The Gospel of John: John 16.16-33

Read and meditate on John 16.16-33.
Jesus is realistic about life as one of His friends and followers. It’s not an easy road, but it leads to joy and peace and overcoming the world.

¹⁶“But now, in just a little while, and you
will not see Me; and yet you will again
see Me in just a little while, for then
I go unto the Father.” ¹⁷Some of His
disciples wondered, saying, “What is this
He says to us, ‘A little while and you
will not see Me; a little while and you
will see Me yet again, because I go
unto the Father’? ¹⁸For we do not know
what He is saying.” ¹⁹Jesus knew that they
desired to ask, so He began to say
to them, “Are you inquiring about what
I said, ‘A little while and you will not
see Me; again, a little while and you
will see Me’? ²⁰I will tell you what is true:
You will lament and weep; the world, though, will
rejoice. And you will sorrow, but it will
be turned to joy. ²¹A woman, when she is
in labor, will know sorrow. Her hour has
arrived. When she has given birth though, she
remembers not her anguish, just to see
with joy the child that she has brought into
the world. ²²So you have sorrow now; but you
will see Me yet again, and then your heart
will have great joy, and none can take this part
from you. ²³And in that day you will ask Me
for nothing. But I say assuredly,
whatever you may ask the Father in
My Name, He will give you. ²⁴Until now, in
My Name you have asked nothing. Ask, and you
will have it, and great joy will be unto
you. ²⁵These things I have spoken unto you
in figures; but the time is coming soon
when I will speak about the Father to
you plainly. ²⁶And when that day comes, then you
will ask in My Name, and I do not say
that I will to the Father for you pray,
²⁷because the Father loves you, since you love
Me, and since you believe in Me, that of
the Father I have come forth. ²⁸I indeed
have come forth from the Father; now I leave
the world to go to Him again.” ²⁹They said,
“Now You are speaking plainly, Lord, instead
of using figures. ³⁰And we know now and
are sure You know all things. We understand
You have no need for anyone to come
and question You. By this we know that from
God you have come.” ³¹So Jesus answered, “Do
you now believe? ³²The hour is coming to
you, and has now come, when you all will be
dispersed, each to his own, and will leave Me
alone. Yet I am not alone; you see,
the Father Who has sent Me is with Me.
³³These things I say to you, that in Me you
may dwell in peace. In this world, you will know
great tribulation. Be of good cheer, though,
for I have overcome the world.”

- John 16.16-33

Reflect
1. Jesus considered that some things were best left as mysteries for His disciples. He did not always speak plainly, and the figures He used at times were difficult to understand. How should we regard those passages of Scripture that are difficult to understand or to reconcile with other passages? Should we not believe them, simply because we can’t fully understand them? Explain. Complete this prayer: Teach me to trust Your Word always, Father, even when…

2.  Jesus spoke of sorrow at the beginning of this passage and tribulation at the end. How should this shape our expectations as followers of Christ? How should knowing this factor into our proclamation of the Gospel? Help me to be always prepared, Lord, for whatever trials You may be pleased to bring my way, so that…

3.  The focus of this passage is on joy and peace, and knowing these is bound up in Jesus Himself (vv. 22, 33). How would you counsel a new believer to know peace and joy in the midst of sorrow or tribulation? Help me, Lord, to look to You and cling to You in times of trial, and I will…

4.  Again, Jesus reiterated His promise that the disciples could expect to receive from the Father whatever they asked for in His Name (vv. 23-26). How should this promise guide your prayer life? Given this promise, do you think it’s a good idea to have our prayers line up, as much as possible, with what Jesus has revealed in His Word? How might you do this? Thank You, Lord Jesus, for giving me access to the Father in prayer, and for promising that…

5. This passage also contains a sobering lesson on faith. The disciples were a bit overconfident here (vv. 29, 30), but Jesus, ever the realist, set them straight (vv. 31, 32). How can we avoid being too confident about our faith, and too sure of ourselves as disciples? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you composed for questions 1-4.

Summary
“We are persecuted when God allows the tempter the power to persecute us. But when God does not want us to suffer this, even in the world that hates us, we wondrously have peace and are of good cheer because of him who said, ‘Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’ And truly he has overcome the world, because the world is strong only insofar as its Victor wants it to be. He has received from the Father the victory over the world. And because of his victory we can indeed be of good cheer.” Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)

Christians are brothers and sisters in the tribulation and Kingdom (righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit, Rom. 14.17, 18), as John reminds us in Revelation 1.9. Being a friend and follower of Jesus, John says there, requires patience. What kind of patience? How should we practice that patience, in the light of what Jesus has taught in John 13-16?

Closing Prayer
You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s,
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.

Psalm 22.23-31

Psalm 22.29-31 (Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
All the prosp’rous of the earth shall before His mercy fall;
Bending low before His worth, hear them humbly on Him call.
Even those low in the grave He will by His mercy save.

Let the generations all witness to His saving grace;
Let them to all nations call, “Bow before His holy face!”
Let the children of the earth hear of Jesus’ saving worth!

T. M. Moore
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.