John 16:19-33
Notes
Transcript
vv 19-22) Sorrow to joy
vv 19-22) Sorrow to joy
[19-20] Jesus being God, was able to understand what they were thinking. By His questions, He revealed His full knowledge of their perplexity. This is one of my favorite things about our Lord and Savior: that Jesus understood that the disciple wanted more clarity.
Jesus knows His disciples better then they know themselves. Jesus knows you better then you know yourself. That is a God I want to follow, one that I cannot hope to grasp and one that is genuinely concerned about me.
Jesus didn’t answer their problem directly but gave further information concerning the “little while.” The world would rejoice because they had succeeded in crucifying Jesus, but the disciples would weep and lament.
Their weeping and lament would be towards:
the loss of relationship
the humiliation of their Mater and Messiah
the seeming victory of His enemies
all their hope was taken away
Yet it would only be a short while. Their sorrow would be turned into joy, and it was -first by the resurrection, and secondly by the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then, for all disciples of all ages, grief will be turned to rejoicing when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back again! Maranatha!
[21] God’s work was not to replace their sorrow with joy, but to turn sorrow into joy, as He often does in our lives. The sorrow would be directly connected to their coming joy.
Nothing is more remarkable than the speed with which a mother forgets the labor pains after her child is born. So it would be with the disciples. The sorrow connected with the absence of their Lord would be quickly forgotten when they would see Him again.
“It is most remarkable and instructive that the apostles do not appear in their sermons or epistles to have spoken of the death of our Lord with any kind of regret. The gospels mention their distress during the actual occurence of the crucifixion, but after the resurrection, and especially after Pentecost, we hear of no such grief.” - Spurgeon
[22] The disciples didn’t fully understand the separation, so they could not fully understand the joy of the coming reunion. Yet when it happened, no one could deny their joy filled testimonies of the resurrection. It was testimonies so sure that they endured death because of it.
That Jesus would suffer was a cause for them to grieve, yet that same suffering causes us joy to be brought into the family of God.
“When a champion returns from the wars bearing the scars of conflict by which he gained his honors, does anyone lament over his campaigns?” -Spurgeon
vv 23-27) Greater joy to come
vv 23-27) Greater joy to come
[23] Up to now, the disciples had come to the Lord with all their questions and requests. In that day, He would no longer be with them bodily, so they would no longer be asking Him questions.
But did that mean that they would have no one to whom to go?
No in that day it would be their privilege to ask the Father.
[[Example]] Going before the King unhindered
He would grant their request for Jesus’ sake. Requests will be granted, not because we are worthy, but because Jesus is worthy.
[24] Prior to this, the disciples had never prayed to God the Father in Jesus’ name. Now they were invited to ask. Through answered prayer, their joy would be fulfilled.
[25] The meaning of much of what Jesus taught was not alway apparent on the surface. He used parables and figures of speech. Even in this chapter we cannot alway be sure of the precise meaning.
With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the teaching about the Father became more clear. In Acts and the Epistles the truth is no longer revealed through parables but through direct statements. Praise the Lord!
[26] “In that day” again is the Age of the Holy Spirit, the Age in which we no live. Our privilege is to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus. The Father doesn’t need to be urged to answer our prayers. jesus will not have to entreat Him. We are not neglecting the fact that Jesus is still our Mediator between God and man, and He does intercede on behalf of His people before the throne of God.
What is being explained is that Jesus doesn’t need to put in a good word for us. We have been given Jesus’ righteousness, and can boldly go before the throne of God in prayer.
[27] The Father loved the disciples because they had received Christ and loved Him and believed in His deity. This is the reason why the Lord did not have to plead with the Father too. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, they would enjoy a new sense of intimacy with the Father. They would be able to approach Him with confidence, and all because they loved His Son.
The Father did not love the disciples on the basis of their love for Jesus, but their love for Jesus was evidence of the Father’s love for them.
A pulse doesn’t make the heart pump, but it is evidence of it. Our love for God doesn’t make Him love us but it is evidence that He loves us.
vv 28-32) Proper perspective
vv 28-32) Proper perspective
v 33) The conclusion
v 33) The conclusion
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.