John 16:17-33
The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy
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. 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31 “You believe at last!” Jesus answered. 32 “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Faith is complicated....Not only is faith complicated but many of the sayings of Jesus are complicated (at least for me)...We know that God loves us, and He sent His Son to die for us on the cross, as a sign of His love...We even know that God is love...But as we live in this world and go down the path of life, Jesus was right, in this world we will have troubles...Our lives do not always go as we want them to or as we plan them...Yet, if God loves us, why can't our lives be as we want them to be?...
Is this a contradiction, that God loves us and we will grieve, have problems, and we will have troubles in this world?...Our faith sometimes can struggle with these two ideas...God loves us, yet He allows troubles in our lives...Or lives sometimes go awry...Many times we struggle with why doesn't God answer my prayer...An example might be, after all this specific pray is one to help my family, or friend -and not help me...We must learn that in the process of seeking God, and in our communications with God -we are learning more about Him...We are getting new thoughts, ideas, and perspectives about Him...We are learning more about Him, when we study the answer and consequences of our prayers...We may not always like how our prayers turn out, and thus answered, but if we actually study them we can get a better understanding of God, and learn more about Him...
When we realize that our thoughts and ideas on God, are not actually God -that can help our faith...God is not all that we think He is, because our thoughts our finite...When we think about the infinite attributes, knowledge, and wisdom of our Creator -we only see a glimpse of Him...We only know a slice of Him...So what is in our minds and how we think of God is a partial image of Him...Our minds and our ideas have defined, who we think God is...And that is not God, as He really is...God is Almighty...He is eternal...He is infinite...He is all knowing...And God is Spirit (John 4:24)...Often when we worry that He is hiding from us, maybe it is not Him hiding...Maybe it is this partial image we have of Him that makes Him seem as though He is hiding...So the image we have of Him is often far from us...But God is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27)...
Many times as we look back on our prayers, God has answered them in a way that we would not have thought or not have done...So as we seek, study, and reflect on God, let us try to remember that He is near us and not hiding...God is in control of the universe...His teachings are far beyond, what our minds think of Him...There is the type of love that each of us know, and then there is God's Love... With our glimpses and slices of God we never see Him complete...Our faith requires an amount of trust, often a large part...
Jesus tries to tell His disciples and much of His experiences in being with God since the beginning of time (John 1:2) (and I think some of it) gets lost in translation and my (our) own ignorance...He tells us these things that even though we will have troubles, we also may have peace...We must Trust in Him and take heart, because He has overcome this world...This trusting in Him, helps change our perspective(s) about Him...The Love of God is different...He knows how to turn the other cheek, when someone has hit Him...He even loves His enemies...This is the Perfect Love in Him, that is different in how we perceive things of love...We have fallen from grace and the Garden of Eden, yet He still loves us in our sin...