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Book: John
 Print ( PC Only )
John 16:16
I. "A little while and you shall not see Me."
A. Jesus is here referring to the three days and nights that He
will be in the sepulchre.
1. Before the day which began at sundown is over, He will
be beyond their reach as His body will be lying in the
tomb.
2. Oh what momentous events are about to take place that
will thoroughly devastate the disciples.
3. They will see the mock trial, the chanting crowds
persuading Pilate to crucify Him.
4. They will see Him hanging on the cross, and watch as
the soldier runs the spear through His side.
5. Perhaps they will watch from the shadows as the body is
wrapped and placed in the tomb, and the stone is rolled
over the door of the sepulchre.
B. "Again, a little while and you shall see Me."
1. Here He is referring to the resurrection.
2. After the three days, they shall see Him again for He
will rise from the dead.
3. These are some of the things that He desired to talk to
them about, but they were not able to receive them.
4. They could not understand how the Messiah could be put
to death. This did not fit into their preconceived
ideas.
C. "Because I go to the Father."
1. In the garden on the resurrection morning, Jesus said
to Mary, "Touch Me not, for I have not yet ascended
unto My Father."
2. Here He is linking again His going to the Father with
His resurrection.
3. It could be that the first One that He wanted to report
to after the resurrection was His Father.
4. Being in His glorified form, He could have ascended to
the throne of the Father to report in and tell of the
accomplished redemption, before meeting the disciples
on the road to Emmaus.
5. Heaven is not that far away.
6. We think of the throne of God being way out in space
somewhere beyond our milky way galaxy.
II. "Then said some the disciples, "What is He saying to us?"
A. This sounded like a paradox, some kind of mystery.
1. It is amazing how when you do not have all of the
facts, you can be so confused, and we often make the
mistake of making a judgment on incomplete evidence.
2. I am amazed how quick people are to have opinions and
to make judgments on issues where they only have
partial facts.
a. I think that this is the reason that Jesus
warned us not to judge. For our knowledge of
the situation is incomplete.
b. The Lord has all the facts, and is the only one
truly qualified to judge.
c. In Luke 6:37 Jesus said, Judge not and you will
not be judged; condemn not and you will not be
condemned: forgive and you will be forgiven.
B. We cannot tell what He is saying.
III. "Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him what He meant."
A. He could perceive their confusion so He tenderly seeks to
clarify to them the events that will soon transpire.
1. I love the patience with which the Lord deals with our
short comings.
2. He did not say, "Oh you numbskulls can't you grasp
anything?" But patiently and tenderly He explains the
emotional trauma they are about to experience.
B. "Verily, verily" This always means pay close attention, we
might say, "Listen carefully now"
1. "You are going to weep and lament but the world is
going to rejoice."
a. What a contrast there is between the Christian
and the man of the world.
b. The contrast most sharply manifested in the
relationship to Jesus Christ.
c. What we weep over the world rejoices over.
2. I weep over the announced agenda of our new president,
while the world rejoices.
3. I weep over the abortion of 27 million babies in the
last 20 years while the world rejoices over their
ability to choose to abort the unwanted baby.
4. I am disgusted the filth that pours out from
comedians, while the world laughs.
5. The disciples will be weeping and lamenting while the
world around them is rejoicing.
6. More and more, I am realizing that I am not of this
world.
C. "You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into
joy."
1. When they see the crucifixion and the entombment, they
will be sorrowful, but on the third day when they see
the risen Lord their sorrow will be turned into joy.
2. How many things in life we sorrow over at the time we
are going through them for we do not see the final
result.
3. If we could see beyond today as God does see,
Then all our tears we'd wipe away, our sorrows flee,
O'er present griefs we would not fret,
Each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are waiting yet, for you and me.
4. Incomplete understanding often brings sorrow, they did
not understand the resurrection.
5. Unbelief often leads to sorrow. I do not believe that
God is going to work all things out for good.
D. Jesus gives a illustration that they could all relate to. A
woman when she is in travail is in pain, but as soon as the
child is delivered, all the sorrow of the travail is forgotten
over the joy of the new baby boy.
1. Your spirit is going to go through great travail, but
all of the sorrows will be forgotten when you see the
risen Lord.
2. You are going to have sorrow now, but I will see you
again and your heart will rejoice.
3. Living the Christian life in this evil world can be a
painful experience.
a. The first five seconds in heaven will more than
make up for any sorrow or suffering that you
may have ever experienced on this earth.
b. One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will
erase, so bravely run the race, till we see
Christ.
c. They used to sing a song in church when I was
younger, and I am glad that it got buried
somewhere. We'll talk it over in the bye and
bye, We'll talk it over, my Lord and I, I'll
ask the reasons, He'll tell my why, When we
talk it over, in the bye and bye.
d. When I get a chance to talk with the Lord, you
can be sure that I am not going to ask Him to
explain why He allowed some dumb thing to
happen to me on this earth.
4. The thing that I like about walking with the Lord
through this pilgrimage, is even though the path is
often veiled before me, and I might be passing through
some deep valley of sorrow, or some fiery affliction,
the path may seem dark and gloomy, their may be dangers
on every side. I know the end of the story. "And they
lived happily ever after."
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