From Sorrow To Joy Series

From Sorrow to Joy

Text: John 16:16-24

What is Joy?

My Uncle used to ask people if they wanted to see a picture of his pride and joy, and of course, people being kind, would say, “Yeah, of course.” And he’d pull out a picture of Pride furniture wax and Joy dishwashing soap.

But seriously, what is Joy? Is it something that is fleeting – there for a moment and gone the next? Not to be political, but the Democrat Party said that they were the “Party of Joy”, but it all seemed to go away the day after the election. Is that what joy does? Or is it something that endures even when things don’t go your way, and times are hard.

Biblically speaking, did you know that there’s a difference between “joy” and “happiness”?

Well, this morning, it is my hope and prayer to give you a real reason to be filled with joy, and it’s apt because next Sunday we’ll be doing our Thanksgiving day message, and people who have joy are also people who are thankful.

We’re in John 16 … and this will be our last sermon from John for the year… we’ve got our Thanksgiving Day sermon next Sunday, and then we’ll be doing Advent Sermons… unless the Lord leads me to preach from John for Advent… But most likely – this will be it for 2024, and we’ll pick it back up in 2025…

Let’s read our text (Read John 16:16-24).

So, Jesus uses the word “Joy” four times in this passage…

In verse 20 He says, “Your sorrow will be turned to joy.” In verse 21 He says, “there’s joy because a child has been born.” In verse 22 He says, “No one will take your joy from you.” And in verse 24 He says, “Ask and you will receive that your joy may be complete.”

And in every instance that Jesus uses that word it’s the Greek word “chara”

It’s from the same root word as “charis” – GRACE…

It’s where our English friends get the word “Cheerio” and we get the word "rejoice"!

Here in our text, I think it’s pretty clear that Jesus doesn’t want the disciples to be sorrowful, but instead wants them to have joy.

He starts out in verse 16 saying, “Guys, in a little while you won’t see Me, but then, a little while after that, you’ll see Me again.” And if you remember just prior to that, Jesus told them that He was going to go away, but that He wasn’t going to send them into battle unequipped. He was going to send the Holy Spirit – who would not only be with them, but indwelling them and empowering them, and the Holy Spirit’s mission is to bring glory to Jesus, and make much of Jesus, by convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

And so… I’ll just say it… if you want to know if you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, the evidence isn’t speaking in tongues or doing miracles… the evidence is – Are you being used by the Spirit to bring conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment?

So, what Jesus was talking about in verse 16, was His death. He was saying that He was going to go away – He was going to go to the cross, be laid in the grave, and they wouldn’t see Him for a little while… but He wasn’t going stay in the grave. After a little while, they would see Him again.

The disciples are confused… they are asking themselves “What does Jesus mean? What does He mean when He says He’s going away and we won’t see Him – and then after a little while, we will see Him?”

They’re confused about the whole thing. And this is the same thing we’ve been seeing all throughout John’s Gospel. People had all kinds of expectations about what the Messiah was going to do, and how He was going to do it?

Most people thought about it in terms of immediate, physical deliverance from Rome.

But that’s not Jesus’ agenda! That’s not what He’s come to do.

He came to die for man’s sin… and because He’s going to die on the cross, the disciples won’t see Him for a little while… but after three days – they will see Him again.

That’s why Jesus says, in verse 20, “You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.. (chairo). You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy – (Chara)”

When Jesus dies on the cross, all of these disciples hopes and dreams are dashed on the rocks. They are confused… scared… without hope or direction. And they’re going to weep and lament… not only because of that, but Jesus is their friend, He’s their teacher. He’s traveled with them for three and ½ years. They’ve been constant companions.