Posts Tagged ‘John 16:16-28’

John 16: (16-23a) 23b-28

It’s difficult these days not to read every gospel text from the perspective of those whose lives have been so drastically altered by the coronavirus.  Encountering this text from John 16, the word that captured my attention was the word “joy.”  “You will have pain,” Jesus tells his disciples, “but your pain will turn into joy” (v. 20).  Of course he is talking here of the pain the disciples will experience when Jesus is separated from them as he goes forward to his passion and death.  “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while and you will see me,” he says (v. 17).  He knows they will suffer; he knows that the events of the coming days will test and try them; and he knows he cannot protect them from this pain.  But he wants to keep their eyes fixed not on the pain, but on the joy that is to come.

“You will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.”  To help them grasp this promise, he offers the example of a woman in childbirth.  The pain of birthing a child is intense, “but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world” (v. 21)  There is joy on the other side of this suffering, he promises.  “I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joyfrom you”(v. 22).

“The Father himself loves you,” he assures them, and therefore they can ask for whatever they need in his name and the Father will give it to them (v. 23-27).  “Ask and you will receive,” he tells them, “so that your joy may be complete” (v. 24).  Once again, God intends joy for his people, not endless sorrow, and God will provide all that they need to find real and lasting joy. Read More