The Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 25, 2025

John 16:16-24

Because He Lives— We Have Deep & Lasting Joy!

16 “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

17 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 I tell you the truth, 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. I tell you the truth, 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. (NIV1984)

Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Joy. Conventional wisdom says that joy is a direct result of the circumstances that we are in. Conventional wisdom says that the way that we feel is the result of the events, the conditions and the relationships that all come together to form our life. Conventional wisdom says that if the circumstances of our life change that will change the way that we feel.

In some ways that conventional wisdom is true, isn’t it. When we attend a birthday party or an anniversary celebration we feel joy. When we attend someone’s graduation from school, when we attend someone’s promotion ceremony we are filled with happiness. On the flip side of that very same coin, when we attend someone’s farewell party, when we attend someone’s funeral we experience grief and sorrow and pain.

As we continue to listen to Jesus as He teaches His disciples in the Upper Room on the night before He was crucified (Pointing to the cross) we listen from the perspective that assures us that Easter proves to us that our God can and does take what normally causes us grief and pain and turns it into joy and happiness. With that truth in mind let’s see how these inspired words of John remind us: Because He Lives— We Have Deep & Lasting Joy! As we study these inspired words we are going to focus on three words: Confusion, Comfort and Confidence.

Confusion. The fact that Jesus’ disciples were confused as Jesus was teaching them there in the Upper Room comes out very clearly in the opening verses of our text. John writes, “’In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.’ 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.” They kept asking, ‘What does he mean by a “little while”? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

Jesus’ disciples were obviously confused by Jesus’ words— and we can understand why! We have the benefit of looking at these words with 20/20 hindsight. Jesus’ disciples did not have that perspective— at least not yet! Remember, Jesus spoke these words in the Upper Room on the night before His crucifixion. In just a few short hours Jesus would be arrested. In just a few short hours Jesus’ disciples would scatter out of fear. In just a few short hours the disciples would not be able to see Jesus. While we know that John was on the hill called Golgotha and watched Jesus die on the cross, as far as we know none of the other disciples saw Jesus after this night.

From that perspective we can say that in just a few short hours Jesus would be “hidden” from His disciples. Think about it. The disciples couldn’t see Jesus as He stood trial in front of the Sanhedrin. They couldn’t see Jesus as He stood trial in front of Pilate or in front of Herod. They could have seen Him as He hung dying on the cross, but as we already noted, only John was there on Calvary. And of course, they could not see Jesus after Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus placed His lifeless body in the tomb and rolled a large stone in front of it. And then, “after a little while”— just three days later!— the disciples would see Jesus again! John himself tells us, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’” (John 20:19).

That “disappearance” and “reappearance” served to assure Jesus’ disciples— both then and now!— that everything Jesus came into this world to accomplish was accomplished! In His “disappearance” Jesus was cut off from the land of the living so that through His death He could pay for all of the sins of all people. In His “reappearance” Jesus proclaimed that His Father’s Plan of Salvation for this world has been fulfilled! And now His death and His resurrection guarantee to us that through faith in Jesus we have been given the gift of eternal salvation.

That glorious gift leads us to our second words for today— comfort. Look at verses nineteen and twenty of our text. John continues, “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”? I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”

The contrast that Jesus paints for us here is phenomenal. The first half of this contrast emphasizes that Jesus’ “disappearance” will indeed cause grief and pain for His disciples. Once again, we can understand why. For three years Jesus’ disciples traveled with Him— listening and learning as He proclaimed the Truth of God’s holy Word. For three years Jesus’ disciples saw the faithfulness of His life, they heard the devotion of His prayers, they saw the power of His miracles. And now Jesus tells them that “in a little while you will see me no more.” And so, yes, my friends, we can understand why Jesus’ words would bring grief and pain to His disciples.

We can personally understand the grief and the pain that Jesus’ disciples felt because of what we experience as disciples of Jesus today. Think of all the grief and the pain we experience in this life. Not only is there the grief and the pain that is common to everyone, the grief and the pain that comes our way because of the effects of sin such as— sickness and disease, death and disappointment. But as disciples of Jesus we have the added grief and pain that are the result of our connection to Jesus. This includes the grief and the pain, the troubles and the tribulations that come from the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh. That’s why Jesus said to His disciples there in the Upper Room, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” and “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 15:18; 16:33).

We would do well to note the fact that Jesus also told His disciples, “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.” Put yourself into the sandals of Jesus’ disciples. While they were grieving Jesus’ death, Jesus’ enemies were rejoicing. Those who rejected Jesus and what He came into this world to accomplish saw Jesus’ death and said, “Good riddance!” The religious leaders of God’s people rejoiced at Jesus’ death and even mocked Him as He hung dying on the cross. Why? Because now Jesus could no longer embarrass them with His perfect understanding of Scripture. Recall how many times they tried to trap Jesus with a trick question and failed— each and every time! With Jesus’ death the religious leaders assumed that they could let go of the fear that had overwhelmed them as Jesus carried out His ministry here on this earth. We hear that fear in the words of the chief priests and the Pharisees, “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation” (John 11:48). Pontius Plate and King Herod were glad that Jesus was dead because they saw Him as a rebel, a troublemaker, a threat to their power and control.

This leads us to ask ourselves: Are there people today who rejoice because they believe the deception that Jesus’ death was “the end”— just as it seems to be for everyone else who dies? Are there people today who either openly or secretly rejoice when Jesus, His Word and His Truths are dismissed and denied— sometimes by law? Are there people today who rejoice when someone who tries to stand up for the morally correct teachings of Scripture are shouted down or forcibly removed from places such as school board meetings? While we certainly can’t look into anyone’s heart, when we look at their actions and when we listen to their words it appears as though there is no shortage of people today to whom Jesus’ words apply quite well: “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.”

The second part of the phenomenal contrast that Jesus paints for us today is found in verses twenty to twenty-three. Jesus says, “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 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 this world. 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.”

Note how clearly Jesus speaks words of comfort to His disciples— using the analogy of a woman in labor. Jesus uses this analogy to emphasize not only the severity of the pain and the sorrow that life here in this sinful world can easily bring into the lives of God’s children, but also to emphasize the inevitability of that pain and sorrow. No child is born without pain. I have witnessed that pain firsthand. I was present as three of our children were born. While modern medical science has options to lessen that pain, it cannot eliminate that pain. As many of you ladies have experienced, a child being born into this world brings great pain to the mother who is giving birth to that child.

But, as Jesus clearly emphasizes, that pain is temporary. Once the child is born the pain begins to subside. When Mom first gets to hold her child in her arms, the joy of birth overshadows the pains of getting to that point. And if both Mom and child are healthy, the joy beams far brighter than the pain and the sorrow.

It certainly doesn’t surprise us that Jesus uses this analogy to bring comfort to His disciples. Here in this world pain and suffering may be inevitable— but it is only temporary! Praise God that we have the comfort of knowing that what is waiting for us on the other side of the grave is the glory and the perfection of eternal life in heaven! Praise God that we have the comfort of knowing that in heaven there is no grief. There is no sin or sickness. There is no pain or sorrow of any kind— nothing that could ever possibly bring a tear to our eyes. Praise God that He has revealed to us in His holy Word, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

The comfort that these words bring to us is amazing! And yet, we might wonder— how do we get through this life without giving in to despair, without giving up hope, without losing our focus on the sure and certain promises that our God has given to us? Our Lord addresses those questions when He says in the closing verses of our text, “In 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. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

This leads us to the third word we want to highlight today: Confidence. While Jesus was with His disciples here on this earth they had the confidence of knowing that they could go to Him at any time and ask Him anything. What were they going to do after Jesus returned to the Father? Pray! Pray in a way that they had never prayed before! After they could no longer see Jesus they had the confidence of knowing that they could pray directly to their Father in heaven— “in Jesus’ name.” What does it mean to pray “in Jesus’ name”? Certainly, it’s not some kind of “magical” formula that we add to the end of our prayers. It certainly does not mean that we can pray for whatever we want, add the words “in Jesus’ name” to the end of our prayers and expect that the heavenly Father will give us whatever we ask for.

To pray “in Jesus’ name” means that we pray “in the sphere of” Who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for us! Think of the confidence that gives to us, my friends. When we approach the heavenly Father’s eternal throne of grace “in the sphere of” His beloved Son, we have the confidence of knowing that the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth will indeed hear our prayers and He will most certainly answer our prayers— in the way that He knows is best for us! So whenever you need help or guidance, whenever you need support or protection, whenever you feel frustrated or sad, whenever you are feeling lonely or lost— remember the words your Savior speaks to you, “I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name…Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

“And your joy will be complete.” That can also be translated as, “And your joy will be full.” This is a promise— a promise that our crucified and risen Savior has given to us. Our joy is “complete,” our joy is “full” right now as we confidently pray to our heavenly Father “in the name of” His victorious Son. Our joy will find its ultimate “completeness,” its ultimate “fullness” when our heavenly Father welcomes us into His heavenly Home.

My prayer then this morning is that whenever we are feeling confused and whenever we are seeking comfort we will embrace the confidence that comes from knowing: Because He Lives— We Have Deep & Lasting Joy!

To God be the glory!

Amen