Matter of Life and Death
Opening Prayer
Father, what You desire in me, I pray You will inspire in me. Work Your purposes out in me.
Read John 16:16-24
[16]
Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“The joy of the disciples … is a joy that emerges triumphant from suffering” (Raymond Brown). The Cross is followed by the Resurrection!
Think Further
The conversation in these chapters returns constantly to the theme of departure. Jesus is leaving his friends to go to the Father (14:4,28; 16:5,17), but in a host of ways he assures them that they will not be forlorn or bereft. He will come back to take them to himself (14:3); he will send the Spirit to be with them (14:16); and beyond their loneliness and sorrow, the disciples will see him once again (16).
So what is this language of seeing again about? Could it refer to the second coming of Christ? Is it a graphic way to talk of the Spirit? Probably neither: these words seem to link best to the death and resurrection of Jesus. A “little while” (16)–less than 24 hours–after talking to his friends in the upper room, he will be taken away to die. Then a “little while” later–36 hours or so after dying–his resurrection appearances will begin. Fearful disciples will be bold again; despair will turn into amazement, and grief into delight. As with the birth of a child, distress will be overtaken by joy; anguish will be transformed by the gift of life.
This image of childbirth occurs several times in the Bible, to picture the new life of God’s kingdom breaking into situations of crisis and stress. As Jesus takes up the thought here to tell of his cross and resurrection, so Paul uses a similar picture in Romans (8:22-24) to speak of a world longing to be free, straining to share the life of her risen Lord. When the disciples met the Easter Jesus, this was humanity’s first taste of that freedom, of life that transcends death, turning the frustration and futility of our mortal days into gladness and glory.
Apply
When we need to grieve, Jesus will be there, with companionship and compassion. Yet with Jesus, grief will never be the whole story, nor the end of the story. Are you in a struggle right now? How can you see the bigger picture?
Closing prayer
Loving Lord, it is my heart’s desire that despair will eventually turn into amazement, and grief eventually turn into joy. In the meantime I ask for grace to trust You.
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