In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world

 "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 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 I 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

This week we have been reading through the farewell discourse Jesus gave to His disciples at the Last Supper (beginning with Monday's reading).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus told them, "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 to 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 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."   These words must sound like a kind of riddle to the disciples.  The first little while Jesus speaks of here refers to His 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."  Here is the paradox, the joy of the Resurrection, and life among those who hate and are hostile to them and to Christ.  This is the paradox of the "worldly" (in the sense of that which is pitted against Christ; that is, the "ruler of this world") and the faithful who love Him.  For these men, however, this will quite literally be true among their own people.

"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."   No longer remembers, says my study bible, doesn't imply that the faithful are going to forget the Passion and the Cross of Christ, any more than a woman "forgets" labor.  But what truly happens is that they (and we) see these sufferings in light of the victory of the Resurrection, and this victory in effect transfigures our perception of sufferings.  Christ's victory allows us to rejoice even in anguish because of the infinitely greater good that comes from it (Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 3:10).  The emphasis on joy is strong, as this is the second time in this discourse Christ has promised that they may ask the Father in His name (yesterday's reading, see above), and that their joy will be full (Wednesday's reading).

"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 I 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 tells us that the time when Christ would speak plainly about the Father was during the 40 days following the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  And nothing He tells them (and us) is absent from the love of the Father -- not obedience and not faith and not prayer.  In our understanding of God, everything rests in love.  A note also adds that we know prayer is offered in the name of God the Father, because 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 therefore we pray in the name of the Son as well.  After Pentecost, we learn that 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 we may 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."  Again, Jesus warns of the hostility and hatred of the world, but He has overcome the world.  And in Him is the victory of joy and of love and of peace.  Even when the disciples are scattered, the love of God is present in the Father's love of the Son, as Jesus says, I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

Jesus tells them, In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.  It seems to me that these words are timeless.  They speak to the disciples, to the Church, to those in distress wherever they may be, and to us as individual followers of Christ.  We may find ourselves with tribulation in our lives.  Although Christ's victory is real and stunningly powerful in uncountable and unlimitable ways, we will find ourselves with tribulation, and facing the "worldly" that rejects the love and gifts of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  In this we will find perhaps hostility, resentment, even a kind of envy of the love and peace we will have in Christ that accompanies such rejection.  In this all we can do is turn to Christ who is our example.  Here, He lays out everything for the disciples.  He tells them in advance what is going to happen.  He tells them that even they will be scattered, some will betray Him, and He will be alone.  But He is never alone, for the Father is with Him.  And in that, too, we as individual faithful can also take comfort, for it tells us that we are not going to be alone.  Even when friends are scattered, when we face hatred, resentment, betrayal -- God does not leave us alone.  The Father is with Christ, and He is assuring us all here that Father, Son and Spirit are always with us.  Even in the worst of times.  Therein is strength, love, peace, and joy, even in the face of tribulation.  It is through prayer that we may access this understanding and confidence.  St. Paul tells us to pray without ceasing, and one may be surprised at the strength and even transcendence found in such practice, in reminding ourselves to pray through the day, especially in times of great difficulty or hardship, regardless of what form that takes in our lives and in the life of the Church as a whole or part.  In the commentary on one section above, my study bible cites Romans 5:3-5, and it's worth quoting St. Paul's words here:  "We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;  and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."  It really says it all to us for today, and perhaps with a stronger message for today and our present culture now in a very particular way.  It's odd or unusual to hear that tribulation produces perseverance.  So often we are keyed in to look for instant gratification, an immediate relief of problems.  No one stops to think of what perseverance and character really mean in a world that is not always going to be supportive, regardless of our circumstances.  This valuable advice is golden for those who have little experience overcoming difficulties, who do not hope to struggle against hopelessness and despair even when things don't seem to be going well.  What we find in Christ is love and peace and hope -- even when we face tribulations.  This is not magic nor delusion.  It is, in fact, the product of love, a love we know and experience that comes as surprise, as a kind of transformation, part of the power of the spiritual at work in us.  This is what the world would deny; even the power of perseverance and character comes to be denied or degraded.  But hope and love and joy persist, even when others would try to take it away.   In this is our promise, our gift -- just one of so many.  We are not alone.  Like Christ, we will experience all things, we won't avoid the struggle.   This is not a drug nor a panacea nor an avoidance of life; rather He calls us to more acutely understand life as it really is in the world.  But we will also have more than what the world knows.  We have His love, and all that is contained in that life when we abide in Him and experience it for ourselves.