Liberating and Lasting Joy

John 16:16-33

Main Idea: Regardless of circumstances, a true disciple finds liberating and lasting joy in Jesus as he or she lives out and shares the gospel.

1. This Joy Is Revealed in a Time of Sorrow (16:20-21).
2. This Joy Is Resistant to Every Attack (16:22).
3. This Joy Is Refreshed through Answered Prayer (16:23-24).
   1. Does this promise mean God has to give me whatever I want?
   2. How does prayer make our joy overflow?
4. This Joy Is Rooted in a Reconciled Relationship (16:33).

A group of armed guerrillas made an appointment with Pastor Manuel and his family. He thought they were going to authorize him to have an official church, which he had previously discussed with them. One of them went into the house with the pastor’s wife, Gloria, and his daughter while the pastor was outside. He was shot five times. The guerrilla who was in the house with the rest of the family yelled, “Make sure that dog stays dead,” referring to the pastor. The guerrillas then shot the pastor again, this time in the neck. Following the shooting, Pastor Manuel’s wife ran outside and cleaned his face. With the help of her children, she dragged his body under a tree. She ran and got her Bible and, shaking with tears, preached to all those who got near. [Her] ten-year-old son said, “Mum, don’t worry, dad died for Christ and now he is with Christ” (“Colombia: Pastor Martyred”).

I know intellectually that faithfulness to Jesus could mean suffering, imprisonment, even death, but there’s never been a moment where I’ve felt legitimate fear on account of following Jesus. I’ve never felt the cold barrel of a gun against my head or the hot breath of soldiers on my neck. What does this type of pressure do to a person? How would you respond if you knew you would face physical attacks for your faith? What would it be like knowing your death would be considered a victory for another religion? This is exactly what the first disciples face. Jesus warns them that from this point forward, persecution and martyrdom are more likely to happen than not (16:2). There will be few if any days when they will feel safe. Any day could be the day they’re arrested and killed. History tells us each one of the apostles experienced severe physical persecution, and all but one died as a martyr. Knowing their situation, what would we expect the disciples to be like? The disciples have received their death warrant. It would be natural to assume they’re fearful, living out their days in hiding, miserable and unhappy.

That’s not what happens, but it would be easier to explain. What actually happens is far more puzzling: this group of men turns the world upside down. They embrace their mission and its consequences. Not only are they faithful, but their joy, peace, and contentment are conspicuous. Even with a death sentence hanging over their heads, they minister and serve with unbridled passion and appear to be profoundly happy.

In the book of Acts, the warning from Jesus comes true. The disciples are kicked out of the synagogue, scorned by the religious elite, and persecuted by the religious establishment. In Acts 5 they’re brought before the high priest, questioned about their activities, and rebuked for preaching the gospel—the good news that Jesus Christ died so sinners could be reconciled to God. After being beaten, they leave rejoicing (Acts 5:40-42). The disciples do the exact opposite of what we expect. We expect someone who is tortured to be angry. We wouldn’t blame them if they harbored permanent resentment. But they’re not angry. They’re not unhappy. They leave the beating happier than when they got there.

In our abundance and ease we struggle to find joy, yet they found it in their poverty and affliction. Our circumstances often dictate our emotions and affections. Most of us have reserved seats on an emotional rollercoaster. Someone takes the last doughnut, and we’re depressed. Someone gives us a shiny, new toy, and we’re filled with joy. Facing torture, prison, and death, how do the disciples experience such profound joy? Regardless of circumstances, a true disciple finds liberating and lasting joy in Jesus as they live out and share the gospel.

Jesus unloads a dump truck of earth-shattering news on the disciples. He tells them about betrayal, crucifixion, and persecution—not just as possibilities but as certainties. Now, as Jesus closes this time of instruction, he tells the disciples he’s going to do something in them that will bring a fullness of joy that transcends the darkest, dreariest, most dire and depressing circumstances they will ever face. What does this joy look like? There are four distinctive qualities of this joy.

This Joy Is Revealed in a Time of Sorrow

John 16:20-21

What an inauspicious beginning to the promise of lasting joy (v. 20). If I were instructed to give a pep talk on joy, I’m not sure that would be my opening line. But wait, it gets worse. Not only will they weep and lament, but also the world will rejoice. So those who oppose God and reject Jesus as Messiah will experience joy while the disciples are weeping and lamenting. However, the positions will quickly be reversed. The disciples’ sorrow will turn to joy. The sorrow is only for a short time, but the joy will remain.

Sorrow and joy are connected. The Pixar movie Inside Out is a beautiful parable about the connection between sadness and joy. Our greatest joys often arise out of our deepest moments of sadness. The light shines brightest after the storm. Sorrow and joy are not two random emotions that happen to appear in this order chronologically. The sorrow must take place if the joy is to come. There’s no skipping sorrow to get to the joy. Most ladies would love to skip nine months of pregnancy and an excruciating labor and just hold their newborns in their arms (v. 21), but it doesn’t work that way. You don’t get the newborn without the morning sickness, swollen ankles, and contractions. Jesus tells the disciples they can’t get the joy without experiencing the sorrow.

The sorrow is watching Jesus beaten and bruised, hanging lifeless on a cross. It’s seeing his disfigured corpse taken down from the cruel tree. The sorrow is watching their Messiah die. They will weep and lament his death while the world rejoices because he’s gone. The sorrow of his death is necessary because his death is the only way for mankind to be saved. Without his death, there can be no life. The sorrow of his death is necessary, but it will be short-lived. This conversation begins in verse 16 with the phrase “a little while” and continues because the disciples don’t understand what it means: they won’t see him for a little while and then after a little while they will see him. The reason the sorrow will only be for a little while is because Jesus will rise from the dead and appear to them. Their sobbing turns to shouting, their crying to cheering, and their mourning to mirth.

After the baby is born, it’s not as if the pain of pregnancy is forgotten; it’s just that it no longer matters. The nine months of agony become a distant memory after a short time of joy. The disciples’ sorrow is real, but it becomes a distant memory the moment Jesus appears to them having conquered death.

This Joy Is Resistant to Every Attack

John 16:22

The joy Jesus gives his disciples can never be taken away from them (v. 22). “No one” will take it. What else carries the same guarantee? Thieves can take possessions away. Disease can take health away. Death can take family away. What about joy? Doesn’t it seem people have the power to take joy away? Unkind words, dishonesty, gossip, slander, cruelty, and bullying all seem designed to steal a person’s joy, but Jesus guarantees that the disciples’ joy cannot be stolen.

Because their joy comes from seeing him again and knowing he’s conquered death, no amount of torture or persecution can ever change that. If the disciples’ joy is in something else—if they try to find their joy in sex, money, work, or hobbies—then certainly their joy could be taken from them, but since their joy is found in Jesus, his victory over sin and death and the promise of his ongoing relationship with them, then every attack against it will be futile. The devil longs to steal our joy, and it’s not usually too hard. Placing our joy in things like relationships, work, events, security, and health is like putting your life savings in a piggy bank, leaving it in a high-crime district at night with a hammer, and adding a note asking people to leave it alone because it’s really valuable. You’re a fool if you think it will be safe. But if our joy is in Jesus, we trade the piggy bank for Fort Knox, and the devil gets a plastic spoon instead of a hammer. You’re a fool if you think he can touch it.

If the disciples’ joy comes from a reunion with Jesus, their position in him, and his promises to them, then what weapons could the devil possibly level against their joy? The most powerful weapons are useless. I suppose he could attempt to steal their joy by having them betrayed by a close friend. Or maybe he could try relentless persecution by those who claim to follow God. But the disciples know these assaults will be ineffective. They’re going to be ineffective because Jesus already took those attacks and not just defeated them but used them to usher in this joy. Jesus didn’t only conquer betrayal and persecution; he turned them into the agents that brought about the disciples’ joy. And of course, the ultimate fear, the ultimate weapon, the ultimate joy stealer is death, but Jesus disarmed death. Jesus conquered every enemy! If we find our joy in him, we have nothing to fear. Our joy is impervious to all attacks leveled against it. Jesus’s resurrection guarantees he can never die again, and those who follow him will never experience separation from him in death. We may leave our physical bodies, but Jesus will never leave us (cf. 11:25-26).

This Joy Is Refreshed through Answered Prayer

John 16:23-24

The disciples’ joy transcends their circumstances and flows from their reunion with Jesus and from confidence they will never experience separation from him again. Their joy in Jesus will serve them like the foundation serves a house: it will be solid and stable, supporting them no matter what kind of storm rages outside. But there will be times when their joy bubbles up and overflows, most often when they experience answered prayer. Joy will flow through them, pulsating through every interaction.

A disciple is like a well drilled deep into an underwater reservoir. No matter what happens on the surface—whether a drought or a natural disaster—the well is always full of water. But once in a while the rain comes, and the well is not simply full of water; it overflows. Cool, clear water gushes out of it, soaking everyone around. As disciples we can always be filled with joy because we are permanently drilled into the joyous reservoir of Jesus Christ, but there are occasions when God will pour down such joyous rain our hearts overflow with joy. These moments come as we press forward in our mission for Jesus Christ, all the while trusting in the power of the Spirit and asking God to do what we cannot.

After the resurrection the first disciples can no longer physically turn to Jesus and ask him to meet a need. Instead, they have the privilege of going directly to the Father and asking him to do whatever they need, and he promises to answer. This promise of answered prayer raises a few questions.

Does This Promise Mean God Has to Give Me Whatever I Want?

The short answer is no. Jesus gives one constraining guideline for this command. In both verse 23 and verse 24 he says we must ask in his name. This immediately rules out the prosperity gospel, name-it-claim-it, best-life-now heresy dominating Christian television. I wonder if we aren’t guilty of a related misuse of prayer. Do a mental exercise with me. Think about your recent prayers. Now take out an imaginary sheet of paper and divide it into two columns. Above the column on the left write the word “Comfort,” and above the column on the right put the word “Mission.” Place your requests in one of the two columns. Here’s the criterion: If God answers this request, will it contribute more toward my comfort or my mission? Jesus promises the Father will answer every request made in his name. “In Jesus’s name” is not a mantra or a tagline. It means we’re doing something Jesus commanded to be done! If you define comfort in the way it’s commonly defined in our society, Jesus doesn’t care if you’re comfortable. Think about what he tells his disciples. He tells them they’re going to be cast out and killed for his sake. The promise of answered prayer is given on the heels of that reality. They aren’t to pray for earthly comforts. They’re to pray for the kingdom of heaven to advance in this world: “Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9-11). Jesus taught us to pray for the advancement of his kingdom, not the establishment of our own.

How Does Prayer Make Our Joy Overflow?

Prayer often feels like a duty not a delight, but prayer is how we commune with Jesus, and communion with Jesus is where we’ll find joy. The disciples’ sorrow turns to joy when they’re reunited with Jesus, when they’re in his presence again. After his ascension into heaven, prayer is the way to be in his presence. To remain in Jesus happens when his words remain in us and we respond in prayer to him (John 15:7).

The bottom line is this: we need to pray. We must. Not out of duty but out of necessity. Not as a dead requirement but as a desperate plea. We need more of Jesus. We want more joy. Joy comes as we ask Jesus to help us fulfill the mission he gave us. Prayer gives us the power to do what we’re called to do. We’re called to live holy lives, to be generous, bold, thankful, repentant, and selfless. This only happens as we beg God to work in us. A lack of prayer brings a lack of power, which in turn brings a lack of joy.

Imagine you finally invented the affordable, practical flying car, but you needed just the right wind conditions. You found the perfect spot, gathered your new invention, and headed there. You lined your machine up to fly, but you had to wait for the wind to pick up. Now where you are waiting you can’t feel the wind, so you need help. Your friend has joined you just for this. He climbs the nearest hill with phone in hand and waits. You wait in the makeshift cockpit, checking in with him, hoping for the go-ahead. At that moment, is checking in with him a nuisance? Is it drudgery? Or do you wait breathlessly? Asking him over and over, “Is it time?”

When you stand on the precipice, attempting something great, that conversation is not a chore. It’s a pleasure. It’s filled with breathless anticipation. When we launch out on mission, pleading with God to do something great, prayer is not drudgery. It’s breathless anticipation. It’s asking God, “Is it time yet? Have you sent the wind? Will we fly now?” Life on mission makes prayer as natural as breathing, as ordinary as our hearts beating.

This Joy Is Rooted in a Reconciled Relationship

John 16:33

In the remaining verses Jesus reminds the disciples they now have access to the Father. In fact, he uses the title Father six times in these last few verses. Sin destroyed their relationship with God, but Jesus came and took away the sin of the world. Because of their faith in Jesus and their love for him, they now experience the love of God. The sin-bearing sacrifice of Jesus opened the way to God. They are reconciled to God.

Sin is the root of our unhappiness. We look around and understand something is broken: our relationship with God. The lack of joy in the world can be traced to a lack of peace with God. The only way to have joy is for peace with God to be restored (v. 33). Peace is not a fleeting experience or momentary emotion. It’s not a hippie high on drugs flashing a hand sign while living a broken existence. Supernatural peace flowing from a newly restored relationship with God is guaranteed for everyone who follows Jesus, everyone who believes that Jesus is indeed the promised Savior, God’s own Son, the only hope for them.

Our responsibility, then, is to believe him. You need to battle the unbelief and doubt that creep into your mind, calling Jesus a liar and undermining your joy. Identify anything that hinders your joy in Jesus. Sometimes it’s blatant sin, but often it’s misplaced priorities. What hinders our joy is our habit of ingesting so much of the cotton candy of this world that we never get around to feasting on the rich, satisfying joy that is ours in Jesus. We who have believed are “in Jesus.” That’s how we experience joy in times of trouble and persecution. Though we’re still in the world, though we’re still engaged in our mission for him, we are in Jesus. We’re branches connected to the true vine. We receive our strength and nourishment through the vine. We may still have tribulation in the world, but in Jesus we have peace—a peace that fuels a joy that rises above the circumstances of life.

Reflect and Discuss

1. Has God ever brought joy out of your sorrow? When?
2. What are the four distinctive qualities of joy in a believer?
3. Why will the disciples’ sorrow only be for a little while? How is this promise still true today?
4. How can Jesus guarantee that the disciples’ joy cannot be stolen?
5. What are some ways Satan might attack your joy? How does looking to the cross and empty grave preserve your joy through Satan’s attacks?
6. If God were to answer everything from your recent prayers, how many things could be labeled as “comfort” and how many as “mission”?
7. How should the promise of persecution and joy change your prayer life?
8. How does prayer make your joy overflow?
9. Why does mission make prayer a necessity?
10. Think of something in your life right now that is seeking to destroy your joy in Christ. How does the gospel answer its accusations?