Future Joy (St. John 16:16-22)

““To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And time to die; …””

These words from Ecclesiastes 3 describe the whole cycle of life.

““A time to be born, And time to die; …””

It reminds me of the old Dennis the Menace comic … where Dennis comes home from Sunday School and says …

“I learned in Sunday School today that we come from dust and go to dust … and I looked under the bed and someone is either coming or going.”

We laugh … but the emotions involved in that coming and going are different.

Usually … when a baby is born there is joy.

We read in our Gospel lesson a few moments ago: ““A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.””

But … when someone dies … when someone passes from this life to the next … there is sorrow … there is sadness … there is mourning.

The other day the daughter of good friend passed after a long battle with addiction. She was a competitive soccer player who was injured a few years back and then became addicted to opioids.

There is sadness and sorrow in her family … and it was a reminder to me of my Rachel … and in the view of many … much to young to die!

When I was told … it triggered memories … I immediately started to cry!

Again … ““A time to be born, And time to die; …””

If we look at our Gospel Lesson for this 3^rd Sunday after Easter we see a group of people who didn’t fully understand what was about to happen.

The setting is the last night of our Savior’s life.  

His disciples had been with him for three short years … BUT during that time Jesus had taught them many things and shown them his power and authority.  

Think about it … they were witnesses to his turning water into wine …

… to feeding the multitudes … at least twice that we know 

… to raising the dead … at least three times that we know … 

… to healing the sick … to casting demons out … to giving sight to the blind … 

… and even stopping the winds and the waves.

One of things that he had repeatedly told them was that he would be going to Jerusalem, where he would be arrested, tried and crucified — but then he would rise from the dead. 

Jesus had told his disciples EXACTLY what would happen.

In Matthew 20:18,19 we read: 

““Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.””   

And each time the disciples DID NOT fully understand what he was saying.

So now … on this last night … he had washed the disciples’ feet … identified his betrayer … predicted Peter’s denial and celebrated the Passover with his disciples and at the same time instituting the Lord’s Supper.

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As you know … there are four Gospels.  

Matthew, Mark & Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels — which means “same eyes” or “view together” — in that they cover basically the same thing — our Savior’s birth, as well as his three year life and ministry here on earth.

The record of John … on the other hand … while it has some of the same elements as Matthew, Mark and Luke … focuses MORE on the last week of our Savior’s life AND the work that he came to do … 

This record of his last week covers about half of the Gospel of John — as it focuses on the reason for our Savior’s coming … 

— that he would die for the sins of those who believe in him, and … most importantly … that he would be raised from the dead.

That is part of what we see in our Gospel lesson as Jesus is telling them what is about to happen.  

In a very short time he would be betrayed and arrested … tried … and then crucified …

… and with all this there would be sadness and sorrow.

However … WE DO know the end of the story …

… and so … Jesus is trying to prepare his disciples for what is about to happen.

We see first of all that Jesus tells them something strange — ““A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.””  

Immediately we see that they really didn’t understand what Jesus was telling them.  

… and so we read:

““Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.””

… ““We do not know what He is saying …””

It is at this point that Jesus explains what he meant … but we know that they still did not really understand what he was saying — as we read in verses 19-22:

““Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.””

Now … I don’t know about you … but if I was there … I probably would not have understood what Jesus was saying either … 

— first … you won’t see me … then you will see me … you will weep and be sorrowful … but then you will be filled with joy.  

The disciples were not Rhodes Scholars … they were simple, everyday men — they didn’t understand at all — and to be honest … I don’t think a Rhodes Scholar would have understood either.

To me … it sounds like me watching the Eagles in the Super Bowl this year … were they really scoring time after time against the two-time Super Bowl champions???

… am I really seeing what I am seeing??

Thankfully … for us … we have the FULL Gospel record before us … and we know exactly what happens.  

In a short while they will leave the upper room and go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus will begin to pray and the disciples will fall asleep. 

Soon … Judas would come along with the religious leaders … where he will betray Jesus with a kiss 

… and the religious leaders will take Jesus … have a mock trial … after which they will turn Jesus over to Pilate … who will scourge him and then crucify him.  

Again … however … WE KNOW the end of the story … so we can understand what is happening.

While this was going on … the disciples … with the exception of John … will flee for their lives and hide because they thought the religious leaders would come after them next.  

And Peter … in fulfillment of what Jesus told him … would deny his Lord three times … and rather vociferously … and then weep … 

Only his mother Mary and the other women, along with the Apostle John would be at the Cross.  

All the others were no where in sight — in fact … as I said … they were afraid for their lives and so they were in hiding.

Indeed … they would be very sorrowful and sad.  

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Even though Jesus had told them what would happen to him on many occasions … they still did not fully understand.

But think about it … the religious leaders and scholars didn’t understand the prophecies … so how could the disciples of Jesus understand them??

What we see is that the Holy Spirit had not yet opened their hearts to the full truth of the Gospel.

When they went to the tomb that first Easter morning, they went to finish anointing the body for burial … 

The day of the crucifixion was a Friday … and the Sabbath began at sundown on Friday … so when they took Jesus down from the cross … they didn’t have time to properly prepare him for burial when they placed him in the tomb.

But … that first Easter … they certainly did not expect to find the tomb empty … in spite of what Jesus had told them!

The women were wondering who would roll the stone aside …

When they saw the empty tomb their immediate response was the someone had stolen the body of Jesus.  

The Angel of the Lord told them otherwise … but not all the disciples were there.

Again … as we compare Scripture with Scripture … we see that even on the night of the resurrection day … they were still hiding — even after the report of the women and the disciples  who had seen the empty tomb.  

We saw this in the Gospel lesson for the 1^st Sunday after Easter from John 20:19-20: 

““Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.””

Here we see the fulfillment of what the Lord Jesus had predicted only four days before.  

But, even now … they did not fully understand the IMPLICATIONS of the resurrection — what it meant for them … AND for the future of what would be known as the Christian faith.

But we read: ““Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.””  

Their sorrow and sadness had been turned into joy — just as Jesus had told them a few days earlier — when they didn’t understand what he was saying.

Now … we know what happens next … Jesus was around for 40 days … and he was seen by many.

As Paul summarizes in 1 Corinthians 15:

““For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.””

And then at the end of his time just before his ascension… he commissions them … to take the Gospel to all the known world — as we read in Matthew 28:18-20: 

““And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”” 

AND that power to go and make disciples was fulfilled … as we read in Acts 2:1-4:

““When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.””

The Holy Spirit that gave them understanding … and had turned their sorrow into joy and enabled every one of them to go out into the known world … proclaiming the risen Christ … and with the exception of the Apostle John … dying for what they believed1.

THAT same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead … lives in the hearts of every one of us!

All in fulfillment of what Jesus had told them on the last night of his life, shortly before his death … for us and our salvation.

We must then ask what does this mean for us as Christians almost 2000 years later?  

There is much …

First … we know that as Christians … our death is NOT the end.  I take comfort in the truth that I will see my Rachel again.

Today is Mother’s Day … my mother passed almost 15 years ago … but she had strong faith … I know that I will see her again … but right now she is in the presence of her God and Savior … the Lord Jesus Christ.

So Mom … happy Mother’s Day

Another important thing for me in all this … and I hope for you … is that we love and serve a God who is faithful and fulfills His promises.

Think about it — there are literally dozens of prophecies in the Old Testament … some written over 1500 years before Christ … concerning our Savior … 

— his virgin birth … the place of his birth — his betrayal, arrest, crucifixion and resurrection … ALL OF WHICH WERE FULFILLED!

We serve a God who we can trust.  What He says He will do — He does.  

We serve a faithful God, and part of that Godhead — the Lord Jesus Christ … who just a few hours before his death for us and our salvation … told his disciples what would happen to them —  even though they didn’t understand … but shortly they would.

The other important fact in all of this … AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE … is that the same Spirit that raised up Christ from the dead … live in us … and enables us to live for him … and to fulfill our part in the Great Commission.

And as always … this reminds us to pray for those in our circle of family and friends who do not yet know Christ as Savior and Lord … and pray that the Holy Spirit would open their hearts … as  he did with the disciples …

The disciples finally understood … and their sorrow was turned into joy … and by the grace of God … we understand also … because God has revealed it to us — that there is only one God and one Savior — the Lord Jesus Christ.