These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling

John 16 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. ² They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. ³ These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. ⁴ But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

⁵ “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; ¹¹ and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

¹² “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

¹⁶ “A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” ¹⁷ Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” ¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. ²¹ Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. ²² Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

²³ In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; ²⁷ for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. ²⁸ I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech. ³⁰ Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.” ³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ³³ These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

In today’s text Jesus begins saying:   “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them.”    In our culture today, we certainly see that there are those who think they are serving God by persecuting and even killing followers of Christ. They cry out to their god before they commit acts of murder. There are others who disregard God, making themselves out to be their own gods or serving the gods of humanity, who also believe they are serving by eliminating Christians. These words of Jesus were spoken and recorded so that we would not stumble. We should not be surprised by any of these things. We are to remember that Jesus told us of them.  

Jesus continues saying:  “I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”    He spoke these things to keep us from stumbling. We tend to think that stumbling means entering into sin, not living righteously and that is true. But, there is another form of stumbling that we need to guard against. At the end of today’s text Jesus says:   “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”    We also stumble if we allow tribulation, persecution; all the things that are happening in the world, to take peace from us. Jesus promise is that we have peace even in the midst of the tribulation of the world. Allowing fear, doubt, anxiety and worry to take the peace we have been promised is stumbling. It is why Jesus spoke these words and it is why He sent the Helper. The Holy Spirit not only convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgment, but also Jesus says: “He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”     A key truth for us today is to know with confidence that what Jesus said is true. “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)   We need to believe that, saying, like the psalmist: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me. (Psalm 23:1-4)  We should fear no evil. We should fear nothing the world can bring against us, not even death, because Jesus has overcome even death.

In the text today Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”     We may experience the anguish of tribulation. Jesus told us it would come. We need to know, understand and believe that these things, all the trials and tribulation the world has to offer, are merely part of the birthing process of what is to come for us. Jesus says:  “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”    We will see Jesus again. Whether by death from this world or by His returning to establish His kingdom, we will see Him. Knowing what is coming from what we are presently experiencing, we should have both peace and joy in Christ Jesus.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit for the words You have spoken that we should neither be surprised, nor stumble, nor fear. Thank You for the promise that You will always be with us, whether we see You or know You by the Helper, the Holy Spirit, our guide. Keep me from stumbling that I might walk in Your peace. I rejoice that I will see You and I have peace believing that You have already overcome anything that the world might bring against me. Amen.