John 16:5-33
5"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to 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. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all 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. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
16"In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."
17Some 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'?" 18They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand what he is saying."
19Jesus 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'? 20I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21A 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. 22So 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. 23In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24Until 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. 26In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."
29Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30Now 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"You believe at last!" Jesus answered. 32 "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his 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." (NIV)
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There are many wonderful things going on in this passage. Jesus is preparing the disciples for not only his departure, but to get through the dark time between his departure and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Jesus even tells us one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit, to “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” We cannot come to accept Christ as Savior without the Holy Spirit. We must be convicted to see our need for Christ. And the Holy Spirit speaks the truth to us so that we can begin a new life once we realize the sin of the old life.
Jesus then spends some time helping them to understand this concept of his going, the Holy Spirit Coming and the tough times they will go through. This whole concept he speaks of is one of the most important aspect of our faith to get down. I have seen the results all to many times when it is not achieved in people. And that concept is that we need to secure our faith in Christ and his promises in good times when we can study and ask questions. That is because a time is coming in all our lives where it will get crazy and in the crazy time, we must have that foundation to lean on. If we are in that moment asking questions and seeking faith, our minds cannot handle it as well.
This why I believe Jesus uses the language I tell you this now so that so that you may have peace when we have trouble in this world. That is all the world can ultimately give us, is trouble.
I have seen those persevere through trouble because they worked on that foundation during the good times and I have seen people walk away from the church angry at God because they never worked on their faith and thus, had a wrong understanding of God and how he relates to us in this world.
But Jesus last line in this chapter is one we need to hang onto, “take heart, I have overcome the world.”
Have you had to walk through times that your faith carried you through it? How do you strengthen your faith during the good times of life? Do you think about the how the Holy Spirit works in your life and does that give you hope for the future?
This passage is filled with wonder. Questions? Comments?
Blessings and Peace
Pastor Harry