2. Overcoming the World John 16:16-33

3. Review Jesus has told them several times that He was leaving –The first time, Peter had followed up with a question Jesus said He was going to His Father’s house to prepare a place for them –Thomas followed up by saying they still didn’t understand where Jesus was going Several more times Jesus has spoken of or hinted at His coming departure –The disciples no longer asked where He was going because they had become more concerned with their own situation So Jesus explained some of the advantages of His departure

4. A little while John 16:16-18 –The disciples understood Jesus was speaking of three coming events “you will not see Me” “you will see Me” “I go to the Father” –They just didn’t understand the what, why, and how of the events They also didn’t understand the when, even though Jesus said “a little while” –How ‘little’? A few hours, days, weeks? But just as they no longer asked about “where”, they only asked each other

5. A little while Jn 16:19-22 –The first period: “you will not see Me” A time of sorrow for the apostles A time of rejoicing for the world –The time of Jesus’ death and burial »The apostles mourn their loss »The world rejoices thinking it has won The “little while” before this period is less than a day away –The second period: “you will see Me”

6. A little while The second period: “you will see Me” –A time for the apostles’ sorrow to be turned into joy – the resurrection The little while of sorrow will be like birth pains –Largely forgotten in the joy of what comes later The little while of sorrow and not seeing Jesus would only be a few days –That joy would not depart (even though Jesus would), because they would always know He was still alive

7. A little while The third period: “I go to the Father” –Jn 16:23-24 “that day” – the period after they had been reassured that Jesus was alive –“you will ask Me nothing” »Jesus wouldn’t be with them, so they could not ask Him for things or explanations –“ask the Father in My name” »Jesus would be with the Father »They would direct their requests to the Father with Christ as mediator “in My name” Jesus had not taught them to pray in His name previously, because He had not yet gone to the Father

8. The Father Jn 16:25-27 –“figurative language” “proverbs” Means obscure or enigmatic language We might think Jesus has spoken clearly, but the apostles were confused –Jesus says that after He has gone to be with the Father, then they would be told plainly This was one of the things the Spirit would do Wouldn’t need to ask Jesus to ask the Father, but simply could ask the Father in His name –The Father loved them because they chose to believe Jesus, who the Father had sent

9. Understanding Jn 16:28-30 –Jesus makes another attempt to explain where He was going He came forth from God (v27) He came forth from the Father (v28) He is presently in the world He is about to leave the world And He will go to the Father –The disciples are happy to think they’ve finally understood But what did they understand?

10. Understanding What did the apostles finally understand? –They knew that Jesus knew all things They had been discussing among themselves what Jesus had meant –Jesus explained what He meant showing He knew what they were thinking »Also shows they finally grasped (to some extent) where He said He was going –Therefore, they knew they didn’t have to ask questions of Jesus He knew their questions before they asked –Therefore, they believed He came from God Not that they understood everything yet

11. Overcoming the world Jn 16:31-32 –The disciples had just professed a belief in Jesus as come from God But Jesus says in a little while they would fail to stand with Him –Only a few hours away, at most Yet being abandoned by the apostles did not mean He was abandoned –The Father was with Him

12. Overcoming the world Jn 16:33 –Jesus told them these things because they too were going to be persecuted and abandoned They needed to be certain that God was going to be on their side and not leave them alone As Paul later found out, the Lord’s presence is enough (2 Tim 4:16-18) –And because He overcame and is with the Father, we know we can overcome and be with Him forever Rev 2:7, 10-11, 17, 26-28, 3:5, 12, 21

13. Conclusion The world is set against Jesus –The world rejoiced when Christ died But we rejoice that He lives –His resurrection showed He had overcome the world And it gives us the assurance that we can overcome the world in Him To do that we need faith and obedience to His word Are you overcoming the world?