On the eve of our Lord’s crucifixion, with his disciples gathered around him, he informed them of some troubling news. He was going to be leaving them for a while, and they would be filled with sorrow, but the world would rejoice to see him gone. Then Jesus comforted his followers by informing them that their sorrow would soon be turned to joy.
Jesus was speaking of his death and resurrection, followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would be the comforter, guide, and companion that Jesus had been to his disciples while he was present with them. In fact, by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is very present with all his redeemed followers now and forever! We are indeed the happy recipients of Jesus’ wonderful promise: Joy now and forever!
Read the full sermon transcript below!
Most everyone likes historical sites and museums of some kind, whether it is the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, or the Smithsonian in Washington, or Graceland in Memphis—where Elvis still lives upstairs—or whatever your interest may be. We all enjoy seeing things of interest. We also admire great men and women and their remarkable accomplishments in life.
But we can sometimes be left with a certain hollow feeling inside when we remember that our heroes were merely human, that and nothing more. They’re gone, and all that remains are things they left behind, mementos for any who might care.
When we ponder the fact that special people who once did great things and are remembered for them, nonetheless, no longer walk this earth and are no more with us, we feel a certain vanity that is part of being human. Things of this present world are merely temporary. Victims of time, they don’t last forever, not in this world. In this way, we are all alike. As some sage once put it, “All men have feet of clay.” Easily broken, cracked, crumbled, and toppled. When you think about it, it falls in your heart with a thud, doesn’t it?
There are, however, some exceptions to this universal finality of things human, because there is one of our kind who is no mere mortal. He is, rather, the eternal Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. While he was here among us in human form, he spoke of amazing realities that never fade away; things are permanent, lasting forever. He spoke of things that cannot be removed from this world in its present state, and then forever in its future glorified state.
One permanent thing in this world is the very real, spiritual presence of Jesus Christ. Isaiah identified him by the name Immanuel, a name that means God with us. Jesus Christ is very much with us by the blessed Holy Spirit whom he and Father sent following his death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. That Holy Spirit of Christ, by his presence with and in his people, imparts spiritual blessing to our hearts and lives. Therefore, we who are Christ’s dear sheep know and experience a living joy that never ends.
Because of our Lord’s presence in this world and in ourselves, we, Christ’s own sheep for whom he laid down his life, can know and experience a fullness of joy that is permanent because it transcends this temporal life. Notice v. 22 where Jesus tells his disciples: “Your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.” Likewise, in v. 23, “Ask and receive, that your joy may be full.”
Fullness of joy that can never be taken away is ours because the Spirit of Christ is with us in life. He will never leave us; he can never be removed; we can never find ourselves without him; we cannot be separated from him. That should be our joy, the joy Christ imparts to us that knows no end.
So, there is, after all, something permanent in this world and beyond, isn’t there? The presence of the risen Christ; communion and fellowship with Christ by his blessed and ever-present Holy Spirit; and real joy—not the world’s mistaken concept of joy—but the real thing, which the unbelieving world does not and cannot know.
Jesus’ Temporary Absence
This is especially interesting in that, as we move forward into our Scripture passage, we note that Jesus spoke to his disciples of his temporary absence. Notice vv. 16-18, where Jesus explains to his disciples:
“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.” 17 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’?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.”
The disciples are not trying to be contrary, although we may sense a bit of frustration in their conversation. They truly desire to know what Jesus means by his approaching temporary absence, but they don’t understand.
Reading about this event, some two thousand years after it occurred, we have the luxury of knowing things the disciples did not. Most important for our understanding is that Jesus was having this deeply spiritual conversation with his disciples on the evening and night leading up to his crucifixion. Jesus knew that, but his disciples did not.
On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus has been engaged in a dialogue with these men that spans nearly all of four chapters of John’s Gospel record (13-16). This means that the disciples are trying to process mentally a tremendous amount of new information. Jesus has told them that he is going away to prepare a place for them, where they will all be together at a later time—heaven, of course. Jesus has told them that during his absence from this world, another would come from him and the Father, who would guide the disciples into all truth and be always present with them, namely, the Holy Spirit.
All of this information is being handed to the disciples just a few hours before Jesus’ crucifixion. Here in our sermon text, we find Jesus speaking with his disciples about his near departure. He informs his loyal pupils that his absence will be only temporary, for a little while, and then the disciples will see him again. Their minds must have been swirling as they tried to process all of these things they had never experienced, with meanings which to their minds were shrouded in mystery.
The Disciples’ Temporary Sorrow
As we move ahead, the next item of discussion that enters this intriguing dialogue between Jesus and his students is the disciples’ temporary sorrow. Notice vv. 20-21:
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. 21 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.
Jesus speaks of a great sorrow soon to be experienced by his disciples, who do not yet grasp that Jesus is speaking of his death by crucifixion, by which he paid the penalty of our guilty sin. That atoning death of the savior is a mere few hours removed from the time of his conversation with his disciples; their deepest sorrow and grief is even at the door.
Jesus describes the very intense grief his disciples are going to feel when they see their master dead, having been despised by men and crucified as if he were a base criminal. Jesus also points to the fact that once he is crucified, while the disciples mourn in sorrow, the world will rejoice with glee.
The word “world” is used in the Bible several ways, including its meaning here, indicating any and all who do not believe in Jesus as savior and do not humbly and obediently submit to him as Lord. All non-Christians are described by the term “world.” Jesus particularly means the hostile Jewish leaders, who had him killed, and saw his death as the removal of a threat to their power and position. They saw Jesus’ death as the removal of human rubbish from the world and the good riddance of a hated enemy. They rejoiced, thinking they had triumphed over the man who declared himself to be God’s Son.
Later, their joy was turned to sorrow, for Jesus rose from the dead. Also, as Jesus said, his followers rejoiced! Christians and the church began multiplying throughout the world. Then the enemies of Christ had a real dilemma on their hands. If Jesus Christ rose from the dead—which he obviously did—then the Jewish leadership had killed their own Messiah. As Peter, in his sermon of Acts chapter 2, reminded the Jewish religious, they crucified the Lord of Glory! Plotting, planning, and conspiring, they murdered God’s own Son.
Their doom was sealed unless they repented and sought forgiveness from God for their sin, which could have been granted through Jesus. That, ultimately, is the greatest sorrow for all Christ’s enemies, whether they have lived or will live in this world. That sorrow is the never-ending anguish, suffering, and torments of hell. Sinners who have died unrepentant and without Christ as Savior will endure the horrible wrath of God’s judgment against them, forever and ever.
Everlasting Joy
The sorrow of Christ’s enemies begins and never ends, but the sorrows of Christ’s friends are only temporary. Overall, the joy of Christ’s friends begins and never ends. Although punctuated with periods of sadness, in the big scheme, Christians have an everlasting joy. Like a woman giving birth, Jesus explains, who endures the discomforts and pains of childbirth, then exults with great joy when she sees the face of her new child.
The psalmist wrote of God’s covenant people, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” So let us see what we can learn about our Lord’s encouraging promise as we move to our next point: everlasting joy. Notice vv. 22-24:
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. 23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
What magnificent promises! Although weeping endures for a little while after his death, Jesus’ disciples will soon rejoice in their hearts with joy that cannot be taken from them…joy that is full, joy that is complete and filled up…as the psalmist exclaimed, “My cup runneth over!”
Questions arise: What kind of joy? Joy from where or whom? When is this joy? This latter question is the one we need to address in order to understand the others. As you might guess, commentators offer differing explanations. Let’s consider this question: When is the joy of which Jesus spoke?
There are some who are sure that our Lord is speaking of his second coming at the end of time, when Christ returns in triumph, the graves are opened, departed souls are reunited with their bodies, and all men and angels will appear before Christ to be judged. The damned will be sentenced to sorrow forever. But the redeemed will be welcomed into God’s forever kingdom, the new heaven and earth, where we will delight in joy unmitigated. Joy that is never diminishing! Full, complete, and glorious joy everlasting in the presence of our blessed Lord Jesus, our Savior and King forever.
What a glorious future we have prepared for us by our Almighty God and Savior! Although this wonderful future will come, is that what Jesus was communicating to his disciples when he said, “A little while, and you will see me…”? It is certainly true that all of Christ’s disciples will see him and rejoice at his coming on that great and glorious final day. But this explanation of the “when” doesn’t fit the context, does it? He said it would happen “in a little while.”
Next, some understand our Lord to be foretelling his resurrection and the events surrounding it. They are sure that when our Lord describes the soon-arriving experience of his disciples as a brief time of sorrow followed by great joy when they see him again, he is speaking of Easter morning joy.
Yes, there probably is an allusion to that time and event in our Lord’s words, but, as with the final return of our Lord, that appears to be only a part of the whole. Yet, true indeed, we find in the Bible great sorrow and bitter disappointment when Jesus’ disciples and friends were faced with the reality of his death.
Jesus’ mother Mary, along with her friends, stood near the cross and watched her son die, a poignant fulfillment of what the godly old man Simeon had told Mary and Joseph when Jesus was presented in the temple as a newborn infant. Looking years into the future, Simeon prophetically told Mary, “Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul.”
John tells us in 20:13 of his gospel about Mary Magdalene standing outside the tomb of Christ, weeping. Peter, the Bible tells us, wept bitterly after he denied his Lord, whom he saw crucified. The disciples walking to Emmaus were despondent about Christ’s death. Their words bespeak severely disappointed minds: “We had hoped he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”
There was bitter sorrow among Jesus’ friends and disciples during the three days he was in the tomb. And following these brief few days of sorrow surrounding Christ’s death, there was indeed great joy as his followers discovered he had risen and even saw and spoke with him.
The cross, that cruel instrument of harsh torture and a most ignominious death, has become a cause of joy in the world for over two thousand years as we relish the fact that on the cross our savior died to accomplish full pardon for all our sin. Later, the apostles wrote in the New Testament of their great joy in the cross. Paul even speaks of it as his glory, in Galatians 6:14: But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Yes, surely our Lord does allude in today’s passage of Scripture to the lamenting and mourning of his friends at his cruel death, followed by their exultant jubilation when he rose again. Surely that marvelous event is included in our Lord’s words, but is it really the main emphasis of the passage? Could there be something else that is the main truth our Lord means his disciples and us to grasp? We think so in light of the context.
Remember, this ongoing conversation between Jesus and his disciples, found here in John chapter 16, had continued—as it is recorded—since chapter 13 of John’s Gospel. In chapter 14, Jesus spoke of the one who was coming soon after his departure, the one called the Helper, the Comforter, the Counselor.
He is the Holy Spirit about whom Jesus told his disciples, in chapter 14, “I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever…He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
And again, in chapter 15, Jesus told his disciples of the one who was coming after him: “When the Comforter comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me.”
Once again, in this very text of our study, chapter 16, Jesus tells his disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you.”
By considering the surrounding context of today’s Scripture passage, we must conclude that when Jesus tells his disciples they will experience great sorrow, although only temporarily, followed by marvelous joy that can never be taken from them and which they will enjoy in fullness, he must be referring to the coming of the Holy Spirit into the hearts and lives of his followers. Jesus and the Father sent the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days following our Lord’s death by crucifixion.
The present-day ministry of the Holy Spirit must be in view here; otherwise, the only way we could know Jesus in this present life would be what we read of his resurrection, an event at which we were not present and have not experienced personally. Likewise, if the present-day ministry of the Holy Spirit were not in view in these words of our Lord, we could only know abstractly about Christ’s return. We could read about it, but not experience any personal connection to it until it occurs.
Understanding, however, that when our Lord speaks of his disciples seeing him again, he is speaking of his spiritual presence by the Holy Spirit, then a marvelous truth comes to light. Because of the presence of the Spirit of Christ who lives within us in the person of the Holy Spirit, we are really, truly, spiritually, personally united to the resurrection of Jesus, and the future return of Jesus, and at every point between, yes, even before the world came into being.
Because of this spiritual and personal union we have with Christ through his Holy Spirit, Paul could write such things as: I have been crucified with Christ. And we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
We obviously have not yet seen the coming again of our Lord at the final day. But, we are spiritually, really, and personally connected to that event of our Lord’s marvelous ministry as well. The connection is so real that our Westminster Larger Catechism speaks of our expired bodies waiting for their full redemption, “which even in death continue united to Christ, and rest in their graves as in their beds, till at the last day they be again united to their souls.”
Conclusion
So, what about this promise Jesus made to his disciples: A little while, and you will not see me; and again a little while and you will see me…you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy. Your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. Your joy will be full.
How does this apply to us? We have spoken of three great events in the glorious power of Jesus: his resurrection, his ongoing presence with us by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, and his glorious return—a past event, a presently ongoing event, and a future event. We have spoken of three miraculous events, but we must not see them as three events strictly separated, because the three blend into one glorious truth—three successive stages of the one grand scenario. By the Spirit of Christ within us, we are partakers of the three in one.
As William Hendriksen explains, crucifixion, resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit must never be separated. The cross of suffering has no meaning apart from the triumphant resurrection; the resurrection has no value to us apart from our being partakers of it by the Holy Spirit within us who came at Pentecost, which in turn points forward to Christ’s coming at the last day. The blessed Holy Spirit seals and keeps us in vital union with Christ now and forever, so that as our Lord rose again, so shall we when he comes to redeem us fully, even our bodies. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Joy not taken away; joy to the fullest; joy forever in the presence of our blessed Savior and king, the Lord Jesus. It is joy that we already taste, but we will someday know it in fullness. The joy of the redeemed of Christ is ours forever and ever, without end.