Sermon by Rev George Hemmings
I wonder how you felt last night as you were winding your clocks back? As you contemplated how great an extra hour of sleep would be. After I’d adjusted the clock on the oven, and the microwave, after Sarah fixed the clock-radio by our bed, as we thought about the promise that the future held, we knew we didn’t have a hope! Even though I’d changed the gro-clock in Micah and Joshua’s room, we knew we didn’t have a hope of getting them to stay in bed for longer, let alone convincing Jacob that he could go an extra hour before needing milk. Hope is the expectation that our desires will be fulfilled. It’s future focused, and our future didn’t look great. And without hope, it’s hard to have any lasting joy. So when we feel hopeless, truly hopeless, it’s hard to carry on.
The disciples were a pretty hopeless bunch. They’re just a gaggle of former fishermen and retired taxmen. They’ve enjoyed a few good years in the sun, but all that’s about to change. They didn’t realise it when they sat down, but this is their last meal with Jesus. And think about what he’s spent the meal talking about. He’s told them he’s about to abandon them, that he’s returning to his Father. He’s told them that one of them will betray him. He’s told them that Peter, one of the inner circle will deny him. And he’s just told them they’re all about to have a rough time, as the world will persecute them! Talk about hopeless! What hope do they have for the future? Without their friend and leader, with the best and the brightest of them in doubt, with the world arrayed against them? It’s true that along the way Jesus has spoken words of comfort, has promised that his going away is all for their good, and that he’s going to send another advocate, the Holy Spirit, to guide, empower and equip them. But none of that has sunk in. Jesus’s been speaking in figures, in difficult words, saying things that they just can’t understand yet.
As the meal draws to an end, Jesus has one more confusing thing to say to them. ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.’ What is he on about? What’s he saying now. It’s like a riddle. What gets bigger the more you take away? (A hole.) Like a riddle, the disciples try to figure out for themselves what Jesus is talking about. They begin to say, ‘What’s he on about? What does he mean, a little while and you will no longer see me and a little while and you will see me?’ It’s clear he’s not talking about playing hide and seek. They’ve got some ideas about what he might mean. They’re wondering if this has anything to do with him saying that he must go back to the Father as he mentioned back in verse 5. But, even though Jesus had gently rebuked them for not asking what he meant when he said he was going back to the Father, they’re not ready to ask about the meaning of the riddle just yet. They know the key is in what Jesus meant by ‘a little while’ as verse 18 makes clear. They just can’t work it out! Well, they’ve been talking about this amongst themselves, perhaps while Jesus was out of the room, but he knows what they’ve been wondering. He isn’t confused. He knows they want to know what he knows. He knows what’s on their mind and he takes the initiative. He doesn’t need them to ask him any questions, he already knows what they want to know. He says, ‘Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while and you will no longer see me, and a again a little while and you will see me?’ As if he really needs to ask the question. He already knows the answer is yes.
Then Jesus takes the time to explain it to them. He tells them it’s about sorrow and joy. It’s going to start with their sorrow and the world’s joy. In a little while they won’t see him anymore, and they’ll weep and mourn. But it’s not just general sadness, it’s the kind of weeping and mourning that comes with the death of a loved one. They’re the same words that were used back in chapter 11 to talk of the death of Lazarus. And in John 20, the same words describe Mary’s reaction at finding the empty tomb. In just a little while the disciples will weep and mourn, at the death of Jesus. The perverse thing was that while they did so the world rejoiced. Remember John uses ‘the world’ to describe those opposed to God and his kingdom. The scribes and Pharisees, the High priest and his cronies were celebrating after the crucifixion of Jesus. They thought they’d just gotten rid of a rabble-rouser, a renegade Rabbi. They were busy celebrating, while the disciples were mourning the loss of their leader and friend.
But Jesus tells the disciples their grief won’t last forever. He doesn’t say their pain will fade over time, as they adjust to life without him. Why not? Because in a little while they will see him again! His death is not the end of the story. Their pain will turn into joy when they see him again.
Jesus compares the transition from pain to joy that they’re about to experience to that of birth. Those of you who’ve experienced childbirth know what he’s talking about. If you haven’t, let me tell you it’s excruciating. Labour is hour after hour of suffering, pain and exhaustion, and that’s just how I was feeling, let alone Sarah! From what I’ve seen, it’s excruciating, almost unbearable pain, such that you can’t cope that you just want it to be over with. And then, all of a sudden it is. All of a sudden the baby’s out. It’s arrived. And in an instant that pain is forgotten. The joy that new life brings completely obliterates the pain you’ve just gone through. It completely overwhelms and replaces it. You go from pain to joy in an instant. Mary’s tears at the empty tomb are gone the moment she realises she’s been talking to the risen Jesus. The disciples rejoice when they see Jesus for themselves. Their fear and pain is forgotten, they’re filled with joy when he sees them again. Just as parents rejoice when they bring a new life into the world, the disciples rejoice when they see the new life that comes through Jesus.
But the image of childbirth is more than a good illustration for the disciples, more than a way to help them understand what Jesus means by ‘a little while.’ It’s also an allusion to an Old Testament idea, one found in the prophets, in places like Isaiah 21, 26 and 66. It’s the idea that there will be suffering before the immense relief and joy of salvation. As the saying goes, it’s always darkest before the dawn. It’s the idea that before God’s Kingdom is consummated there will be a time of terrible trouble. Jesus says this is all about to happen in his death and resurrection.
And as the birth of God’s Kingdom, Jesus resurrection brings hope in other ways. It brings with it the promise of understanding. On that day, Jesus says, you will ask nothing of me. The word he uses is that for asking questions. On that day, you won’t ask me to explain anything. On that day, things will be made clearer. But it’s not just that hindsight is 20/20. Jesus says that he’s been speaking to them in figures of speech, in difficult sayings. Back in verse 12, he says that they can’t bear much of what he has to say to them at that moment. But the hour is coming when he will speak plainly.
The disciples in their eagerness chime in at this point. After not getting it for so long, they’re quick to say, ‘yes, that times now here.’ We understand now. We get it. But Jesus puts the brakes on and tells them they don’t even know what’s about to happen. They’re all about to be scattered, their firm convictions are going to be shown to be anything but. The time for understanding hasn’t quite come yet. It only comes after Jesus has died, and after he’s been raised to new life. Because it’s only then that Jesus will send the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s the one who’ll:
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
The Holy Spirit is the one who will come and speak plainly of the Father, making all that the Jesus has said plain to us. As we heard a few weeks ago, from Chris our relationship with the God has changed. We no longer need to have a prophet come and speak to us, or an angel visit, bearing God’s word. He dwells in us in his Spirit. He’s here with us, speaking to us, revealing these things to us. The Spirit helps us to understand God’s plan for the future, helps us understand what God’s will is, and therefore helps us place our hope in the right things. The mystery of the gospel, God’s plan for his world, revealed to us. Know what the future holds, know where our hope is found, what we hope for, the return of Christ, the final consummation of God’s Kingdom.
There’s another reason we can hope, another reason we can rejoice, that comes from Jesus death and resurrection. We have open communication with God! Jesus wants the disciples, he wants us, to be sure that God hears our prayers. When we ask for things, when we ask for anything in his name, God the Father hears us. It’s not that we pray, directing our prayers to Jesus and then he sorts and delivers our prayers like a postman. No, as he says in verse 26, he doesn’t ask on our behalf. It’s not like he’s the only one God will listen to. Jesus says that our prayers go directly to God the Father.
And when we pray in Jesus name, the Father will give us what we ask for, so that our joy might be complete. That’s not saying that ‘in Jesus name’ is a magic phrase, it’s when we as in accordance with his name, in line with his will. The Father answers our prayers, not because we tack on a ‘in Jesus name’, but because he loves us, because we have loved his only beloved son, and have believed that he came from God. As we face the future, how great it is to know that God is on our side!
Do you see what Jesus is doing here? He’s giving his disciples hope. A sure, certain promise for the future. He’s giving them hope for the next few days. They don’t realise it yet, but it really is just a little while before they won’t see him again. In just a few hours Jesus will be arrested, he’ll be taken away. The very next day he’ll be nailed to the Cross. In a very, very little while they won’t see him again. But then, a little while after that, they will see him again. He’s giving them hope, he’s telling them that their pain will turn to joy. But it’s more than just hope for the next few days. The hope that Jesus is brings is an ongoing hope. It’s a hope the disciples could carry for the rest of their lives. It’s a hope that we can have. Jesus tells the disciples that when he sees them again they will rejoice, which they do in John 20. But he goes on to say that no-one can take that joy away. Nothing can take away the hope that we have. Why? Because it’s the joy that comes from knowing that Jesus is alive. It’s the joy that comes from knowing that the new creation has been born in him. It’s the joy that comes from knowing that Jesus resurrection isn’t just a static event, long past but was the dawning of God’s Kingdom.
We can have real hope. We can have real joy. That’s not to say that there won’t be times when we feel anything but hopeful or joyous. Jesus isn’t saying that we have to be happy clappy! Hope is more than just joy. As we saw last week, Jesus makes it clear that following him isn’t easy. Just as the world rejoiced at the suffering of the disciples, Jesus says the world will hate us. On account of Jesus name we’ll face persecution and rejection. In verse 33, Jesus repeats that. He uses the same word that was used of the pain and anguish of the woman in labor. But beyond all that, through all that, we should have hope and joy. Because Jesus has risen from the dead! He has risen to new life. And he brings new life to those who follow him. Jesus final words as he address his disciples, are ‘take courage, for I have conquered the world!’
33I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”
Are we people of joy? Are we people of hope? What do we say in communion? Lift up your hearts. Not to put any pressure on Chris, but these are words, which should be said with real, real joy, because they remind us of the hope that we have. A little later on we say, bring us with all your people, into the joy of your eternal kingdom, there to feast at your table and join in your eternal praise.
Let’s pray and thank God for the hope that we have for the future, and for the joy that we can have now and will have for eternity.
