Take courage; I have overcome the world.

John 16 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“These things I have spoken to you so that you will not be led into sin. ² They will ban you from the synagogue, yet an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering a service to God. ³ These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor 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. However, I did not say these things 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, grief has filled your heart. ⁷ But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, 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 regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: ⁹ regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; ¹¹ and regarding 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 at the present time. 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, 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 from Mine and will disclose it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you.

¹⁶ “A little while, and you no longer are going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” ¹⁷ So some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this that He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you are not going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I am going 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 wanted to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you are not going to see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly I say to you that you will weep and mourn, 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 is going to take your joy away from you.

²³ And on 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 figures of speech; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ On that day you will ask in My name, and I am not saying 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; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and are not using any figure of speech. ³⁰ Now we know that You know all things, and that You have no need for anyone to question You; this is why we believe that You came forth from God.” ³¹ Jesus replied to 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 says: “These things I have spoken to you so that you will not be led into sin. They will ban you from the synagogue, yet an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering a service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor Me.”   If they do not know the Father or Jesus, then it is not God they offer service to, but rather the gods of this world. Still, we can see that hour that Jesus speaks of has come. We see more and more that evil and darkness are celebrated, while goodness and light are criticized and condemned. A nation that was founded on Biblical values, not only no longer embraces them, but actually despises them and those who stand for them. In Isaiah 5:20 God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  Surely condemning and despising those who stand with Jesus is not serving God. Luke 9:35 says: A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” If we listen to Jesus, we will not be led into sin.

Jesus says: “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, 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 from Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you.” Those who have not known Jesus or the Father will also not know the Spirit of truth. Just as they despise those who are in Christ, they also despise the truth. Whether it is the truth about unborn babies, the truth about gender or the truth about immorality, truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth. In John 14:6 Jesus says: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  This truth is why many reject both Jesus and the Bible as non-inclusive and hateful. The truth is there is nothing more inclusive than salvation through Christ. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”  Everyone in the world has the same opportunity and eligibility for salvation.  No one is given preference according to heritage, social standing, age, gender or any of the multitude of ways the world divides people. There is one way, the same way for every person. It’s not rooted in hate but rather in God’s love.

In the 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.”  Romans 8:31-39 says: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Just as it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.