John 16:29-33 I'm back!

Been crazy busy and doing little trips filled with hard labor! I’ve been really missing my morning quiet time!!! Today we finish up chapter 16 and then go into chapter 17 to listen in on the amazing prayer of Jesus before His crucifixion. That will be sacred time! But I did not want to miss these last few verses of chapter 16, when Jesus ends the preparation of the disciples for what is ahead. When we left off, the disciples were about to make their declaration of understanding:

Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.  Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” 


“You believe at last!” Jesus answered.  “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. (John 16:29-32)

They claim to understand, and yet Jesus knows they will scatter in fear. My sense is that they understand more with their heads, but it hasn’t gripped their hearts yet. It will take the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit to embolden these men. The statement, “You will leave me all alone,” really speaks to me. Jesus would be abandoned by His closest friends. When we feel far away from God, it is NOT because He has moved! How often do we abandon Him, because we are just too busy to take time for Him. That has been my experience since summer started: so many distractions and being pulled in so many directions! I’ve really missed my time with Him!

Note, however, that He tells them He is NEVER alone, because His Father is with Him. [There was only one point when He would be feeling separated from His Father - when the sin of the world was laid upon Him.] This was another statement that really jumped out at me. I have several friends who seem to be walking their journeys alone (some even in their marriages). And yet, the Father is with them, and He has enabled them to find their joy in Him.

Finally, as Jesus closes this discourse with His disciples, He explains why He has felt it necessary to prepare them:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (v.33)

The next few days for the disciples would be filled with fear and confusion and even a sense of hopelessness. There would be great trouble and trials in their future, as in ours. This is one of those “promises” of Jesus that people don’t want to claim! We WILL have trouble. But we can take courage and have peace in the midst of all of our trials, because Jesus has overcome the world!

Oh, if we could just grasp that! Yes, we are in the midst of spiritual battles. We have financial worries, serious health problems, marital conflicts, children who are rebellious, and a world in political, social, and economic turmoil. How do we find peace and joy in the midst of all of this? We remember that the end of the story has already been written. Jesus has won the victory and overcome! This should give us courage and peace! God is sovereign, in control, and His Kingdom will come! Hang onto that assurance! It is our great hope!  

John 16:23-28

Today’s passage I find somewhat difficult, so it surprises me when the disciples declare in verse 29 that they finally “get it.” I’m thinking at that point, “Really? Because I’m a little confused!” Thank you to Jon Courson for helping me through the first verses of this passage! He doesn’t really touch on my questions for verses 25-28, so I’m relying on the Holy Spirit for clarity here. See what you think...

Jesus is encouraging the disciples by assuring them that their grief at his departure will be replaced by joy. First joy in knowing that their pain will be transforming, and next, as we’ll see in today’s passage, joy because they will have the power of answered prayer.

In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 16:23-24)

Many people seem to take this promise to mean that you can request ANYTHING and force God, like a genie, to answer your prayer so long as you tag “in Jesus’ name” at the end. But what does it really mean to pray in His name? Jon Courson says it means two things: in His authority and in conformity with Jesus’ character.

Praying in Jesus’ name means that I don’t come to the Father with my own authority or counting on my own righteousness to seal the deal. Courson writes, “... when I approach the Father in heaven, I don’t come saying, ‘Did You see how long I prayed last week, Father? Fourteen hours logged in, eighteen chapters read, twenty-two verses memorized. On that basis I come to You with these requests, and I’m sure You’ll give them to me.’ No, I simply come on the authority of the name I’ve been given to use: Jesus’ name.” (Courson, P. 571)

We pray in His name in conformity to it. My prayers need to be in line with Kingdom values. They need to reflect the heart of Christ as it is revealed in the New Testament. My pastor is currently doing a series that will continue through the year called “Reading the Red.” We are looking at everything Jesus said to discover His will. Learning what His Word says is how we will know whether or not our prayers are in conformity. For sure I know that when I ask the LORD to help me love someone or to forgive someone, I know I’m praying in His will. When I pray that someone will come to know the LORD, I know I’m praying in His will. When I pray that my coworker who hurt me will suffer, I know I’m NOT praying in His will!! :)

Jesus tells the disciple that when we receive what we ask for in His name, in His authority and in conformity to it, our joy will be complete! There is no greater joy than knowing we have pleased our Father by our prayers! And He delights to answer! This seems clear to me from the next verses:

“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.  In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.  No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.  I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” (vs. 25-28)

The Father delights to answer our prayers because He LOVES us - and that is because we have loved the Son and have believed in Him. This is John’s constant refrain in His gospel. We are made right with God when we BELIEVE in Jesus - in the fact that He is the Son of God and God the Son, who died for our sins, was resurrected and now sits at the right hand of the Father. And when we pray in the authority of His name, and in conformity with His character, the Father answers.

 Now I thought those were difficult passages, but apparently the disciples claimed to finally understand. We’ll see next time if that is truly so! In the meantime, I have a new appreciation for that rote, “in Jesus’ name” that we ritualistically tag onto our prayers. I’m going to try to be mindful of what I’m saying, what it means, and the power behind it!  

John 16:16-22

I’m so grateful to be back from Washington, DC! I was a delegate to the NEA (National Education Association) Representative Assembly, which included about 8,000 delegates (mostly teachers) from all over the country. It was a long week of meetings from 7:00 am to about 6:00 pm. Delegates had one day for sightseeing - the rest was business! Thankfully we were in air conditioning, because the temperatures ran from 98 - 104, with LOTS of humidity. Great fireworks on the 4th! I was reminded at this convention that teaching is not what I DO, it is who I AM. I love that!

But I feel like I’ve been in a desert and am so glad to be back into God’s Word!!! It’s been a while, so just want to remind you that in this chapter Jesus is speaking to his disciples as He prepares them for His arrest and crucifixion.

“In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”  They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” (John 16:16-18)

Jon Courson, in his Application Commentary, finds humor in the fact that the disciples start murmuring in confusion to one another, rather than taking their questions directly to Jesus: “Here the disciples are discussing things about Him when they should have been talking to Him... I’m always amazed at how ready I am to talk to another person - when it is the Lord alone who knows the solution.” (Courson, P. 570)

Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’?  I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.  A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.  So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (vs.19-22)

Courson points out that the disciples had left everything (family, friends, business) to follow Christ for three years, and now He’s telling them He’s leaving them. No wonder they were confused! But Jesus affirms that the grief they will feel will eventually be replaced with joy. He uses the illustration of the woman in childbirth who is suffering great pain in the process. In fact the very thing that is causing the pain is what will bring her great joy. Here’s where Courson makes a remarkable observation that blew me away!

“Yes, there’s pain and struggle, perspiration and anguish. But yet it’s the very object that produced the pain that provides the joy when the baby is finally born. In other words, Jesus says, ‘My leaving, My being crucified, My death is going to cause you great joy when you see me again in heaven, when you finally understand it was necessary for Me to go to Calvary in order that your sins be forgiven completely.’

“When you go through pain, the Lord does not take away that which caused the pain and replace it with something else to bring joy. It is not substitution, but transformation as He produces joy with the very thing that once caused pain.” (Courson, P. 570)

Here’s what I take from this that I find mind-boggling! It is NOT the answer to prayer that produces the ultimate joy; it is the need for prayer (the situation that makes us turn to Him), the struggling in prayer, the WAITING for the answer that is what transforms us and actually brings joy! All of those things that have been negative and hurtful in our lives - the disappointments, the struggles, the betrayals, the losses, the financial and health crises - these are what God uses in our lives to transform us and make us people God can use for His glory and our joy.

Courson uses the example of Joseph in the Old Testament. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused and thrown into prison for years, then finally brought to the place of second in command in Egypt so that God could use him to save the Jewish nation, from which the Messiah would come! Joseph utters one of my favorite statements in all of the Bible when, facing his brothers and looking back on it all, he declares, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:20)

Joseph did not merely put a happy face on the situation. He acknowledged the evil intention of his brothers. What they had done was WRONG! However, Joseph saw that the sovereign God of the universe works ALL things together for good for those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) That was the key to Joseph’s being able to forgive and love his brothers freely.

What struggles have you gone through that have been excruciatingly painful? What betrayals have been unbearably hurtful? In your struggle to overcome or forgive, don’t be looking for something to REPLACE the hurt, rather look to the object causing the pain and ask God to help you see it with His eternal perspective, so that you may find joy in your transformation! God will use the very thing which causes the pain to bring great joy to you and glory to His name! Amen?  

John 16:12-15

In these next verse we will see what I believe is the most amazing aspect of the Holy Spirit’s role - to lead us into truth. Jesus is giving his last instructions before being arrested and crucified. They still don’t get everything. But as noted by Jon Courson in his commentary, Jesus is not frustrated or worried by that, because He is resting in the work of the Holy Spirit:

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.  All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” (John 16:12-15)

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth - just like Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life. He is NOT a spirit of a truth but the Spirit of THE Truth. He is the one who leads us into truth, who draws us to Christ and reveals just who Jesus is in all of His glory.

Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3)

This passage from John and the verse from 1 Corinthians should comfort us and help us rest in regards to those we love who have not yet committed their lives to Christ. It is NOT our clever persuasive arguments, or the mountains of academic evidence we quote, or the great tapes and books we share with our unbelieving family and friends that will convince them of Jesus’ identity. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to reveal Christ. It is His JOB - it is what He longs to do, because God so loved the WORLD (John 3:16) and He is not willing that ANY should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

You are not your husband’s or son’s personal Holy Spirit. Your job is to pray for them and to live out your life before them in such a way that they can see the difference in you. Then it is the Holy Spirit who closes the deal! He’s the One who seals us to God (Ephesians 1:13-14). He will pursue your loved one, because He loves your husband and your children more than you do!

Another aspect of this promise, as it specifically applied to the disciples, is that the Holy Spirit is the One who would remind them of all they had seen and heard. He would bring back to their minds the exact words Jesus spoke, so that they could record Jesus’ ministry in the New Testament for us. So we can trust their testimony. And while all of the Bible is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16-17), each book bears the personality of its author. Each gospel was written with a different audience in mind and with a specific focus. John tells us right at the beginning and then again at the end of his gospel that he has written his in order that we might BELIEVE. That’s why John’s gospel is such a great place to start for the beginner.

So, in this passage of John, Jesus, instead of wringing His hands worrying that they still did not “get it,” is releasing the disciples to the care of the Holy Spirit. Exactly what we need to do with those with love.

I’m heading to Washington, DC, tomorrow night, so I will be absent for a while. I will still be checking and sending out emails as necessary, so let me know if you have prayer requests.  

John 16:8-11 Revisited

"When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:  in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;  in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;  and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:8-11)

Last week we started to look at the role of the Holy Spirit, and we focused last time on the Holy Spirit’s job to convict the world of the sin of unbelief. Today I wanted to look at the other two areas of conviction: in regard to righteousness and judgment.

It is the Holy Spirit’s job to reveal to us the righteousness of Christ. We would like to think that we are fairly righteous, wouldn’t we? Before I came to Christ I hoped that God would grade on a curve. I figured I wasn’t too bad compared to others around me - I didn’t do anything blatantly wrong like murder (although I surely committed character assassination through gossip), and I didn’t commit adultery (although I loved to read romance novels and watch TV shows in which other people did). I wasn’t Mother Theresa, but I also wasn’t part of the Manson family! I was fairly certain God would take me!

But when I met Christ, the Holy Spirit showed me that all my righteousness was like filthy rags. The standard of holiness that God had set was HIS holiness. I didn’t even come close! My pastor once talked about how our trying to reach God on our own efforts would be like trying to swim to Hawaii from the California coast. Some of us would swim only a few feet out before drowning. Others could go out for maybe hundreds of feet. Some Olympic swimmers could maybe go for several miles before they drowned. However not one of us could make it all the way to Hawaii! It’s the same with our own futile attempts to reach the Father. There is NO way to reach Him in our own efforts. Only Christ met the standard of righteousness, so that when He died on the Cross in our place, His sacrifice was accepted, and God raised Him from the dead as proof. He now sits at the right hand of the Father, His righteousness coveing us.

Jon Courson points out that not one other figure in all of history has been resurrected and ascended to the Father: not Ghandi, not Buddha, not Mohammed - no one else - not even Mother Theresa! Jesus alone is the Righteous One. And only the Holy Spirit can reveal that to us (1 Cor 12:3).

Finally, in this passage, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit also convicts the world of the judgment of Satan, the prince of this world. Satan’s doom is sure! He was defeated at the Cross. He is still creating havoc and often appears to be winning, but the Holy Spirit reminds us that the truth is that Satan will soon be completely destroyed when Christ returns. Hallelujah! That IS good news! We sometimes think of Satan as the opposite of God, with equal power in a struggle against God. But Satan is just a created being. He is NOT omniscient, omnipotent, or omnipresent. He is limited by God in his powers. But because he deals in the spiritual realm and has his demon helpers, he exerts his power over the earth - and particularly over unbelievers.

God, who is in us, is greater than Satan. We belong to God, and Satan cannot have us. He can try to oppress and defeat us, but he does not own us. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to reveal that truth to us and to make us aware of Satan’s attempts to lie to us. We are in a spiritual warfare and we have been given all of the tools we need to fight it. We need to rely on the strength and power of the Holy Spirit to recognize the enemy and to know when and how to use these weapons. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

There is still more to the Holy Spirit’s work, and we’ll look at that this week.  

John 16:5-11

Today is the last day of school for our district. It has been such a long year, filled with grief and many challenges for our staff. We will be saying goodbye to several beloved teachers/staff who are retiring. And I will be sending off to middle school thirty students, some of whom are not quite ready. It’s an exciting day, but it’s also mixed with sadness at the parting and a bit of regret that I could not do more for some of my students. How I wish I could give them the hope and encouragement that Jesus gives His disciples as He prepares them for His parting from them. We are going to spend some time in these next verses to try to grasp the importance of what Jesus is saying:

“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’  Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.  But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:  in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;  in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;  and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:5-11)

The bad news? Jesus was leaving them. The really good news? The Holy Spirit would be coming to live inside them! Jesus tells them that the Holy Spirit’s job among the world will be to convict men - first of their guilt of the sin of unbelief. Jon Courson reminds us in his commentary that this is really the only sin that the Holy Spirit will work on in an unbeliever. He doesn’t convict them of their smoking, swearing, drinking, or sexual sin. No, the only sin that truly matters for an unbeliever is their unbelief! 

Now, as believers we DO get convicted of other sins in our lives that the Holy Spirit will help us to overcome, because He wants to complete the work begun in us and to transform us more and more into the image of God. However, He does this conviction gently, because His goal is always to draw us to the Father - not drive us away. And that’s the difference between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the condemnation of Satan. Satan wants to condemn us and make us feel so loaded down with guilt that we cannot lift our heads to look up to God. He wants us to stop praying and to stay out of God’s Word and the fellowship of other believers.

If you are feeling completely unworthy of God’s love or attention, to the point that you can no longer bring yourself to pray, you are NOT feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit. You are being oppressed by the condemnation of Satan. If the joy of your salvation is gone, it is not because God has moved away. You have allowed Satan, the liar, to whisper words of discouragement in your ear. Maybe he’s telling you that you are a mess - too big of a failure to ever change; or maybe he’s encouraging you with the lie that you are a victim of others and you have every right to hold onto your anger and unforgiveness. Those are NOT the whispers of the Holy Spirit.

Who has your ear today? Are you feeling drawn to God or are you wanting to run in the other direction? If you are an unbeliever, and have never committed your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit is going to come after you and will continue to convict you of your sin of unbelief, because He wants to bring you home to the Father. THEN He will begin the sometimes painful work of transforming you. If you are a believer who is feeling oppressed or depressed, sinking in a dark hole, listen to the Holy Spirit. He wants to draw you TO God. He is our hope, our comforter, and our encourager. We’ll look at some of His other roles tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’m praising God for another year of teaching, and I’m committing my 30 students to His care, and praying that He will follow them to middle school and continue His work in their lives!  

John 15:26-27; 16:1-4

Jesus is preparing the disciples for what lies ahead so they won’t be overcome by discouragement when they are persecuted. They have just heard from Him that, rather than be heroes to the world, as followers of the Messiah they will be hated. These men were not educated orators, so they would surely be intimidated about public speaking even if they thought they were going to be well-received. But now they learn that their ministry will be even more daunting. They might have been thinking, “There is no way we can do this!” But Jesus now assures them that He will not be leaving them alone and helpless:

“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.  And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. 


“All this I have told you so that you will not go astray.  They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.  They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.  I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you. (John 15:26-27; 16:1-4)

The Father would be sending the Holy Spirit to these men , and the Spirit would first testify to them and to the world about Jesus, then these disciples would also give their testimonies. In fact, Jesus says they must testify! And what kind of reception would their testimony receive? They would be cast out of the fellowship of the synagogue and hunted down! This is exactly what Paul did before he met Christ. He thought he was doing God’s work by tracking down and even killing Christians.

I don’t know about you, but being told I might die, would not make me want to sign up for this gig! But Jesus does not come to us with false promises or claims. He spells out the cost of discipleship so that these men (and we) would not be discouraged when the trials come.

One of the things I tell my fifth graders to prepare them for middle school is that they will ALL be going through a rough period during those years. There isn’t one kid, no matter how popular or good looking, who doesn’t have days of feeling awkward and ugly and alone. All students going through those years feel insecure about how they look, and they are sure no one could possibly like them. And the result is that they are sometimes sullen and mean! I don’t want these kids to think they are weird when they feel these emotions; these feelings are normal. I want them to be prepared ahead of time.

On a much larger scale, Jesus wants the disciples prepared for what they will be facing when they go out and testify. Their new “normal” won’t be easy! Proclaiming Christ requires boldness and strength that we just don’t have without the help of the Holy Spirit. Next, He will lay out in more detail just how the Holy Spirit will work through them. Let’s lean in and listen!