God the Father through His Son.

You can have a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ!

This relationship gives us the privilege to approach God directly and to ask what we will expecting to receive what we ask for so long as we ask in Jesus name (in accordance with His character and will).

This reminds us that the same love that the Father has for Jesus as His only begotten Son, He also has for all those who trust in Him because in doing so they become children of God!

This relationship should bring a joy into our lives that nothing can take from us for we know that Jesus is alive and that He has won the victory over sin and death and this guarantees us a relationship with God now and eternal life to come!