Peace in Knowing the Victorious Christ
Communion in Christ’s Love • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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PRAY & INTRO: Does the Christian really know a joy and peace that the world does not know? Is there a deep-seated fullness of joy available to us even when the situation necessarily stirs suffering and sadness? Is there a deep-seated certainty of peace that we possess even when the circumstances create chaos and confusion around us and in us? The answer is yes. But how can we know this joy and peace in our experience?
Continuing our study in the departure discourse of John 13-16, and the high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17, the theme of John 16:16-33 (as the closing portion of the discourse just before that prayer)… the theme is the joy and peace that believers can have beyond earth’s tribulation and persecution because of knowing the risen, victorious Jesus.
Although our text for today is vv. 25-33, I’ll read the whole passage beginning at v. 19 because it is truly essential context for our application of the truths in the latter verses. So I’m gonna ask you to stay carefully attentive for these 3 1/2 to 4 minutes in particular while we read the text.
19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Notice how the context of Jesus’ emphasis on joy in these verses of our study one month ago now continue to drive his comfort and correction of the disciples in the final verses, culminating in the emphatic note of Christ’s triumph and our peace (and comfort and courage) because of it.
25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for 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 have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” 29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus comforts the disciples again that he will soon give them greater clarity. (v. 25)
Jesus comforts the disciples again that he will soon give them greater clarity. (v. 25)
v. 25 “these things” almost certainly is meant to include the whole of the departure discourse (not just the immediately preceding verses)
“figures of speech” is a word that can mean a proverb or a parable because it tends to refer to a figurative saying, but it most generally means speaking in a way that is enigmatic, cryptic… a bit obscure and indirect, and not simple and plain, or direct. So the point he makes is that the hour is coming soon when he will announce to them with a kind of bold and clear simplicity “about the Father,” and they will no longer remain confused by his meaning (Jn 16:12).
But when this “hour” has come, an hour that is after his sacrificial death and resurrection, he will reveal to them more clearly how the Scriptures always pointed to this suffering and victory that he must achieve (Lk 24:27, 44-48).
This is undoubtedly also tied to the clarity of revelation that he will give them about all his teaching when the Holy Spirit would come upon them in power at Pentecost, as he promised in this very passage: Jn 14:26 & Jn 16:12-15.
So why does it matter that Jesus says, in essence, don’t worry, very soon I will make all of this more clear to you. Well, does it matter to you if you have clarity and confidence in your understanding, of knowing what you know and who you know?
Jesus offers joy and peace through a growing understanding of his work and our relationship to God through him.
Jesus offers joy and peace through a growing understanding of his work and our relationship to God through him.
Haven’t you noticed, in the time that you have been a believer in Christ, how much richer and deeper your understanding and appreciation for God’s grace and glory in the gospel that has been realized in your own life? - If you are an adult, it’s likely that this began happening to you almost from the moment of your conversion. - If you are a kid who has placed your trust in Jesus as the only Lord who can save you, there will still come a time in your life, maybe as an older teen or in adulthood, where a bigger wave will hit you in a new way as you begin to deeply understand and appreciate on a new level the goodness of God and the grace of God to you, and you will worship him for it. I’m not saying you don’t already worship him, but I am saying that you have a still deeper realization and appreciation to look forward to… if you are a true believer, and if the Lord’s return is decreed to be still a little ways off.
Jesus offers joy and peace through a growing understanding of his work and our relationship to God through him. We’ll be repeating this refrain of the unique joy and peace that believers enjoy in knowing God through Jesus, so let’s remind ourselves what joy and peace are, what they mean when used in this way.
Joy is a state of gladness in God. It can be expressed in our emotions and actions, but joy is fundamentally a state of gladness in God, an attitude and posture of the soul which knows and rests in the worth and trustworthiness of God. (Ps 16:11)
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Peace—as understood Biblically, and here meaning the inner state of a person, not the equally important truth of positionally having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1), no longer an enemy and object of his wrath—peace is a state of tranquility, of wholeness and steadfastness, due to the security of trusting in God (Isaiah 26:3).
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Ok, so in this context of drawing the departure discourse towards a conclusion, and comforting his disciples…
Jesus adds to this the assurance of praying directly to the Father, from whom he came and to whom he is returning. (vv. 26-28)
Jesus adds to this the assurance of praying directly to the Father, from whom he came and to whom he is returning. (vv. 26-28)
v. 26 Similarly to the coming “hour,” when Jesus speaks of “in that day” in v. 26, he seems to be referencing the entire time-frame that comes after his resurrection, speaking again here of the added benefit (in addition to clear understanding) of the ability to approach and ask the Father for his help in Jesus’ name.
This new way of relating to God is unlike anything they’ve enjoyed before now. Because of God’s complete holiness (otherness), and our unworthiness (bc of our sinfulness), there is a massive, and necessary, separation between us and God. But now…
Through Christ, we have fullness of joy and peace through direct access to the Father’s help.
Through Christ, we have fullness of joy and peace through direct access to the Father’s help.
vv. 26b-27 Jesus clarifies: I’m not saying that you will have to ask me to ask the Father for you. The implication is clear: you will have direct access to ask the Father yourself. And then Jesus gives the reason this is so: The Father himself loves you and accepts you because you have loved and believed in me.
And what about this statement that “the Father himself loves you”?
Our faith (and loving obedience) to Christ grants us joy and peace in the security of our relationship to God.
Our faith (and loving obedience) to Christ grants us joy and peace in the security of our relationship to God.
The completion of what must be accomplished for this kind of acceptance from the Father is about to take place. Jesus will die on a cross to bear the penalty for their sin and rise again from the dead to grant them forgiveness and his righteousness, enabling a full restoration to God. So therefore their association with this accomplished work of Christ will be proven by their faith in Jesus as Lord and their love for him, a love demonstrated by abiding in him in such a way that leads to submissive obedience to his command (Jn 15:1-10).
-These verses might also help us have some clarity concerning Jesus’ present intercessory work, to be understood less as the idea of the Son continually praying to the Father for us, but rather more connected with the concept of his mediatorial work, the ongoing benefit of what he completed in the past, and that he continues therefore as our living representative. Less about an activity, and more about his identity… with relationship to us. - So then his prayer in John 17 is indicative of what he prayed in his pre-glorified state, but not that he must continue to pray that way once re-ascended into glory.
In v. 28 Jesus summarizes again the theme of his mission from the Father in this context of the impending culmination of his work and his departure. “I came from the Father… and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
There is lasting joy and peace in knowing that Christ accomplished all that was needed to secure God’s victory and our salvation.
There is lasting joy and peace in knowing that Christ accomplished all that was needed to secure God’s victory and our salvation.
If he is returning to the Father, then he will have completed his mission. There was nothing left undone for this timeframe. It was God’s plan for his first advent that Jesus would live a life of perfect obedience to the Father, would proclaim the inauguration of God’s kingdom on earth in a new way, would suffer and die to purchase forgiveness of sin and restoration to God, would rise from the grave to vindicate his person and God’s purpose, and then return to his rightful place in glory (now also to be uniquely glorified and worshipped on earth as he is in heaven).
Do you know this lasting joy and peace from the certainty of a right relationship to God because you trust in Jesus?
Then the disciples’ response, and Jesus’ answer, ironically proves the point that they have less understanding now than they will after his resurrection and the Spirit’s coming. (vv. 29-32)
Then the disciples’ response, and Jesus’ answer, ironically proves the point that they have less understanding now than they will after his resurrection and the Spirit’s coming. (vv. 29-32)
vv. 29-30 Wait, did Jesus say his words would already not seem enigmatic and cryptic to them, or that the “hour was coming”? So the disciples’ response isn’t accurate: “ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech.” - And they continue… which is why “we know you know all things and do not need anyone to question you.” - This is another example during the life and ministry of Christ where people around him, sometimes even his enemies, would speak words that are truer still than their own comprehension. These disciples do not yet fully grasp the mission of Jesus’ first coming, nor the full meaning of his coming from the Father and going back to the Father (even though they say “this is why we believe that you came from God”), nor the impending arrival and presence of the Holy Spirit in them and with them.
In vv. 31-32, even with a likely tone of exasperated irony—“Do you now believe?”—Jesus doesn’t intend to be harsh but to be helpful, so that they will learn the lesson of false confidence in their own understanding, and in their own ability to be loyal and faithful. Recall the similar response to Peter’s vows of loyalty unto death: Jn 13:38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”
Similarly here, when Jesus speaks of them as scattering like sheep who desert their shepherd when attacked, echoing words from Zech 13:7, his intent is that they will learn the lesson when it happens, in order to repent and be restored. His intent is that they will learn not to trust in their own understanding, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord, including his words, and will not trust in their own ability to be faithful to him, but will abide in him to be faithful and fruitful, and will depend on the work of the coming Paraclete, the Holy Spirit.
The same is true for us…
Our joy and peace rests not in our own understanding and ability, but in the sufficiency and trustworthiness of God.
Our joy and peace rests not in our own understanding and ability, but in the sufficiency and trustworthiness of God.
In spite of their scattering in fear, Jesus shows them that his own assurance is the faithfulness of the Father’s presence with him. And rather than a contradiction, this truth complements the mind-boggling and painful separation of Jesus from the Father when, in his humanity, he bore the sin of the world upon his shoulders on the cross, and his anguish found its expression in the words of the psalmist: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”? (Mt 27:46)
Again, even Jesus did not give us an example of placing confidence in the flesh (cf. Php 3:3), but placing our confidence wholly in the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God and his word.
Therefore,
Jesus concludes this discourse with a realistic but triumphant summary that in him they will have peace & will persevere. (v. 33)
Jesus concludes this discourse with a realistic but triumphant summary that in him they will have peace & will persevere. (v. 33)
Here again “I have said these things” is undoubtedly a reference to all that he has been saying in this lengthy discourse, and he promises yet again a kind of peace that only he can give: as he has said in Jn 14:27…
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Don Carson writes in reflection on this verse, “At the individual level, this peace secures composure in the midst of trouble, and dissolves fear, as the final injunction of this verse demonstrates. This is the peace which garrisons our hearts and minds against the invasion of anxiety (Phil. 4:7), and rules or arbitrates in the hearts of God’s people to maintain harmony amongst them (Col. 3:15).” - 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), 506.
So again here is a note of peace—an inner tranquility and composure, a calmness and steadfastness in the security of trusting God—this peace is again in the midst of anticipated tribulation. And tribulation in this context does not only hint at the woes and hardships of the last days, but it also certainly includes persecution, which Jesus began to speak about at Jn 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” AND Jn 16:2 “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.”
But Jesus is telling them (which can be applied to us as well)…
The tribulation in this world is no match for the joy and peace and courage that is ours in knowing the victorious Christ.
The tribulation in this world is no match for the joy and peace and courage that is ours in knowing the victorious Christ.
Along with this peace is a note of courage to endure/to persevere in the tribulation (and in the mission he leaves for us). To “take heart” is to muster courage. From where? “I have overcome the world.” I have conquered… prevailed against… defeated the world.
What Jesus accomplishes by the cross and resurrection, the world cannot undo. When we have come to a restored relationship with God through faith in Jesus, and received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26 & Jn 15:26), even the world’s evil cannot remove the peace we enjoy in knowing that God has already proven himself victorious over evil, and Satan, and death.
This joy and peace and confidence and courage comes from knowing and abiding in Jesus, who in the coming hours will himself display “transcendent peace […] throughout his perilous hour of suffering and death.” And that is the peace offered to us: “his own peace, my peace.” -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), 506.
Now that makes me ask for our application, in conclusion: If this is a peace that he provides…
Conclusion: In what way is access and enjoyment of such joy and peace and courage our responsibility?
Conclusion: In what way is access and enjoyment of such joy and peace and courage our responsibility?
-Our first responsibility in this is a right response to God’s provision and offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.
-And then as believers, we must continue: Abiding in relationship to Christ, studying and meditating on Scripture to know and grow in depth of understanding and trust, and praying: asking for God’s help to reveal to your heart and mind the level to which he is trustworthy and good and capable to accomplish his perfect ends and what is truly good for us. In other words, grow to trust God more in order to know the deep-seated joy and peace that is ours because the victorious Christ as our Lord.
PRAY
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[SONG]
COMMUNION:
