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

 

The Cross, Illuminated Armenian Gospel, 1609, miniature by Mesrop Khzanetsi, Oxford, Bodleian Library

 "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 to 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.  As, 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 

 

In our present reading, Jesus has been giving what is known as His Farewell Discourse to the disciples.  This takes place at the Last Supper, just prior to His Crucifixion.  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 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."  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 to joy."  My study Bible comments that the first little while is a reference to Christ's arrest, death, and burial.  The second 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.  As, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."  My study Bible says that no longer remembers does not imply the faithful are to forget the Passion and Cross of Christ, any more than a woman "forgets" labor.  Instead, we now see these sufferings in the light of the victory of the Resurrection, and this victory 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).

 

 "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 notes that the time when Christ would speak plainly about the Father was during the 40 days following the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).

"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 says that we know prayer is offered in the name of God the Father, for Christ taught us to pray that way (Matthew 6:9).  Christ Himself prayed to the Father as well (John 11:41; 12:28; 17:1).  In Christ, my study Bible adds, we have direct access to the Father, and thus we pray in the name of the Son as well.  After Pentecost, it says, 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).  In the Orthodox Church,  as many others, prayer is made 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."  Let us note Christ's important statement, "I am not alone, because the Father is with Me."   This level of confidence we may find in our faith is a standard for each of us, for indeed, in the coming of the Holy Spirit, God is always with us.  St. Augustine comments that, indeed, peace is the objective of Christ's entire discourse.  He is assuring them that in Him, His word, His commandments, in all that He has done, they may have peace.  Augustine adds that this peace will have no end, but is itself the end of every godly action and intention.

We might ponder Christ's words and ask, what does it mean that He has overcome the world?  First of all, Jesus, in proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, in following always the commandments of the Father, in choosing and teaching His disciples, has done all things He was meant to do.  This was His mission as the Son who became incarnate human being.  As both the divine Son and also as a human being, fully vested with human nature, He has therefore experienced all the temptations, stresses, persecution, hostility, and all the elements of the world that would oppose Him (including the spiritual elements of the demonic, the activity of the "adversary").  In this, He has overcome the world, because He has overcome all in remaining loyal to the Father to the end, and offering the world Himself as the Father has commanded.  Moreover, because He has overcome the world, our own victory and our peace is in Him.  This is made possible because of the coming of the Holy Spirit, which will happen at Pentecost, and precisely because Jesus goes as He goes to the Father.  Our own human nature will be taken with Him at His Ascension.  These actions make it possible for human beings to take on elements or "energies" of the divine nature, and specifically the grace and peace of Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, who will bring "all things" of Christ to us.  Therefore, like Jesus, even when the elements of the world conspire in our experience to render us feeling as if we are alone, abandoned, with no resources, we -- like Jesus -- are not alone.  For He is always with us (Matthew 28:20).  In my experience, there are times during prayer when we are left bereft, feeling as if there is no one who hears, but the truth is that we can always take confidence that God hears (Genesis 16:11; 1 John 5:14-15).  We might not always see immediate results, and possibly not what we thought we were precisely praying for, but in the outcome it seems that through all things God hears, and God responds to lead us where God wants us to go.  Jesus goes to the Cross of His own volition, and in response to the Father's will.  But His life that we know of, as recorded in the Gospels, has been a series of difficulties and obstacles, betrayals and heartache.  He has been with the afflicted, and has compassion on the needy.  In each case, He instructs, feeds, offers sustenance according to the desires of God the Father.  For this is grace, that He leads us where He goes so that we may be with Him forever -- and in that process we also carry our own crosses (Luke 9:23).  We may be asked to make sacrifices, as He did (even of a much lesser kind), to overcome our own thinking and assumptions about life and even about what constitutes a "good life."  There are any number of things that may belong to our lives in the carrying of our own crosses, and of "overcoming."  But what should not be in doubt is that we have a path to follow, His "way," and that leads us to a place of His peace, and His joy, in which we can take confidence.  For this is the measure of our faith, that we entrust to Him our souls, and we accept His help at all times, even the work of the Helper (the Holy Spirit) in our lives.  We live in a world based in consumerism, with objects always at hand to consume, whether they be images in social media, or popular solutions offered us as to meanings we can pick and choose by ascribing to one philosophy or another, just like we also consume fashion, or follow an image of someone we want to emulate (possibly for the image of success which they project).  But this kind of "consumerist" thinking is not truly appropriate to our own human natures, the soul we possess, the spiritual reality that is the foundation and ground of our being, often completely neglected.   Instead, we are beings capable of great strengths, of struggle and growth, and of taking on even the heroic elements of Christ, as we see in the saints.  We don't need to pursue images set in stone about what perfection is or looks like; we need a transcendent sense of following where God leads, and discovering and learning things we don't already know.  We have the energies of God in the grace that is there for us, which can permeate our lives, even as we might take on the character of that transfigured human nature we see in the victory of Jesus Christ.  He goes to the Cross, so that He might bring us this grace, and our salvation is right there in the heart of that particular struggle.  Without it, even billions will not satisfy our search for meaning, or purchase the particular kind of peace and joy (or wisdom) that He offers.  In our God we find a transcendent beauty, truth, and goodness, which God can magnify in us through the Helper, the Holy Spirit, and the grace He brings -- even through the imperfections and challenges of our lives (2 Corinthians 12:9).