These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have will 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 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 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 have will tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

 

- John 16:16–33 

 

We are currently reading through Jesus' Farewell Discourse to His disciples, which began at the Last Supper, and now continues as they have moved to another location.  (See readings beginning with this one.)  In yesterday's reading, 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 or 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."  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."  My study bible says that the first little while Jesus mentions ("A little while, and you will not see Me")  refers to His arrest, death, and burial.  The second ("and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father") is His time in the tomb until His Resurrection.  

"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."  That Jesus says the woman bearing a child no longer remembers her anguish does not imply that we faithful are to forget Christ's Passion and Cross, any more than a woman forgets her labor.  My study bible explains the analogy in that we now see the sufferings of Christ in light of the victory of the Resurrection.  It is this victory that transfigures our perception of sufferings.  Christ's victory allows us to rejoice in anguish because of the infinitely greater good that comes from it (Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 3:10).   Let us note how Christ's Resurrection completes a bond of relation to the Father with the faithful ("whatever you ask the Father in My name").  Christ has spoken repeatedly of joy, and this same joy has also been referenced by John the Baptist (in John 3:29).   Understood most clearly, it would refer to true vocation, one's place in the "many mansions" of God (John 14:1-4).

"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 comments that we know prayer is offered in the name of God the Father, for Christ has taught us to pray that way (Matthew 6:9), and Christ Himself prayed to the Father (John 11:41, 12:28, 17:1).   In Christ, my study bible says, we have direct access to the Father, and therefore we pray in the name of the Son as well.  After Pentecost, we learn the Holy Spirit Himself "makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:26), and we are instructed to pray always "in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18).   Therefore 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 have will tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."   Christ gives us very important words, teaching us our orientation even in the midst of tribulation in the world.  He reminds us again of His unity with the Father, even if His followers are scattered and leave Him alone.  Our peace is in Him; that is, in our reconciliation to Him even in the midst of the world of tribulation.  He has overcome the world; our peace is therefore in the One who has already conquered.

Jesus does not promise us a blissful, problem-free life.  Instead, He promises us a life of vocation, in which both our joy and our peace are found in reconciliation to Him.  Jesus warns the disciples that they will find tribulation in the world, but offers several teachings that give us a clue about how He envisioned His Church in the midst of the world.  Although it would face persecution, and even hatred (John 15:18),  Jesus left the disciples with a new commandment, by which He hoped that all would know that we are His disciples, "Love one another as I have loved you."   This is a corporate commandment; it is not given to individuals in the sense that it is meant simply as a command for an individual to fulfill.  Rather, it is meant for instruction to mutual love between believers.  As we are loved, so we are to love.  We learn love from Christ:  not only from His example while in the world with the disciples are Jesus, but also through the Helper, the Holy Spirit.  In today's reading, Jesus explains that His Resurrection will complete the circle of communion between believers and the all-Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit.  Thus we are "in communion" and "participate" in the life He offers, and we are never alone, just as He declared that He would not be alone, although they would all be scattered and dispersed and abandon Him.  This is a powerful focus for the tribulation of the world, and the peace and joy in the midst of that tribulation.  Earlier in Jesus' Farewell Discourse, Jesus spoke of the peace He gave:  "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" (John 14:27).  This peace is one that asks of us reconciliation to Christ, and there that peace is found, even in the midst of a world of troubles.  He has also spoken of His joy:  "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 particular joy Jesus gives us is not a question of only listening to His words, even of having faith in Christ, but rather of living our lives as He teaches us to.  It goes beyond only following commands, but of living a full life within this peace or reconciliation to Him, and within the communion He establishes for us ("Abide in Me, and I in you").   It includes the mystical union and connection to which Christ refers in today's reading, which His Resurrection will open for all believers with the Father, Son, and Spirit.  It is a communion in which we participate.  As St. Paul put it, "in which we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28, in the midst of St. Paul's discourse at the Areopagus).  We earlier have addressed the joy mentioned by John the Baptist at being the friend of the Bridegroom, his true place in the salvation plan of God, as well as Jesus' earlier references to joy.  But we must come to both joy and peace as features of true vocation for each of us, as the significant reflections of our place in the "many mansions" He declared He was going to the Father to prepare for His followers (John 14:2).   The peace and joy we need and seek are not just mysterious elusive qualities we sometimes experience in life after a satisfying worldly experience, or some sort of lifestyle, or material quality of life alone.  The peace and joy He offers are qualities that transcend our circumstances, and may be found even when persecution or tribulation are present.  Together they describe -- in the context of the Gospels -- a true vocation, a place where the soul meets its true peace and joy in knowing it is "home" and in the right place.  These are pervasive qualities perhaps found in the depth of prayer, in a reconciliation with a truth that goes beyond a collection of worldly facts, but exist within a deeper experience of the fullness of what life is.  Therefore, we must understand our vocation as faithful to go beyond circumstances, and, similarly to the way Christ spoke of the coming of the Kingdom, are not found with observation , but are within us (Luke 17:20-21).  It is that place of the Kingdom, and our place within that Kingdom, that brings us these transcendent qualities.  This vocation is present to us through all things, all experiences, and it is the one thing we must seek first so that we truly find ourselves.  It is that place where our restless journeys lead.