Please read John 16:16-20;
1 John 5:4-5
In verses
16-19, Jesus is talking to his disciples. He tells them that he is going to be
leaving them and it will be good for them that he goes away. Then in verse 20,
Jesus gives the bad news, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will
rejoice.” Immediately in the same verse,
he comforts them saying, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow
will turn into joy.”
The disciples so far have
spent approximately three years with Jesus following him and learning about the
Kingdom of God and about Jesus himself. Now they are grieving at the news that
Jesus will leave them. Even before this, they are troubled because Jesus warns
them that the world hates them (John 15:18-19) and that the world is ready to
drive them away from synagogues and kill them (John 16:2). The disciples, who
see the enormity of Jesus’ suffering and death, three days later, rejoice at
His resurrection.
Dear
brother and sister in Christ, the world does not care about Christ or
Christians. For us believers, the thought of Jesus suffering and dying on the
cross for your sins and my sins brings sadness. The world does not care – the
world never understands God’s plan (1 Corinthians 1:18) of his own Son’s death
for its sins. The resurrection news is also met with a yawn except for the
‘holiday’ of Easter. The death and rising of Jesus are met with apathy and
skepticism and even abhorrence. So our contemplation and suffering is a time of
joy to the world. The world’s source of joy is opposite and unfit to that of a
believer. But your joy and my joy are found in Jesus alone. So let’s live as God’s children waiting that
great day of Revelation 21:4.
“It would seem that
Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted
creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is
offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum
because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
We are far too easily pleased.” The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis
Thank you Jesus, for
giving me the faith to overcome the world and its deceptions. Amen.
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