SERMON: “Turning Sorrow into Joy” (John 16:16–22)
“Turning Sorrow into Joy” (John 16:16–22)
Series: “John:
Life in Christ’s Name” Text:
John
16:16–22
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date:
September
29, 2024
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
AM Service
I.
Introduction
Why
would anyone act like this? As someone
who grew up in Florida, I’ve experienced a few hurricanes, and I can say it’s
not always that people don’t know the risks.
Some make bad choices, but others gauge the storm, consider the relative
safety of their location, and decide to ride out the storm with confidence. They’re confident because they’ve weathered
storms before. So, they stick around,
either because they don’t want to leave their homes and possessions to
potential looters, or because they want to enjoy the storm. Believe it or not, some even go as far as to
have hurricane watch parties, gathering with friends, food, and drinks, all
while the storm rages around them.
At
first glance, it may seem reckless and foolish. Certainly, again, some do make ignorant choices,
like driving a car through submerged streets and getting stuck. For many, though, the answer lies in past
experiences: they’ve faced storms before, and although there was damage, they
came out on the other side. The storm is
temporary, and they know eventually, the winds will die down and the sun will
shine again.
Throughout
the rest of this chapter of Scripture, Jesus predicts changes which will soon
take place. The disciples might feel
like they are again in a storm: Jesus will soon be taken from their presence. However, the Spirit will continue His
ministry. They will have joy, access in
prayer, and lasting peace as a result of what Jesus is going to accomplish on
the cross. The storm for the disciples
will pass, and we’ll see the same is true for us, as well.
This
morning, we’re considering just how our Lord turns a case of sorrow into joy. First, we’ll note the promise of sorrow and
joy — Jesus foretells the disciples’ impending sorrow as well as their coming
joy. Second, we’ll note the struggle
with sorrow and confusion — seeing the disciples’ confusion over Jesus’ words
and their sorrow stemming from His departure.
Third, we’ll note the transformation of sorrow into joy — Jesus explains
how sorrow will turn to joy, using the metaphor of childbirth. Let’s consider the first point.
II.
First, the Promise of Sorrow and Joy (v. 16)
A little while, and you will no longer
see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.
Today,
we understand that this verse predicts Jesus’s death and resurrection. Their perspective is different, thought,
having not yet living through the events surrounding the cross. So, they would find Jesus here to be speaking
with somewhat veiled language. We can
understand that if we get stuck on the fact that Jesus says “a little while” twice
in this verse.
His
promise about His departure, of course, is not without precedent. He says here, “A little while, and you will
no longer see Me.” He had already told
them in back in John 7:33, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go
to Him who sent Me.” This whole section of
Scripture — the Upper Room Discourse (John 13–16) — communicates Jesus’s
departure in a number of ways. So, they
understand that something is up, whether they accept it or not.
Now,
as He approaches the cross, He reiterates the point. In a “little while,” He says, His disciples
will no longer see Him. That points to
the period immediately following His crucifixion, when He dies and is buried
for three days.
Yet,
that isn’t the end of the story. Jesus
says, “and again a little while, and you will see Me.” He tells them again in v. 22 that He will see
them again, but what is He talking about here?
Well,
this could refer again to the coming of the Holy Spirit, or even too Christ’s
second coming. However, commentators
like D. A. Carson and others agree[1] that Jesus is primarily referring to the
resurrection here. The “little while”
signifies the brief period between His death and His reappearance to them after
rising from the dead. Of course, we know
that Jesus literally fulfilled that in short order with them — after He was raised
from the dead, He appeared to them several times over a 40-day period until He ascended
into heaven.
That
means that the resurrection answers the disciples’ current sorrow, turning it
into joy. Just like riding out a
hurricane, the disciples will need to endure a time of darkness, but the light
of the resurrection is coming. We have a
similar hope for when we desperately wish for the Lord’s return; He is coming
again.
Yet,
we sometimes have doubts, just like them.
Let’s consider their struggle with sorrow and confusion. That brings us to our next point:
III.
Second, the Struggle with Sorrow and Confusion (vv.
17–18)
Some
of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling
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’?” So they were saying, “What is this that He
says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”
Again,
the disciples were confused by Jesus’s words. They still struggled to comprehend the timing
and significance of His departure. There’s
a hint in v. 17 that there may have been some time which elapsed,[2] perhaps a pause in Jesus’s talking. Maybe if they are out walking toward the Gethsemane
at the moment, and they begin to trail behind a bit to discuss this matter
among themselves. Whatever the case, the
verb used of their talking in v. 18 is imperfect, which may “indicate a continuous
aspect,”[3] as in they continue talking about this.
So,
they discuss it amongst themselves, not including Jesus at the moment. They repeat back what Jesus had said, including
His words about returning to the Father.
Yet, the timing seems to be the sticking point, because they mention the
“little while” part in both vv. 17 and 18.
As one study puts it, “The biggest question weighing on the disciples’
minds was the time factor. They simply did not understand the strange intervals
marked by their separation from Jesus.”[4] They
are deeply concerned.
This
confusion and sorrow leads them to an honest confession: They don’t
understand. Of course, Jesus had said in
v. 12 that they could not bear the truth.
Still, their lack of understanding only deepened their sorrow, as it is
with many of us. They were on the verge
of losing the One they loved, and the reality of His coming death was
overwhelming, threatening to send them into a depressive spiral.
Yet,
Jesus knew their sorrow would soon turn to joy.
They were in a state of confusion and grief. Yet, Jesus understands what all His disciples
need. That brings us to the final point:
IV.
Third, the Transformation of Sorrow into Joy
(John 16:19–22)
Jesus knew that they wished to question
Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I
said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and
you will see Me’? Truly, truly, I say to
you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will
grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain,
because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer
remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the
world. Therefore you too have grief now;
but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take
your joy away from you.
Knowing
their hearts, Jesus responds to their confusion. As the Legacy Standard Bible renders this,
“they were wishing” to question Him. Why
do we want from the Lord but do not ask?
Sometimes, sorrow is a driving factor keeping us from praying.
Again,
Jesus knows. He
is conscious of His disciples grumblings and questions (cf. John 6:61). He knows our requests even before we ask Him! So, in His grace, He speaks to them.
First,
He asks them if they are deliberating about what He said. Of course, He knows the answer to that
question. Still, He asks as a means of
teaching, perhaps reminding them that He knows what others do not, so they
should trust Him.
Still,
there’s the larger context. They are sorrowful,
and Jesus acknowledges that they will “weep and lament” in v. 20. And they do, according to Mark 16:10 and Luke
23:27. In fact, to make matters worse,
He says that, while they mourn, “the world will rejoice.” This verifies that we’re talking about the
crucifixion, for the lost world (like the Sadducees and Pharisees) saw Jesus’s
death as their great victory.
Sometimes,
the world seems united in some anti-Christ cause, and we are left mourning the
good that is seemingly lost. Sometimes,
though, God’s people do not weep when we should. In places like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah,
God repeatedly commands His people to weep over the state of their nation. Even in the New Testament, we read commands
like, “Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into
mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble
yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:9–10). Some of our problems arise from mourning the
wrong things in our lives, and ignoring the things we should mourn over (like our
sin). The Jewish leadership would not
have had Jesus crucified if their concerns were God’s concerns.
So,
God’s true people should weep over things that causes God to weep. The injustice in this land. The loss of protections for the
innocent. And yes, even personal
hardships, grief, and pain, like losing a loved one.
However,
that is not the end of the story! Jesus
says in v. 20 that His disciples grief will not last. It will not only pass, He says it will become
joy!
How
is this possible? In v. 21, Jesus uses a
metaphor to show them how their joy can be lasting — the powerful illustration
of childbirth. He says in v. 21,
“Whenever a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come; but
when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because
of the joy that a child has been born into the world.” The pain of labor is intense, but it is
temporary. Once the child is born, the joy is so overwhelming that the pain is
forgotten.
Now,
this is an interesting illustration, biblically speaking. For instance, there are many ways in which the
underlying Greek term for pain is used.
Here, it speaks of the pain a mother goes through in childbirth. In 2 Corinthians 2:4, though, Paul uses it to
speak of the affliction of his heart for the church. Just in those two instances, we can see that
this might cover any kind of circumstance we face — it will pass into joy one
day, by the miracle-working power of God.
This
is also the term Paul uses to speak of his physical sufferings and persecutions. He describes them as “light affliction” that
is “producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2
Cor. 4:17). It is also translated “tribulation”
in Revelation 7:14, where the martyrs are coming out of the Great Tribulation. We can be sure that, whatever anguish,
hardship, or tribulation we face, the Lord can eventually turn that into joy.
On
that last point, it’s also interesting to note that God uses this metaphor
elsewhere. The woman giving birth is in
the Old Testament to speak of the coming kingdom of the Messiah, with the birth
pangs speaking of His nearness. [5] That
metaphor is also used in the same way in Revelation 12. There is end-times significance to this,
which the Lord promises to bring to a close at the consummation of all things.
But,
the disciples are in this moment in the first century. Jessus explains that, in the same way, they will
experience a deep and real sorrow at His crucifixion. But when they see Him again after His
resurrection, their sorrow will be transformed into joy — joy that no one can
take away.
Just
as our eternal salvation is secure, so is our joy. Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, can also guard
our hearts with joy. The Great Physician,
knowing our sorrow, can grant us a balm of rejoicing in our souls. And He can do so by even taking our painful
moment (like childbirth) and give us a new, joyful perspective on it. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “There is a
marvelous medicinal power in joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this,
which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to
the heart.”
The
disciples would experience this. They
felt the pain of Jesus’s death on Good Friday, but Sunday was coming. They knew He was buried, but on the third
day, the stone rolled away from the tomb.
The resurrection of Christ is the ultimate source of lasting joy.
This
is more than just their Lord being returned to them. This joy is rooted in the victory over sin
and death that Christ achieved on the cross, a joy that transcends
circumstances. We understand that Christ
bore our sins on the cross as a propitiation, assuaging the wrath of the
Father, and then He rose again to new life.
The salvation He grants us is our greatest source of joy.
V.
Conclusion
Like
the disciples, we may be going through a storm, a time of sorrow. Whatever we’re facing, though, we can know
that it will pass. Because we enjoy His
spiritual presence, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the providence of the
Father, we can know that He will hold on to us until the end.
Perhaps
you struggle with confusion and sorrow as we wait for Jesus’s return. They experienced the sorrow of His death, but
we now await His return in glory. Though
we may not know the timing, we can be certain of this: Just as He was faithful
to fulfill His promise to the disciples, He will be faithful to us as well. Until that day, let us cling to the joy of His
resurrection, knowing that no one can take that joy from us.
In
a world full of storms, we can have confidence that Christ will turn our sorrow
into joy. Let’s keep looking up until He
comes.
[1] Ronald L. Trail, An
Exegetical Summary of John 10–21, Exegetical Summaries, (Dallas, TX: SIL
International, 2018), 289.
[2] A. T. Robertson, Word
Pictures in the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn
16:17.
[3] Trail, 290.
[4] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King
James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Jn 16:18.
[5] D. A. Carson, The
Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, (Leicester,
England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 544.
