Welcome to Day 31 of our 40 Day challenge! John 16:16-33

(Catch up with us, with our reading list March, reading list for April,  and Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24,
Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30)

Today we are reading John 16:16-33

John 16:16-33

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

¹⁶ Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

¹⁷ At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

¹⁹ Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? ²⁰ Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ²² So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. ²³ In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive,and your joy will be complete.

²⁵ “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.²⁷ No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

²⁹ Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.³⁰ Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

³¹ “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. ³² “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

I see how much the disciples wanted to understand what was going on. I feel their hearts for Jesus and their hearts for understanding. It’s been so paradigm shifting, so destabilizing but incredible, this walking with Jesus. They want to understand! He tells them He’ll speak to them plainly and they seem to grab hold of that and say, yes we understand! Finally it’s all clear! You used to speak in parables but now, we understand. When really, they couldn’t possibly understand all that was about to happen. And life is often like this for us as well.

I’ve been in this place many a time. Ok, God I get it, I see it all perfectly, and from this moment on I’ve got this. That’s actually a dangerous place to be, because I’m likely to run off on my own strength.

One of the most crucial things for me is having a teachable spirit. We all have blind spots and need people around us saying, what about this? Have you considered x? Have you thought of y? One of the most dangerous things in the Christian life is people who will not hear the feedback of others. This is for everyone, but especially those in leadership. Paul saw this and encouraged us to submit to each other in love. It’s hard to see our own hypocrisy, but it’s obvious to those around us. And so I encourage those around me to speak into my life and point out any blind spots I might have. I even took a lot of flack when Aidan was little for encouraging him to do the same. Some thought it might lead to the wrong power dynamic in a parent-child relationship. But it worked against my spiritual pride, and helped me grow. There have been plenty of times the Lord has spoken to me through him that I would have missed if I hadn’t been willing to receive his feedback. And he’s now a 20 year old who can both give and receive feedback from me and others well.

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you next time, for Day 32 and Mark 14:1-10

♥ Samantha