Text: John 16:16–24
Date: May 22, 2022
Event: The Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C
John 16:16–24 (EHV)
[Jesus said.] “In a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father.”
17Therefore some of his disciples asked one another, “What does he mean when he tells us, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?” 18So they kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he’s saying.”
19Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you trying to determine with one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me’? 20Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. 21A woman giving birth has pain, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, because of her joy that a person has been born into the world.
22“So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. 23In that day you will not ask me anything. Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete.”
God’s Joy Outlasts Sin’s Sorrow
Typically, you want things to last. You don’t want the cell phone you paid hundreds of dollars for to last for a few months, right? You want to get several years of use out of it at least. You buy a car for tens of thousands of dollars with the intention that you’ll be able to use it for many years. And if you’re able to buy a home, you spend a much larger amount of money hoping that it might last you decades.
And we want things to last outside of just things we buy. A balanced meal will give you energy and keep you feeling good much better than the same amount of calories from candy and soda. In school or other training, you spend time and effort studying the material so it stays in your head and is a benefit to you moving forward rather than forgetting it when you step out of the class or training session.
Jesus this morning focuses on something that endures much better than a well-made car or a good meal. He zeroes us in on the joy we have in his victory over sin and death. While we are moving farther from it, we are still basking in the joy of Jesus’ resurrection. And one of the points we’ve tried to make during this season is how that Easter joy and blessing endures. Last week we saw that the motivator for Jesus’ work, God’s undeserved love for sinners, lasts beyond this world and into eternity. Jesus’ resurrection, then, is not a one-time event that comes and goes. It’s an eternally-important event that brings so much comfort and blessing for us all the days of our lives.
And Jesus is making that same point in our Gospel for this morning. Our Gospel is taken from the teaching Jesus did during that Maundy Thursday evening, just prior to his betrayal and arrest. And so it’s that heavy context that serves as the back drop of what Jesus has to say. And that helps us to understand what he means when he says, “In a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father.”
The disciples didn’t understand what he was talking about in the moment, but you and I, with the benefit of hindsight, can see what he’s referring to pretty clearly. In just a matter of hours Jesus would be arrested. The disciples would scatter and largely, they would not see him again. We know John, at least, was at the cross, but we don’t know for sure that any of the other disciples saw Jesus again after this night.
So then Jesus was hidden from them in the Sanhedrin, with Pilate, Herod, the cross, and then finally the tomb. At that point, it was too late. If they had a change of heart, if they wanted to see their teacher and friend again, it was impossible. The stone was in place, the seal applied, and the guard posted.
Of course, you know what comes next. Jesus said, “and again in a little while you will see me.” It wouldn’t be until that first Easter evening, but Jesus appeared to most of these same disciples where they were scared and huddled together.
And in that disappearance and reappearance was the assurance of all Jesus promised to do. In his disappearance, he was cut off from the land of living because in his death he paid for our every sin. In his reappearance we have the assurance that all things are complete. Jesus completed the work that his Father gave him to do. He gave his life to save us, and we have the full and free forgiveness of every single sin. What Easter joy is ours!
But, have you felt joyful from April 17th on? We gathered outside for a beautiful service, we rejoiced that Jesus had been raised from the dead. What could possibly drag you down? What could possibly rob you of that joy? What could possibly make you feel sad knowing that Jesus has conquered sin, death, and hell for you?
Well, a lot, actually. Jesus says as much, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.” Life brings sorrow in this world. Yes, we trust that Jesus is our Savior. Yes, we rejoice that heaven is ours. But we will not always feel good because we still live in a world of sin. The world attacks us, dear ones fail us, and we become sorrowful at our own inability to live our lives the way God expects. While we live in this world of sin, sorrow goes hand-in-hand with us.
Jesus uses the analogy of a woman in labor to show not only the severity of the pain and sorrow that life here produces, but also the inevitability. No child is born without pain. Even modern medical science that has some options to lessen that pain cannot eliminate it entirely. A child being born causes great pain to the mother who brings the child into the world.
But, to Jesus’ point, that pain is temporary. When the child is born, the pain physically begins to subside, but also emotionally, as Mom gets to hold the child, the joy of the birth well-overshadows the difficulty to get to that point. If Mom and child are healthy, joy beams brighter than sorrow and pain.
It’s no surprise that God often uses this picture to describe life in this world. Pains and sorrow are unavoidable here, but we know what is coming. Eternal life is waiting for us, where there will be no sin or sickness or sorrow or pain. Heaven is prepared for us, where God will wipe every tear from our eyes. Perfection has been won for us, where nothing bad will ever happen to us again. No wonder Paul, when writing to the Romans, observed, “Our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
And that’s great for then, but what about for now? How do we scrape by in this life without despair, without giving up hope, without losing track of the promises God will absolutely keep? “So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. In that day you will not ask me anything. Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete.”
We have sorrow now, and that sorrow will evaporate when Jesus returns at the last day. But until that day, you have access to God through prayer. Jesus said that the disciples at that point had not asked for anything in his name, which makes sense. Jesus was right there; why would they ask the Father for things in Jesus’ name when they could just ask Jesus directly?
But there will come a time when they won’t see him anymore, not the brief time when he’s in the tomb, but after his ascension. The disciples would live through the start of the time that you and I live through right now. We, like they likely did, long to be able to ask Jesus for help, guidance, support, whatever, and it’s frustrating or sad that we don’t have direct access to Jesus.
But, Jesus says, we actually do. Asking the Father in Jesus’ name is tantamount to speaking to Jesus directly. When we can’t see Jesus with our physical eyes, we ask the Father for what we need in Jesus’ name, and we can be sure that we will have what we need.
And in this connection to our Savior and Creator God in prayer is what makes our joy complete. It will find its completion in the comfort we have now, and the ultimate completion in our eternal life with him forever. The sorrows of sin will pass away, but God’s joy never will. His love, and our joy in that love, endures forever! Why? Because Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
