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. 24 Until 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."
Wouldn't it be nice to be free and do whatever you want to do, or take whatever you want?...Or would it?...As we live our lives we would like to free from troubles, woes, guilt, grief, and things that just bother us...But these miseries are a part of life...There seems no escaping them, no matter what we try...The miseries will come no matter what we do, and how we might leave them, hide them, run from them, or avoid them...God has made it so that sin carries with it a germ of its own punishment...Life seems to work that way...
Jesus explained to His Disciples before He went back to His Father, about the closeness of Him and His Father...As He explained these different Spiritual Things about Himself and God, they could see His Divinity and that He knew all things...We would like to be saved from this misery of sin, and do whatever we want, whenever we want, wherever we want...There is no Way around sin...Jesus did not promise that if they sinned, they never would have troubles or misery...They saw their need of a Savior...We need the help of Jesus, a Savior...Jesus, Alone is our Savior from sin...Salvation is found in no other name...And even with Him as our Savior, He tells us that in this world we will have troubles...It is in our nature to sin...It is in our nature to do some wrong things...Man is flawed...So in life expect some troubles and miseries, it seems to be the Spiritual Law of our Completely Moral Father...Thank God, Jesus has overcome this world and can bring us peace from our sinning ways...
Theologian and Pastor R. C. Sproul says, “We want to be saved from our misery, but not from our sin...We want to sin without misery, just as the prodigal son wanted inheritance without the father...The foremost spiritual law of the physical universe is that this hope can never be realized...Sin always accompanies misery...There is no victimless crime, and all creation is subject to decay because of humanity’s rebellion from God.”...