May 15 2022
Easter 5 May 15 2022
First Reading: Acts 11:1-18
Psalm: Psalm 148
Epistle: Revelation 21:1-7
Gospel: John 16:12-22
Sermon Text: John 16:12-22
Sermon Title: “In a Little While”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Last week, we heard in the Twenty Third Psalm, a reading that is quite commonly used in the funeral liturgy; “yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me … I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”. (Psalm 23:4a, 6b) The reading from the book of Revelation last week also spoke of heaven saying “the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd … and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes”. (Revelation 7:17)
We heard too Jesus’ promise, “My sheep hear My voice … I give them eternal life; and they will never perish”. (John 10:27-28a) Today again from the book of Revelation we heard these comforting words, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”. (Revelation 21:4) All of these are common texts for funerals because they speak of the hope and promise of eternal life; received through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As Christians, we have great comfort (and confidence), that our loved ones who have died believing in Jesus; often after suffering great trials and tribulations before they died; are safely with Him even now and that we will see them again on the last day. As Job also wrote in the midst of great affliction, after all of his children had been killed, his property destroyed and his health gone; “I know that my redeemer lives and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed (in death), yet in my flesh I shall see God … my heart faints within me”. (Job 19:25-27)
In today’s Gospel, which takes place on Maundy Thursday; Jesus speaks to His disciples, teaching them about what will happen to them in the very short term (a few days or “a little while”) as they witness Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion; but also, words of comfort and peace and joy they will experience at His bodily resurrection. He said to them, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now”. (John 16:12a) There was still much they did not understand.
(But) “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you in to all the truth, (meaning the truth of Christs atoning death and bodily resurrection for the forgiveness of sins and all that He taught them, “for everything Christ spoke to them was the truth”. (Luther) For He (the Spirit) will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak. He will declare to you the things that are to come”. (John 16:12b-13)
Luther wrote, “Here Christ makes the Holy Spirit a preacher”; a preacher of nothing but Christ and His Word/Gospel. The Holy Spirit “will glorify Me, because He will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has, is mine; therefore, I said that He will take what is mine and declare it to you”. (John 16:14-15) The Holy Spirit did this for the Apostles; so that they could write the Scriptures and boldly proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus after Pentecost. As we heard in the reading from Acts, the people “glorified God (because He) “has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18b) even to the Gentiles.
Luther wrote, “They would never have had the courage to begin such preaching and to persist in it, if the Holy Spirit Himself, had not come to guide and preserve them in the truth”. (Luther commentary, p. 357) The Holy Spirit still works in this way, calling people to faith in Christ and preserving them in faith; by the Gospel; the preaching of the Word, and the sacraments.
Jesus then said, “A little while and you will see Me no longer, and again a little while and you will see Me. So, some of His disciples said to one another, what is this that He says to us … in a little while … because I go to the Father? … We do not know what He is talking about”. (John 16:16-18a) It is clear in hindsight, that Jesus was speaking to them of His crucifixion and resurrection; which would take place in a few hours; something He had talked to them about many times before; but to be fair, we probably would have said or thought something similar.
“Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him” (John 16:19a) about these things. He repeats their questions and then adds “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy”. (John 16:20) This is indeed what happened as the disciples grieved and were devastated at the death of Jesus, and His enemies certainly gloated over Him; but when Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection, “showing them His hands and His side … then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord”. (John 20:20b)
Jesus again said to them, “You will have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will be able to take your joy away from you”. (John 16:22) The disciples will have joy at the bodily resurrection of Christ, because through His death, Jesus has won the victory over sin, death, and devil. The entire church of Christ also has joy, even in the midst of the suffering and sorrows of this life. For Jesus has risen from the dead, never to die again. In another “little while”, Jesus will ascend to the Father. In another “little while”, the Holy Spirit will come upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost; each hearing the mighty works of Christ Jesus for the redemption of the world, in their own language.
Christ Himself is our joy, for He who is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, is the same One who atoned for all of our sins by His shed blood on the cross. We have received from Him the forgiveness of sins; by the washing of water and the Word in Holy Baptism. He feeds us with His very body and blood every time we receive the Lord’s Supper. He pronounces the word of absolution/forgiveness upon those who confess their sins to God and through the preaching of the Gospel, promises eternal life to all who believe in Him. Again, we have this joy in the midst of pain and heartache and suffering and persecution because “no one will be able to take your joy from you”. (John 16:22b)
The rejoicing of the devil and the unbelieving world will be short lived; for the phrase, “in a little while”, (John 16:16a) also looks ahead to the day of our death and the Day of Judgment; and we know not the hour or the day of either. The Psalmist describes our lives as being “like a breath … like a passing shadow”. (Psalm 144:4) The prophet Isaiah wrote, “All flesh is grass”. (Isaiah 40:6b) The Apostle James asks “What is your life? You are like a mist that appears for a short time and then vanished”. (James 4:14)
The psalmist also declared, “for all our days pass away under Your wrath, we bring our years to n end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy or perhaps by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away … so teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom”. (Psalm 90:9-10, 12)
Also, the Apostle Paul describes our lives as a “light momentary affliction … preparing us for an eternal weight of glory, beyond all comparison”. (2nd Corinthians 4:17) In the midst of intense suffering and trials, it often doesn’t seem/feel like “a little while”, but rather a like a long, drawn-out ordeal that may never come to an end, but in light of eternity, it surely is “momentary”. “For the things that are seen are transient (temporary), but the things that are unseen are eternal”. (2nd Corinthians 4:18)
The better days are coming; an eternity to be spent in the presence of our Lord; for “in a little while”, Jesus is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead; to take His people home to be with Him forever. John described it as “a new heaven and a new earth … I saw the holy city of Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”. (Revelation 21:1-2a) John also wrote, “We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”. (1st John 3:2b)
Whichever “little while” comes first, the end of our lives, or Christ’s return in glory at the end of time, when all the dead will be raised bodily; as His people, His sheep, we need not fear the future. For Jesus knows those who are His and He has promised, “I give them eternal life and they will never perish”. (John 16:28a) For as we heard last week, “even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for You are with us; Your rod and Your staff comfort us … Your goodness and mercy shall follow us, all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”. (Psalm 23:4, 6) Amen.
The peace of God …