John 16:16-24 - Do You Understand the Kind of Joy Easter Brings? - May 22, 2022

It’s been six weeks since we celebrated the biggest festival in the Christian church year and the most important event in human history: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Do you remember that day? The breakfast, the fellowship, the music…the fact that this building was packed with over 120 people? I have a question: where are all those people? Have you ever wondered why churches that are packed on Easter are not only six weeks later? Where did everyone go? What changed? Is Jesus not risen? Why is the joy of Easter lost so quickly? Actually, it’s not a mystery at all. Jesus explained it pretty clearly in the parable of the Sower. With some, the Gospel simply bounces off their hard hearts and then the devil steals it away from them. Some joyfully receive the Word but when trouble and persecution come, they fall away. For others the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke out their faith (Matthew 13:1-23). For various reasons, many are prevented from understanding the kind of joy Easter brings. But they’re not the target audience for this sermon. You are. Do you understand the kind of joy Easter brings?

Clearly, on Maundy Thursday in that upper room, the disciples did not understand. But it’s hard blame them. Put yourself in their shoes: they’re celebrating the Passover meal when Jesus tells them a riddle in a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father. If Jesus intended these words to be cryptic, he succeeded. The disciples discussed among themselves whether anyone understood what this meant; finally concluding: we don’t understand what he’s saying. They didn’t understand. Do you? Given the benefit of 2000 years of hindsight, we can be pretty confident in identifying the two “little whiles” Jesus is referring to. 1) The first “little while” is the time between when he spoke these words on Maundy Thursday and his death and burial on Good Friday when they would not see him. 2) The second “little while” refers to the time – the three days – between his burial and resurrection, after which they would see him alive again. To disciples who would soon be overwhelmed with sorrow, Jesus identifies the first “riddle” of Easter joy: that it is joy delayed; it will only be theirs in a “little while.”

Just as interesting as this riddle is where this joy would come from: amen, amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. So Jesus explains one riddle with another? Jesus swears that his disciples will mourn while the world rejoices – but then, somehow, their sorrow will turn to joy? How is that possible? Jesus uses the familiar (especially recently here at Risen Savior) example of a woman in labor to illustrate. I wouldn’t dare try to describe the pain of childbirth to those of you who have experienced it first-hand – that would only get me into trouble. But I have been there to witness my wife experience the pain of child-birth five times, only to watch that pain (in a sense) melt away the moment she heard our children’s first cry. That’s what Jesus is describing here. That’s the kind of joy Easter brings; a delayed joy, one preceded by pain and sorrow. Jesus puts it this way: so you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

Enough with the riddles and illustrations. What exactly is Jesus talking about here? Again, in hindsight, it’s pretty clear. The world certainly rejoiced when Jesus was dragged out of the Garden of Gethsemane, wrongfully condemned by a gleeful Sanhedrin and a spineless Roman governor, hung on a tree and mercilessly mocked and taunted by soldiers, passers-by and criminals alike (Mark 15:29-32). We don’t know what the apostles – other than John (who was present at the cross (John 19:26)) – were doing or where they were hiding during Jesus’ anguish on the cross, but it’s not a stretch to assume that they were weeping and wailing at the thought of their Lord’s brutal crucifixion. But Jesus kept his second promise too: your sorrow will turn to joy. Jesus was not making some flippant statement like “time heals all wounds.” (Anyone who has been deeply hurt by sin or the death of a loved one knows that is not necessarily true.) No, he was saying that the very same thing that caused their deepest sorrow would become the source of their greatest joy. That is, once they understood that Jesus had to suffer and die to save them from their sins, they would rejoice in his death on a cursed cross. Still today we gather on Good Friday, to commemorate Jesus’ death on the cross. With tears, yes, not tears over Jesus’ death but over our sins which put him there. But also with joy – joy in understanding that Jesus willingly went to that cross in order to redeem us from death and give us eternal life – which is why we call that day “good.”

But back to our original question: do you really understand the kind of joy Easter brings? Do you understand why the Lord allows you to suffer and be sorrowful for a “little while” here in this world? Why he lets you struggle to pay your bills and fill your gas tank; why he allows the deviancy of homosexuality and transgenderism and the tragedy of abortion to not only be legal, but celebrated in our society; why, sometimes, pregnancies don’t end with the joy of a child but the tears of a miscarriage; why so many people you know and love have absolutely no interest in trusting Jesus as their Savior from sin; why instead of granting healing to your body and mind he allows them to break down in painful and frustrating ways; why you’ve had to stand there, tears streaming down your cheeks, as the body of someone you love is lowered into the ground? Do you understand those things?

If you don’t understand, then it’s my job to tell you that it’s not God that you don’t understand; it’s yourself. The root of those things; of all sorrow in this life is no mystery. It’s all rooted in sin. If you want to know why pregnancy and parenthood and providing for your family are hard, look no further than Genesis 3 (Genesis 3:16-19). If you want to know why nations invade nations, 18-year-olds open fire on grocery stores, perverse behaviors are celebrated, look no further than Matthew 15:19: out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies and blasphemies. And, if you want to know why it hits so close to home when you’re standing at the graveside of a loved one, just remember Romans 6:23: the wages of sin is death. There’s no mystery as to why there is so much misery and sorrow in this world and in our lives; the problem is you, the problem is me, the problem is that we are sinful, rotten to the core. The real mystery is not why we have pain and sorrow – that’s obvious and deserved; no, the real mystery is why sinners like us should have any reason to rejoice.

That’s really what Jesus wanted his disciples – and us – to understand. Where will we find joy during this “little while” of sorrow in this world? I will see you again. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. This is the real reason so many of the people who were here on Easter Sunday aren’t here six weeks later: if you don’t understand that the real source of sorrow in this life is inside of you; that it’s your sin, then you will never understand that the source of lasting joy must be outside of this world and outside of us: in seeing Jesus. Understand this properly. Yes, the disciples did see Jesus with their own eyes many times in the 40 days between his resurrection and ascension, but it would be a stretch to describe them as joyful on these occasions. Afraid, filled with doubt, anxious, confused – yes, but joyful? Hardly. When did the disciples finally rejoice? Not until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit opened their eyes to really see Jesus with eyes of faith: that he was crucified for their sins and raised to life for their justification (Romans 4:25). In the end, that’s why we’re still here six weeks after Easter – because Jesus died for our sins and rose to life to secure our forgiveness, our justification before a holy God, and – after a “little while” of sorrow in this world – a life of unending joy with him in heaven. That is the joy that no one [can] take away from you.

You still have questions, though, don’t you? You still don’t understand any number of things – like why Jesus would say in that day you will not ask me anything. What? The disciples wouldn’t have any questions for Jesus anymore? What does this mean? For these first disciples, after Easter and Pentecost he would reveal through the Holy Spirit exactly what his cryptic statements about “a little while” and joy out of sorrow meant. We know this too – that while Jesus’ suffering and death would cause sorrow for a “little while” – out of that sorrow would come the source of our greatest joy: his resurrection from the dead. In other words, neither those disciples nor we need to wonder anymore about Jesus’ identity or work; he is the Son of God, the Messiah who came to earth to purchase our salvation by his life, death and resurrection.

But Jesus knew that even though they wouldn’t need to wonder about him anymore, they would wonder about his plans for them. So he tells them: amen, amen, I tell you: whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete. Don’t misunderstand, Jesus is not telling us that the Father will give us literally anything we ask for; this is NOT “name-it-and-claim-it” theology. Jesus limits our requests to those asked in his name. This is not some magic formula. He’s telling us to pray according to his name, his will – as revealed in his Word. In other words, he’s telling us to focus our prayers and requests on the things he has commanded and promised to give us. When we ask for those things he has promised us in his Word, we can rejoice because in Jesus, God’s answer to those prayers is always yes (2 Corinthians 1:20).

What do these types of prayers sound like in reality? Well, not coincidentally, it sounds a lot like the Lord’s Prayer. We pray to “our Father in heaven,” who loves us and is able to do whatever we request. We pray that his name, his Word, may be kept holy among us. We pray that his kingdom would come, to continue to change hearts and minds – especially when we see all of the deviant and perverse behavior that is celebrated in our world. When we suffer some personal tragedy or setback, we pray “your will be done” trusting that God works all things – even bad things – for our eternal good (Romans 8:28). When we’re struggling financially, we pray “give us this day our daily bread” and when we’re feeling guilty and ashamed we pray “forgive us our sins.” Pray for the things God has promised to give you – certain that he will hear and answer – and your joy will be complete!

I don’t know where everyone who was here six weeks ago is today. What I do know is that I need to be here, because not only does the world have a way of draining the joy out of life but because there’s still so much I don’t understand. But today Jesus helps us better understand the kind of joy Easter brings. It’s a “in a little while” joy – meaning that even though we weep in this life, it’s only a “little while” until we will rejoice for all eternity. It’s “sorrow turned into joy” – meaning that the saddest day on earth – Good Friday – is now the source of our greatest joy in the forgiveness, life and salvation Jesus won for us there. It’s “joy completed in prayer” – trusting that when we pray in Jesus’ name to our Father, he will hear and answer according to his perfect will. That’s the kind of lasting joy Easter brings – it’s the kind of joy that nothing and no one can take away from you. Amen.