We are at the end of John 16 today and as Jesus is preparing to leave this earth and return to His Father in heaven, He is making sure that His disciples will be well equipped for their mission. Jesus has given them the promise of the Holy Spirit which assured them of several things:
? that they would be in constant fellowship with Him,
? they would have greatest love indwelling them to overcome the hatred in this world
? the Holy Spirit would provide a steadfast hope to overcome their grief and sorrow and give them a joy that no one could take away.
In this next passage, Jesus is promising His followers His peace to overcome the internal and external pressures that come from this world.
Why is this relevant for us today? It’s because we are not living in the Age of Aquarius (which is supposedly the age of peace and spiritual harmony) but rather in an Age of Anxiety. If we are honest about it, most of us are moving through life in a pretty fast pace and some of us are professional worriers - concerned about every conceivable scenario, real or imagined. What Jesus is promising to us is what everyone on this earth is longing and searching for: love, hope, joy, and peace. In chapter 12-16 He is talking about these things. If you knew that you had the assurance of a new life, a perfect life in heaven that will never end, a hope that could not be disappointed, prayers that would be answered in accordance with God’s will, you will have a joy that no one can take and a peace that passes all understanding. This will give you peace and make all the pain and grief you have gone through in this life seem like a distant memory.
Let’s turn to John 16:25-33 (NLT):
25 “I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. 26 Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God. 28 Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”
29 Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. 30 Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.”
31 Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe? 32 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
What is Jesus talking about in this passage? When He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within the disciples – they will have...
Clearer Communication - the will bring them...
Closer to the Father - and give them...
Courage for the Call
Clearer Communication
In v. 25, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you in figures of speech.” What things was He talking about? It could have been the things He had just been teaching them or maybe the parables and different analogies He used over the past 3 years. Figure of speech (also seen in John 10:6), refers to language where “the meaning does not lay on the surface, but must be searched for and thought about.”
In every language and culture, you find figures of speech, storytelling, illustrations, abstract thinking - which can be the hardest things to understand because there can be so many layers and meanings. It makes people have to dig deeper - to discover, perceive, and reach a conclusion through information and reasoning.
Many times, Jesus used figures of speech and parables that couldn’t be discerned with the natural mind. It was only His followers who asked about the meaning behind what He was saying. So Jesus said, “an hour is coming” (referring to the future) where the Holy Spirit will communicate His words about His Father directly to their innermost being. His words will be straight, clear, powerful, and convincing. As they walked with Him, the Holy Spirit would teach them all things, which means learning will be a process. He would illuminate their minds and clarify their confusion and doubt about who the Father is and their relationship to Him.
Later, this was the apostle Paul’s prayer for the church - “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him” ??(Eph 1:17). Jesus wants us to know His Father, He wants us to know all that we have in Him. He wants His disciples' joy to be full, for them to grow deeper in the faith, to go from drinking milk as infants to eating meat as spiritually mature adults (no offense to the vegans / vegetarians). But this will take time.??
If Jesus was standing in front of us right here and now, He would be asking us to focus, to take time to carefully listen to what His words says, this is one of the meanings of worship. Jesus is challenging us to think deeply about what He is saying and to hide it in our hearts. When our minds are distracted, wandering, looking at the time, thinking about the next thing I have to do - we can miss important words that could result in life changing experiences. As the Spirit speaks to you through His Word, He already knows everything you are going through and are facing, He knows your thoughts and plans, your fears and anxieties. Everything the Holy Spirit teaches us has purpose and significance and will hit the bull’s-eye because it’s a supernatural communication to the heart.
We know that if we want to enjoy deep, healthy, trusting, and abiding relationships with others, good communication is vital. Our communication must be clear, not nebulous, transparent, and empathetic, not cold, and distant. Why? Because the clearer and more transparent the communication, the better we will understand people in our lives. Clarity in communication removes ambiguity and builds trust.
It requires being quick to listen and slow to speak, asking clarifying questions to ensure you are understanding where the other person is coming from. We are all in a learning process with the Lord, sometimes it is also necessary for us to ask clarifying questions to the Word to make sure we understand it correctly. This is important because as the truths of the word become clearer, it will bring you…
Closer to the Father
Jesus said in vv. 26-27:
Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.
To pray in Jesus’ name means to come to the Father on the basis of all that Jesus is and all that He has done for us on the cross. It means to ask in line with His purpose and will for His glory.
Because Jesus restored our relationship with the Father, we can come directly to Him at all times. As the Holy Spirit communicates His truth to your heart, convicting, converting, comforting, assuring - it will become clearer to you just how much God the Father loves you deeply and intimately cares for you. When you realize how much He loves you and is ready to answer your prayers, you will approach Him with greater confidence and greater consistency. In time your relationship with the Father would be closer than ever.
In vv. 28-29 Jesus said to them:
Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.” Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively.
So now Jesus is speaking very clearly and after hearing Him say these things they said, “Now we see it.” In a sense they were saying we understand, we're good, we’ve got this. We believe you’re from God and that You’re going back to Him and you don’t need to say anything else. But in reality, they didn’t get it. They had no idea of the significance of what His sacrificial death would accomplish for them and how it would change their relationship to God the Father. They also had no idea that they were all going to abandon the one who loved them. In reality, they had no idea what was coming next. So Jesus asked:
Do you finally believe? But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.
“Do you really believe me now?” According to scholars His response was one of exasperation and mild rebuke. Jesus knew they were sincere, but their faith was immature and insufficient to withstand the onslaught to come with His arrest and death. (13:38; cf. Zech 13:7, Mark 14:27). When He asked them in John 13:38 “Will you really lay down your life for me?” He knew that out of fear for their lives Peter would deny Him and the disciples would abandon Him. In Mk 14:27 They will fail miserably and publicly. The Lord knew they would abandon Him and said: Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. Jesus is speaking in the present tense here, saying that He is absolutely aware that His Father is present with Him every moment of the day (cf. 8:16, 29).
And just like He experienced this closeness to the Father, so would they. He also knew that once they were scattered Satan would try to use their failures as a way to shame them and take them out of the race. Because the disciples knew Jesus was the Messiah, and were reconciled to the Father, Satan knew their potential in this world. He would do everything in his power to get them to withdraw, to hide and give up. But Jesus knew what the disciple would be going through and how it would affect their lives. He didn’t condemn nor discourage them, even after they failed Him, doubted Him, and even denied Him. Instead, He brought them comfort and peace.
He knew they would be scattered for a season but once they witnessed Him crucified and then saw His resurrection from the dead, their grief would be turned into joy. Jesus said “when I see you again, and I will, you will know that I have conquered death and that everything I’ve told you is true. But they would need to experience their own journey of suffering, be sifted like wheat, experience deeper death to self. Witnessing Jesus’ journey from death to life gave them…
Courage for the Call
In v. 33, Jesus reveals the purpose for why He is speaking all of these things to them:
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Jesus wants them to have His peace, a peace that is only found in Him and nowhere else. Having His peace is not an escape from the tragic realities of life, but a call to face reality with complete confidence in the One who has called us, equipped us and is faithful to bring about the outcome of that calling. With clarity comes closeness, with closeness comes courage for God’s calling on our lives.
Why does the calling take courage? Because we are in the world but not of it and because of that as we saw in the previous chapter in John, the world will hate or despise those who follow Christ. We bring light into situations and expose darkness and that doesn’t make people happy. So what is God’s calling?
Eph 4:1-6 Our primary calling is to be in a personal relationship with God through faith in Christ. The Scriptures tell us that God has called us into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. Our primary calling is not tied to our employment because God values us for who we are, not for what we can produce or achieve within work. Our work, or vocational calling, is one of our secondary callings. Our vocational calling is a summons from God to use our gifts in the world - this could be paid employment, in the home, or volunteering in the community. As we follow Jesus we will have tribulation.
Tribulation talks about external and internal pressure, something constricting, a narrow place that “hems someone in”; this pressure causes someone to feel confined (restricted without options). Have you noticed that times of difficulty often arrive unexpectedly, often remain indefinitely, and the memories they produce take deep root in the mind.
There is a lot of pressure to conform and cower under the way the world thinks and believes. If you do not conform, they will cancel you. Btw Cancel culture is nothing new - you can read about throughout the scriptures - what do you think the prevailing culture was trying to do with Jesus? Jesus promised that there we would experience opposition from within and without, but we do not have to face it alone or in our own strength.
Jesus said in v. 33, “take courage - I have overcome the world.”
Take courage (harséo) refers to:
God empowering the believer with a bold inner attitude. For the believer, boldness is the result of the Lord infusing His strength by His inworking of faith. That faith, through the Spirit, produces an inner confidence.
Where does the faith come from? From hearing the word of God and allowing it to find a place in your heart (Rom 10:17). As we get to know the Lord for who He is, as we let the word richly dwell within us, as we get closer to the Father, we are strengthened, and the Spirit produces inner confidence. What is our confidence? No matter how hard the world system fights against the truth, no matter how much injustice reigns and evil abounds they are fighting a losing battle, because Jesus has already overcome the world.
What types of things are we facing?
Have you heard of the Cancel-culture? I just read an article about a school board in Arizona, whose board members are concerned about hiring teachers from Arizona Christian University because of their dangerous values - which are to transform the culture with truth by promoting the Biblically informed values that are foundational to Western civilization, including the centrality of family, traditional sexual morality, and lifelong marriage between one man and one woman. This was so upsetting to the board that they canceled their contract with them and will not hire their Christian teachers.
But as believers, we have inner confidence because Jesus has already conquered the world. There is no question as to the final outcome, it has already been accomplished and the victory continues. Jesus has faced the enemy on the battlefield and won, and the victory continues. He has overcome sin, death and temptation, He has overcome all spiritual forces, He is above all rule and authority and power and dominion [whether angelic or human], and [far above] every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and world but also in the one to come (Eph 1:21).
We like to present a nice clean cut sterile controlled Christianity - we put on a good face - we cover our problems and hope they will go away on their own, that time will heal all hurts - we pretend - we avoid - we hide - or run – but the deeper issues keep us far from the from the Father and actually overcomes our joy, our hope, our faith and steals our peace. This doesn’t have to be the case. Jesus gives us the courage to confront and overcome what we are facing in our lives, whatever our personal demons may be. He gives us the courage to confront the Spirit of this age and take a stand for what we believe so we are not overcome by the World or the things in our own life.
Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, we face life with the assurance of our salvation, a confidence that our identity in Christ is secure, we are His family, adopted sons and daughters. That our source of love and hope and joy is secure, that nothing shall separate us from the Love of God. That God is with us. This is His peace and His peace gives the courage to overcome.
