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"A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father." Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "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 go to the Father'?" They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is saying." Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
"These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."
His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God." Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
- John 16:16-33
Starting with Monday's reading, we have been going through Jesus' Farewell Discourse to the apostles. (See also readings of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.) Yesterday (Friday), we read that Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away 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. Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."
"A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father." Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "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 go to the Father'?" They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is saying." My study bible teaches us here that the first little while refers to Christ's arrest, death, and burial. The second is His time in the tomb until His Resurrection.
Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world." My study bible tells us that no longer remembers doesn't imply that faithful people will forget the Passion and the Cross of Christ, any more than a woman "forgets" labor. Instead, these sufferings are seen only in light of the victory of the Resurrection, just like a woman's labor is only seen in light of the blessing of a child, of new life. This victory transfigures our perception of sufferings. The victory of Christ allows us to rejoice even in anguish because of the infinitely greater good that comes from it (Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 3:10).
"Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." This is the second time that Jesus has referred to His gift of joy. The first was in the previous chapter, in our reading for Wednesday, when He taught them, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11). The double iteration tells us Jesus' emphasis on joy, on this gift of joy that comes from abiding in Him. To abide in Him is linked to asking the Father in Jesus' name. "In His name" is abiding in His teachings, commands, and presence. In the same reading on Wednesday, Jesus repeatedly teaches, "Abide in Me."
"These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father." My study bible tells us that the time when Christ would speak plainly about the Father was during the forty days following the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).
"In that day you will ask in My name, and do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father." My study bible notes, "We know prayer is offered in the name of God the Father, for Christ taught us to pray that way (Matthew 6:9), and He Himself prayed to the Father (11:41; 12:28; 17:1). In Christ, we have direct access to the Father, and thus we pray in the name of the Son as well. After Pentecost, we learn the Holy Spirit Himself 'makes intercessions for us' (Romans 8:26), and we are instructed to pray always 'in the Spirit' (Ephesians 6:18)." Therefore as Christians we pray "continually and with confidence" to all three Persons of the Trinity, "in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God." Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." In today's reading Jesus promises joy for the second time, and here He promises peace yet again. In the reading for Tuesday, Jesus taught, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. " There is the emphasis on gifts of both peace and joy. This is in the midst of tribulation, difficulties. When Jesus states that He has overcome the world, it's using a word that has as its root "victory" in the Greek.
Once again, Jesus promises both joy and peace. But these elements of joy and peace, we have to note, don't come as a result of something the world does for us. They exist despite what the world may be doing. In this discourse, Jesus teaches the apostles about what is coming for them, what is coming for Him. It is just before His Passion. In yesterday's reading, we read the warning that the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. So this peace and joy are gifts of Christ to us, but they are not promises that the world will embrace us. Rather, we are taught to abide in Him, and in His love and the Father's love. Jesus says of the peace He gives that "not as the world gives do I give to you." Perhaps the greatest hint of what these gifts of peace and joy really are in us comes in the final verse in today's reading, when Jesus tells us, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Tribulation is a word in the Greek that implies a narrow place, something that gives us irritation, hems us in, "rubs us the wrong way," we might say. The word implies being caught "between a rock and a hard place." But even in situations in which we may feel trapped, or there is something we cannot avoid, Jesus' victory is ours. And that's the word here translated as overcome. The word is "nenika" - from "nike"/νικη, "victory." It reminds us of an early symbol of a Cross with the letters IC XC ("Jesus Christ" in Greek symbols) written across the top bar of the cross, and NIKA ("wins" or "conquers" or "overcomes") written across the bottom (see an example here and above at the top of this post). Christ's victory is in overcoming the world, despite what it offers. It is in the peace and joy He offers to us. And this is conquering the world, it's the victory of Christ, even as He goes to the Cross. This means that His Kingdom established within us and among us is a kind of "liberated zone" (with a nod here to this post at Khanya blog). This isn't the victory of a worldly king, but the One who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and without an army, the One who goes to the Cross giving us peace and joy. We become the liberated zone of this Kingdom via our faith, via the gifts of peace and joy, and particularly of the Holy Spirit which we receive because of the Cross, because He goes to the Father. It is a victory of Resurrection and new life (like the child born to a woman after labor), no matter what else we may think is happening in the world around us. It is the victory of abiding in Him and sharing His love, not living as slaves to the world and what it seems to demand.
