John 16:16-24

John 16:16-24

“A little while and you all no longer see me and a little while longer and you all will see me.”  Therefore out of His disciples they said to one another, “What is this that He says to us: ‘A little while and you all do not see me and a little while longer and you all will see me’ and that ‘I am going to the Father?’”  Therefore they were saying, “What is this little while?  We have not known what he says.”  Jesus knew that they were desiring to ask Him, and He said to them, “Do you all seek with one another regarding this, that I said, ‘A little while and you all do not see me and a little while longer and you all will see me.’  Amen, amen I say to you all that you all will weep and you all will lament, but the world will rejoice.  You all will be sorrowful, but your grief will become into joy.  When a woman should give birth she has sorrow because her hour came.  But when she should give birth to a child no longer does she remember the affliction because of the joy in that a man was being born into the world.  Therefore you all have sorrow now on one hand, but on the other hand you all will again see and your heart will rejoice and nobody takes away your joy from you.  And in that day you all will not ask anything from me.  Amen, amen, I say to you all, anything that you all should ask of the Father in my name He will give to you all.  Up to now you all did not ask for anything in my name.  Ask and you will receive in order that your joy is having been made full.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus makes a very interesting comparison to what the disciples are about to experience.  He knows that He is going to be crucified and raised again.  But His disciples have not picked up on this fact in spite of having told them.  So he tells them that they are about to feel like a pregnant woman who has given birth.  No woman enjoys the process of giving birth.  It’s misery – or so I’ve been told.  But once it is done and the fruit of the labor is born (pun intended) the pain is quickly put into the back of the mind and joyful life continues.  This is a great analogy for the disciples.  They will know great pain as Jesus is crucified and they flee to save their own skin.  But when they see the fruit of the event, their pain will turn to joy.

When have you had a rough moment in life only to have your pain turn to joy once you are through it and you understand what God was doing?  Does this make it any easier to get yourself ready to go through the next moment?

Second Thought:

Another thing that we can learn from this analogy is that it is not easy being Jesus’ disciple.  Many women speak of pregnancy and childbirth as some of the most uncomfortable and painful times of their life.  Not that the joy of having a child isn’t better in the end, but it is still a difficult process full of struggle for many women.  The same can be said for following Jesus.  It is difficult to trust Him and not always know where He is leading.  It is difficult to have to deny the ways of the world.  It is difficult to resist temptation.  It is difficult to sin and have to repent.  None of these things are easy, but the reward is great.

What parts of following God are less than easy?  What parts of being a disciple of Jesus would you give back if you could?  Why do you think even these parts are necessary for you?

Third Thought:

Jesus is again speaking fairly cryptically to the disciples at the end of this passage here.  He began this chapter with a bit of rebuke in reminding them that He said He was going away but nobody took the time to ask Him anything about it.  (John 16:5)  But He tells them that in the end they will not need to ask.  Here’s what Jesus is saying.  Pre-crucifixion, the disciples are so clueless that they don’t even know what to ask.  Post-resurrection they’ll have seen something so incredible that they know enough to trust fully in God with whatever they don’t already know.  That’s a fundamental shift in being a mature disciple.  The immature disciple wants to know everything.  The mature disciple knows when they need to know more and when they can leave the details in the hands of the Father.

Using this standard, are you mature or immature in your discipleship?  Do you find yourself going to God and needing answers or do you find yourself being able to rest comfortably in His plan?  When is it hard to be a mature disciple?  When is it easy?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 16:25-28