In this week’s reading, Jesus focusses our attention on the legacy of joy He is leaving the Church. It’s perhaps a little unexpected for a number of reasons, not least some of what Jesus has been teaching in recent verses. But even without sombre warnings of enduring the world’s hatred, Jesus’ teaching about joy can seem one of the most challenging aspects of the whole discourse.
We do, after all, live in a fallen and broken world; a world subjected to frustration by God, subjected to decay and death, and replete with suffering and sadness (Rom.8:20-21). It is a world of sickness, sorrow, suffering and sin; a world of disease, despair, degeneration and death. It is a world so very often characterised by conflict, famine, injustice, cruelty and brutality. Whether we are Christians or not, these things overshadow our experience of life… yet Jesus teaches we should be a people of joy?
On top of the common experience of suffering in this world, the Church introduces a a whole other level of suffering. Some of deepest wounds we carry have been received in life of Church, I think partly because the spiritual dynamics of our fellowship are so deep that they leave us vulnerable to being hurt at deep levels… yet Jesus teaches we should be a people of joy?
And our internal life of faith. As we strive and long to live holy Christ-like lives, we experiece a relentless spiritual battle. The turmoil we feel as we seek to resist temptation can at times constitute an almost physically painful experience. Watch Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane if you doubt this. And then there is the pain of godly sorrow in face of our own ongoing sin. During the Cornish revival (early-mid 1800s) people were so burdened by the reality of their sin, that they coined a phrase for it: penitential pain… yet Jesus teaches we should be a people of joy?
And it becomes even more incredulous when we remember that Jesus is saying this from under the shadow of the cross. He is Himself on the cusp of the single most profound experience of suffering that there will ever be in the history of this creation. And from the shadow of the cross, Jesus looks out to the Church, and tells us that His legacy, His anticipation for us, is that we will be defined by joy.
John 16:20-24, ‘your grief will turn to joy. …you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy… your joy will be complete.’
It’s not a joy that is born out of naiveté or of a superficial understanding of the world, still less of denying or downplaying the reality of this world. Our Christianity must never descend to the realm of escapism. Rather, it is a joy that is so profound that it provides a context in which we can uniquely face this world as we pilgrimage through it. The joy provides the solid ground on which we stand to look this world in the eye, and it will inspire and motivate us as we continue to pursue Jesus, the Giver of Joy.
Questions:
In what ways do we risk our Christianity becoming a form of escapism?
Jesus seems to be suggesting that the Spirit of Truth will teach the ‘much more’ that Jesus has to say to His disciples, but which they cannot bear at this point (16:12-15). According to this passage, how does the Spirit do that? How should that shape our experience of Church life today?
What is Jesus referring to in 16:16? Why do you think it causes such confusion in the disciples(16:17-18)?
Why will the world rejoice while the discipels grieve (16:20 & 22)? When will the Church’s grief turn to joy (16:20)? How do you reconcile this with Jesus’ teaching that those who mourn are blessed (Matt.5:4)?
How does a Christian’s joy differ from what is experienced by those who aren’t Christians? Can people who aren’t Christians experience ‘joy’?
In what ways do you think sin affects our emotional life? What do you think a redeemed emotional life looks like?
To what is Jesus comparing the birth of a child (16:21)? Why does Jesus use this analogy?
What does Jesus mean when He says: ‘No-one will take away your joy’ (16:22)? Why - when Jesus says this - does our experience of joy seem so fragile, and our grasp of it so tenuous? How do we reconcile this with Jesus’ teaching about ‘mourning’ (e.g. Matt.5:4), or Paul’s heartfelt ‘great sorrow and unceasing anguish’ (Rom.9:2)?
Why does Jesus begin teaching about prayer again (16:23-24)? How do you feel about Jesus’ teaching on prayer throughout this discourse (14:13-14; 15:7-8)? Do you believe Him? Does this reflect your own experience of prayer? Why do you think that is? What changes might you need to make to the way your pray?
