Bible Reading
16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy
16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” 17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” 19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” 29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” 31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy
16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” 17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” 19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” 29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” 31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Devotional
Way back in 1974 there was a hit song sung by Helen Reddy titled “You and Me Against the World.” The first verse of the song went like this:
You and me against the world
Sometimes it feels like you and me against the world
When all the others turn their back and walk away
You can count on me to stay
Perhaps Helen Reddy got this from the Apostle John. In John 16, there are two major themes. First, there is no way around the fact that the world comes against the Church. Second, it is just as sure that the Holy Spirit comes alongside of the Church. How does the Church advance in the midst of opposition? How do it’s members stay encouraged when the onslaught is so severe and so constant? Jesus’ answer is: “But now I am going 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. But 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 go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:5-7).
John’s two major themes are linked together. Yes, the world will be in opposition to the Church but the “Helper” – the “Paraklete” or the “one who comes alongside of” – will be there to comfort and encourage. He is the Holy Spirit!
Whatever the kingdom of God is, the world is the opposite. When the Scripture alludes to “worldliness”, it is speaking about the counterfeit kingdom that is the result of the Fall of man. The Garden of Eden, because of the Fall of Man, no longer stands alone. Now there is a garbage dump that tries to exist alongside of the Garden and constantly tries to pollute it. That “alongside of” attempt is countered by the more powerful “one who comes alongside of”; the “Paraklete”…the Holy Spirit.
This Helper, who is the Comforter and Encourager, is also the Overcomer. Jesus says, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The fact that there is a trash dump vying for turf in your life means that you will experience opposition and tribulation, “but take courage” since the Encourager will come alongside of you and put you in courage.
Opposition and tribulation come from outside of yourself and inside of yourself. Inasmuch as you have the kingdom of God in you, the opposing counterfeit kingdom (worldliness) will fight you from the outside. All kingdom of God residents, however, also have some counterfeit kingdom in them since they are not yet perfected while the trash dump is still in the same neighborhood as the Garden (this will not always be the case as the trash dump someday will be burned to it’s core and only the Garden will again remain, and thus, there will be no more friction, opposition, and tribulation).
It is this “internal opposition” that we need to be more aware of. There is a fight inside of us kingdom dwellers. There is suffering. It is the suffering that is inherent to dying to the worldliness that is still in us; that which is not of faith since “whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). And so, “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). What is this “violence” that the kingdom “suffers” and why is it that “violent men take it by force”? The violence is the same violence and suffering that is implicit in Jesus’ repeated command to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). To deny worldliness (sin) is to crucify the worldliness that is in you (that which is in opposition to the kingdom). That hurts! It is violent and those who are willing to crucify daily – who are violent with themselves/their sin – take the kingdom by force.
Right before Jesus references the “internal opposition”, He also paints a picture of the external opposition: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day” (Luke 9:22). Why does this fight exist? It exists because the world “hates” (repeated by Jesus nine times in John 15-17) the kingdom of God. They are opposites; they are in opposition to each other. So, while the kingdom dweller is fighting his or her own internal battle they are also experiencing the opposition of the world coming at them from the outside.
The Holy Spirit comes alongside of the kingdom dweller to encourage him or her toward conviction (John 16:8-11). This conviction will fuel both fights: the internal fight to reject sin and the external fight that comes from the worldly system’s love of sin. In each case, it is the Holy Spirit who is the victor. And so, Jesus ends His discourse in which He has just explained how the Spirit will come in His place by declaring, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
You and me against the world
Sometimes it feels like you and me against the world
When all the others turn their back and walk away
You can count on me to stay
Perhaps Helen Reddy got this from the Apostle John. In John 16, there are two major themes. First, there is no way around the fact that the world comes against the Church. Second, it is just as sure that the Holy Spirit comes alongside of the Church. How does the Church advance in the midst of opposition? How do it’s members stay encouraged when the onslaught is so severe and so constant? Jesus’ answer is: “But now I am going 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. But 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 go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:5-7).
John’s two major themes are linked together. Yes, the world will be in opposition to the Church but the “Helper” – the “Paraklete” or the “one who comes alongside of” – will be there to comfort and encourage. He is the Holy Spirit!
Whatever the kingdom of God is, the world is the opposite. When the Scripture alludes to “worldliness”, it is speaking about the counterfeit kingdom that is the result of the Fall of man. The Garden of Eden, because of the Fall of Man, no longer stands alone. Now there is a garbage dump that tries to exist alongside of the Garden and constantly tries to pollute it. That “alongside of” attempt is countered by the more powerful “one who comes alongside of”; the “Paraklete”…the Holy Spirit.
This Helper, who is the Comforter and Encourager, is also the Overcomer. Jesus says, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The fact that there is a trash dump vying for turf in your life means that you will experience opposition and tribulation, “but take courage” since the Encourager will come alongside of you and put you in courage.
Opposition and tribulation come from outside of yourself and inside of yourself. Inasmuch as you have the kingdom of God in you, the opposing counterfeit kingdom (worldliness) will fight you from the outside. All kingdom of God residents, however, also have some counterfeit kingdom in them since they are not yet perfected while the trash dump is still in the same neighborhood as the Garden (this will not always be the case as the trash dump someday will be burned to it’s core and only the Garden will again remain, and thus, there will be no more friction, opposition, and tribulation).
It is this “internal opposition” that we need to be more aware of. There is a fight inside of us kingdom dwellers. There is suffering. It is the suffering that is inherent to dying to the worldliness that is still in us; that which is not of faith since “whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). And so, “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). What is this “violence” that the kingdom “suffers” and why is it that “violent men take it by force”? The violence is the same violence and suffering that is implicit in Jesus’ repeated command to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). To deny worldliness (sin) is to crucify the worldliness that is in you (that which is in opposition to the kingdom). That hurts! It is violent and those who are willing to crucify daily – who are violent with themselves/their sin – take the kingdom by force.
Right before Jesus references the “internal opposition”, He also paints a picture of the external opposition: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day” (Luke 9:22). Why does this fight exist? It exists because the world “hates” (repeated by Jesus nine times in John 15-17) the kingdom of God. They are opposites; they are in opposition to each other. So, while the kingdom dweller is fighting his or her own internal battle they are also experiencing the opposition of the world coming at them from the outside.
The Holy Spirit comes alongside of the kingdom dweller to encourage him or her toward conviction (John 16:8-11). This conviction will fuel both fights: the internal fight to reject sin and the external fight that comes from the worldly system’s love of sin. In each case, it is the Holy Spirit who is the victor. And so, Jesus ends His discourse in which He has just explained how the Spirit will come in His place by declaring, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).