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The Joy and Grief of Living With Jesus
John 16:16-24
Mari Yoshino
Today, continuing from last week, we will read from the Gospel of John. Today’s passage is 16:16-24. The Gospel of John is now approaching its final stages. For some time now, we’ve been reading Jesus’ farewell message to His disciples, and that will conclude next time. Today’s passage begins with a conversation between Jesus and His disciples that feels a bit roundabout, although there’s probably deep meaning there. Let’s start reading. First, verses 16-20.
A. How long is “a little while”? (16-20)
16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” 17 At this, 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 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
Both the disciples and Jesus repeat the exact same words. In particular, the phrase “after a little while” is repeated multiple times. This is a faithful translation of the original language, where the word meaning “a little while” is also repeated.
What Jesus is saying here is that “after a little while” he will be arrested and killed, but then “after a little while” he will rise again and meet with his disciples. In other words, when Jesus says “after a little while,” he specifically means within a few days. Why did Jesus repeat this vague expression “after a little while” without specifying a concrete number of days? It is probably because God’s sense of time differs from ours.
For the disciples, the three days between Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection must have felt incredibly long. Despair, helplessness, and guilt over betraying Jesus themselves. The sorrow of losing their Teacher, Jesus. The anxiety of losing their direction. The fear of being arrested themselves. The disciples literally locked themselves inside, barricaded behind closed doors. If they had truly believed that Jesus would rise on the third day and they would be reunited, those three days might have passed in the blink of an eye.
Living by faith in God means repeating experiences like those of these disciples. God’s plan is not fully revealed to us, and we are sometimes overwhelmed by sorrow. When we suffer illness and lose our health. When relationships break beyond repair. When we face financial hardship. When we endure discrimination for unjust reasons. When we cannot escape loneliness. We cry out to God, “How long must we suffer? Why don’t you answer us immediately?” At such times, what we must hear is the declaration Jesus made to His disciples in today’s passage. Verse 20: “your grief will turn to joy.” Because, as verse 16 says, “…you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me”
That “while” may feel long to us, but it will surely come. Our suffering turns to joy when we reunite with the Jesus we had lost sight of. Our specific circumstances may not change immediately; they may be problems we must live with for a long time. Yet, the certainty that Jesus is with us in our hearts transforms our sorrow into joy. And that transformation shouldn’t take too long if we stand on the reality of Jesus’ cross and rely not on our own strength, but on the power of the Holy Spirit.
If you feel unable to trust God in your suffering right now, the worst thing you can do is blame yourself. God surely knows your struggle—your desire to trust Him, yet your inability to do so. Let’s read on to the rest of Jesus’ words in verses 21-22.
B. The joy of being given a new life (21-22)
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.
This specifically refers to when Jesus reunited with His disciples after His resurrection from the dead. Yet the same is true for us: reunion with Jesus brings inexhaustible joy to our hearts. Knowing that Jesus died and rose again for us gives us assurance of God’s love and mercy. And just as the disciples’ lives began anew from that point, our lives also begin anew through our encounter with Jesus. It could also be said that we are renewed again and again.
Jesus compared this to the pains of childbirth. Gaining the conviction that “God has not forgotten us” amidst suffering is itself the pain of childbirth. Suffering from losing sight of Jesus is itself connected to the joy of reuniting with Him.
In that sense, we could say each of us must pass through our own trials. Trials where we lose sight of Jesus and fail to understand God’s love. God does not give us trials out of spite, nor is He testing us. I believe that precisely when we lose sight of God, He is saying, “Rely on me more.”
None of the disciples expected to see Jesus again three days after His death. The resurrected Jesus came to them as they were consumed by regret and helplessness over the irreversible mistake they had made. It is the same for us. Jesus comes to meet us where we are, unable to move. It is not that we desperately search for Jesus and finally encounter Him. Jesus finds us. This is something each person experiences personally, understood through the help of the Holy Spirit. As I mentioned last time, the Holy Spirit teaches us the meaning of Jesus’ cross and gives us assurance of God’s love. This assurance may come instantly, or it may gradually take shape through various events and the words of others. Either way, the certainty that Jesus has actually been right beside us all along brings deep joy and hope to our hearts. This joy and hope cannot be taken away by anyone, no matter the circumstances.
Thus, living with Jesus, I believe, is a cycle of losing sight of Him and then being found by Him again. It is a process of dying to the old self and being given new life to live with Jesus. Though there is the pain of birth, the joy of receiving new life makes us forget the suffering of the old self dying.
Now let us move on to the final words of Jesus for today. Verses 23-24.
C. The joy that God answers our prayers (23-24)
23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, 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.
“In that day you will no longer ask me anything” means that once we understand the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection and are assured of God’s love through the Holy Spirit, we will know everything we need to know. And this connects to praying to God the Father in Jesus’ name. To pray in Jesus’ name means remembering that we are alive because of His sacrifice, connecting with God through Him. Though we are full of contradictions and mistakes in God’s eyes, we can still come before Him as we are, without fear, because Jesus bore our sins in our place.
Jesus is saying here that whatever we ask in His name, God will give us, and it will bring us joy. I think you all know from experience better than I do that this doesn’t mean God will grant us everything we desire. So what did Jesus mean? I believe He meant for us to know the joy that comes when our desires and God’s desires begin to align. Or to put it another way: through Jesus’ cross, learn to trust God’s love and recognize that it is better for God’s will to be done than for our own wishes to be fulfilled. This means confiding all our desires to God, not seeking the outcome of whether they are granted or not, but trusting that God is good. If our desires differ from God’s, then no matter how incomprehensible it may seem to us, within God’s unseen plan it is being used for good. To help us gain that assurance, God will give us everything we need.
Please, no matter the circumstances, while it is perfectly natural to pray for deliverance from suffering and sorrow, also pray that you may gain assurance of God’s love. I believe God will do anything for that purpose. He works in our hearts through people, through events, through times of solitude, through the words of the Bible, and by the Holy Spirit. And in those moments, remember Jesus, who was crucified for you. Jesus is always right beside us. He teaches us that He truly hears our voices.
(Prayer) Lord Jesus, please grant each of us the assurance that You are closest to us right now. No matter the circumstances, You will never abandon us, never forget us, and always remain with us. Though we may lose sight of this truth or become overwhelmed by the suffering before us, we desire to live trusting in You, never losing hope or joy. So please send Your Spirit to help and strengthen us. Help us to believe that God’s plan, though unseen by us, is good. Lord Jesus, we pray in Your name. Amen.
Summary
Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can be certain of the vastness of God’s mercy and love. Though our faith wavers and we suffer through various trials, each time we learn that we need only rely on Jesus’ cross and the Holy Spirit’s work. And in any circumstance, we can be certain that God hears our prayers. Living with Jesus is the source of our joy and hope, transforming any suffering into joy.
For Discussion
1) Please share an experience where your grief or suffering was transformed into joy.
2) What is the joy and grief of living with Jesus?
3) How does praying to God in the name of Jesus differ from simply “praying” or “asking”?