DEVOTION
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
COMPLETE JOY
John 16:16-24
16 "In a little while you will see me no
more, and then after a little while you will see me." 17 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'?" 18
They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a little
while'? We don't understand what he is saying." 19 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'? 20 I tell you
the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve,
but your grief will turn to joy. 21 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. 22 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. 23 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. 24
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive,
and your joy will be complete.
NIV
Because we are looking backward in time we understand everything,
unlike his disciples, at this moment Jesus is telling about his death and
resurrection and ascension. This again, makes it clear about the divine nature
of Christ. Although he is living out a life in human terms, being born as a
baby, growing through infancy, becoming a toddler, then a child. He had his
Bar-mitzvah at twelve and grew through those teenage years into a young man. He
learned the trade of Joseph, his earthy father figure, and lived as any normal
man would, except for the fact he never took a wife. However, we know
because of his divine nature, he knew the path of his life and where it would
lead him, to the cross. But, he also knew that he would not remain in the
grave, that he would be resurrected and that he would return to where he came
from in the first place. All that Jesus told his disciples was about what was
going to happen and that ultimately they would experience joy, in fact, their
joy would be complete. Occasionally we sing that song about us serving a risen
Savior and knowing he is in the world today, no matter what men might say. But
the fact is he is sitting at the right hand of the father and as a result, the
Spirit is in the world today. Sometimes songs include incorrect theology, as
good as they sound. However, the point is that Jesus is alive, and he is with
the Father and we have been told to ask and we will receive. This should give
us a clue as to what kind of life we should be living. Our life should be one
of joy, in fact, it should be one in which our joy is complete. We know grief,
at least momentary grief. This happens when we experience the death of a loved
one. Books have been written trying to assist people in dealing with grief.
Perhaps the non-believer has good reason to grieve, even though they do not know it.
But we believers might not have any reason to grieve, but rather rejoice at the
end of this life of our loved ones, especially if they were going through some
difficult times. When we believers come to end this life, it is not the end, but merely
the continuation of our eternal life we began the moment we were born again.
The sadness or grief we may feel, at the loss of a loved one, might just be for ourselves, as we now must
continue on in this temporary portion of our life, without the presence of our
loved one. But Jesus made it clear, we can ask the Father and we will receive
and our joy will be complete. What that means is that because we believe we should
live with joy. Grief has gone, worry has left, anxiety has vanished, sorrow has
disappeared, sadness, despair, even depression has departed and anything
else that opposes joy has been relocated elsewhere, and all that is left within
us is a complete joy. Should we not be living like our joy is complete? Why do we
let the burdens of this world steal our joy? Why do we allow the devil to even
attempt to steal our joy? If Jesus gave us complete joy, then nothing in this
world should be able to take it from us. But it might well be that we take if
from ourselves. We might even enjoy a certain amount of worry, pain, suffering,
grief, or sadness. That sounds bizarre, but why then are we not full of joy
throughout our life, throughout all our experiences? We need to take Jesus as
his word and live with complete joy.
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