Let us focus on the need for healing in our church today. As a community, we have faced a crisis. And as individuals, every person is either facing a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or heading into a crisis. Many of your leaders, laity and clergy, consider the last two months among the most difficult we have faced in ministry.
It will help to take a deep dive into one verse, John 16:33. Right before this, Jesus told his disciples they were going to forsake him for a time. He noted, however, that he would never be alone, for God is always with him. In conclusion, the one Lord Jesus Christ said,
I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.
There are five major parts to this verse. Let’s take them one by one:
I. The Word’s Words
The eternal Word of God became flesh in Jesus Christ. This is the message of the beginning of the gospel of John. Jesus is “the Word.” He is “God,” but he is personally distinct, for he is also “with God.” The eternal Word is one with God the Father, possessing the fullness of the divine being in his person. He is also distinct from the Father, for he is a person by reason of his generation from the very bosom of the Father. He is the Word of God who assumed our humanity in his incarnation by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary.
Jesus is the Word of God, so when he speaks, his words are simply the very words of God. And the words in our focus verse today, John 16:33, conclude the last sermon he preached during his earthly ministry. They are, if you will, Christ’s final words to the church before his humiliating and atoning death on the cross, followed by his glorious resurrection from the dead, and then his enthronement at the right hand of the living God.
The concluding sermonic words of the incarnate Word are significant precisely because they are the last words he wants his people to hear before the surprising events which constitute the great mystery of the faith. What is that “mystery,” that mystery which his words unfolded? Pastor Mark often summarizes the great mystery for us during our celebration of the Lord’s Supper in a three-part movement:
Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again!
Jesus said, “I have told you these things.” What did he tell them? He had begun his longest and last sermon, the so-called “Farewell Discourse,” which is found in John 14-16, with these comforting words: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms…. I am going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2). And, now, he concludes this greatest of Trinitarian sermons with similar words, “I have told you these things, so that you may have peace.”
The words of the Word of God are intended to bring us peace. The Word of God does not mislead us. Yes, we will have trouble in this world. But! And this is the important point for our healing and comfort: We may have peace and victory in Christ.
II. Peace in Christ
Peace in Christ is the only true peace that there is. The Hebrew word, Shalom, which is behind the New Testament Greek term, Eirene, describes a life filled with wholeness.
The pagan Greek idea of “peace” referred almost exclusively to “civil tranquility” and “a state of law and order that gives rise to the blessings of prosperity” (Silva, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, vol. 2, 111).
By contrast, the Old Testament idea of “peace” means “safety or health,” “well-being,” or “complete, whole, perfect.” The Hebrew concept of peace points to the Lord as “the true source and giver of peace.” His peace comes with salvation. When we unite to Christ by faith, we have access to his perfect peace.
Also, it is wise to recall, that his peace is ultimately eschatological. The prophet Isaiah tells us to look toward the Messiah, who is “the Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:5-6). He will bring eternal peace with the perfection of his kingdom (Silva, vol. 2, 112-13).
Christ’s kingdom came spiritually with his first coming: It appears wherever his people gather in faith to worship him as God. But his visible kingdom comes in its fullness only with his second coming. In the time in which we live now, in this “time between the times,” we are given the mission of announcing his kingdom to the world. We live in a time in which the kingdom of God is growing, but it is also a time in which the kingdom of this world is still in rebellion.
This is why we as a church are so focused on missions—Christ has given his church the responsibility to proclaim the kingdom of Jesus to a rebellious, lost, and condemned world. All sinners may find peace, but only if they will become one with Christ by exercising true faith.
Through the years, the Lord has impressed upon me that the best way I can help people who have lost a loved one is to pray. We must pray that we will trust in Jesus Christ, for Christ alone brings us “the peace that surpasses all understanding.” Paul said it like this:
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:5-6)
My brothers and sisters, when you have reached the end of your rope, and you need peace, then learn to pray to the one Lord Jesus Christ. When all other hopes have failed, pray to the One who can never fail. When all your plans have turned to ashes, pray to the One who can reconstitute life from death. When all other persons have proven to be untrustworthy, even treacherous, then turn to the One who is integrity in person. When all you can see is darkness and death, then turn to the One who is, by definition, both “light” and “life” itself, Jesus Christ. He promises you peace, perfect peace, unending peace, well-being, wholeness, completeness.
Many historians have called the 19th century London Baptist preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “the prince of preachers.” But Spurgeon himself called Jesus Christ, “the greatest of all preachers” and “the dearest of all teachers,” for Christ’s words have perfect power. And Christ has called us to know perfect peace through faith in him. What is peace in Christ like? Spurgeon described it like this:
Peace of the deepest, truest, most constant, most emphatic kind is only found in Jesus. Peace in all seasons, and in all difficulties; peace for ever: all this is in him, and in him only. Outside of him it is tossing to and fro, and question, and fog, and haze, and fear; but in him we dwell as in a sheepfold, where the sheep lie down and rest. In him we are we are in a home where all is love and comfort. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Sweet Peace for Tried Believers”)
III. Troubles in the World
The Greek word translated as “suffering” in John 16:33 is thlipsis—There’s a tongue twister. It is used 45 times in the New Testament and was translated in the King James Version with the following English terms:
Thlipsis (Greek): tribulation (21x), affliction (17x), trouble (3x), anguish (1x), burdened (1x), to be afflicted with (1x). (Strong’s Concordance)
The root meaning of thlipsis is “pressure.” It describes the pressures coming from the circumstances which face every person in this fallen world. Jesus used it to describe those who hear the Word and receive it with joy but who fall away when persecution [or oppression] comes (Matt. 13:21). He also used it to describe “the great tribulation” at the end of time (Matt. 24:21). Jesus also used thlipsis to describe a woman’s labor pains (John 16:21). This is important: Paul reminded the early churches that “it is necessary to go through many hardships [or pressures] to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
I’ll be honest with you. I do not like this part of what Jesus said: “You will have suffering in this world.” The weakness of the human flesh in me cries out for creaturely comfort and ease. Ask Karen sometime what I am like when I get sick or, even worse, when I get a splinter. I hate to admit this, but she will tell you that you have never seen such a big baby in your life!
And Jesus? He pulls no punches with us: “You will suffer.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous martyr who suffered death through the direct command of Adolf Hitler, once wrote in his famous book, The Cost of Discipleship, about the necessity of the cross. Bonhoeffer described the cross as twofold: There is the cross of Christ; and there is the cross of the Christian.
First, Jesus told us that he came precisely so that he could carry his cross (Mark 8:31). When Peter tried to tell him that his cross was not the way to the Kingdom, Jesus rebuked Peter harshly for trying to avoid the inevitable will of God. Bonhoeffer responded, “Suffering and rejection sum up the whole cross of Jesus. To die on the cross means to die despised and rejected of men. Suffering and rejection are laid upon Jesus as a divine necessity, and every attempt to prevent it is the work of the devil, especially when it comes from his own disciples; for it is in fact an attempt to prevent Christ from being Christ.” (Cost of Discipleship, 96).
Second, Jesus calls every believer to carry his or her own cross. After rebuking Peter, Christ said, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35). Bonhoeffer responded, “The ‘must’ of suffering applies to his disciples no less than to himself. Just as Christ is Christ only in virtue of his suffering and rejection, so the disciple is a disciple only in so far as he shares his Lord’s suffering and rejection and crucifixion” (Cost of Discipleship, 96).
One translation from the German summarized this unassailable truth in this pithy way,
When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die (Cost of Discipleship, 99).
I have written many essays on the sixteenth-century Anabaptists through the years, and I am completing a volume on Anabaptist Theology right now. Karen tells me her favorite essay I’ve ever written is on the cross-shaped spirituality of the Anabaptists. These blessed men and women of Europe suffered horribly due to persecution by the religious authorities who did not want them preaching the Word or practicing the Word in its fullness. The truth that helped the Anabaptists to withstand torture and death, and stay faithful to Jesus, was summarized in Latin as
Per crucem ad lucem: “through the cross into the light.”
IV. Take Comfort and Courage
I think it is instructive how the various verbs used by Jesus in our focus verse, John 16:33, convey different moods. Note the correlation of three profound truths from these verbs: you will have trouble in this world; you may have peace in Christ; and you must be courageous.
A. Indicative Mood – “you will have suffering in this world”
B. Subjunctive Mood – “you may have peace in me”
C. Imperative Mood – “you must have courage”
First, and this is the bad news: every person in this world has troubles. That is the baseline. There is no escaping the truth that life in this fallen creation is filled with trials, troubles, tribulations. Disappointment in this life is doubtless. Evil is inescapable. Pain is pervasive. Creation, Paul said, “groans” (Rom. 8:22). This is true for you, whatever your age, education, race, wealth, gender, or religion. It is true, whether you are a believer in Christ or an unbeliever. The Lord said, “You will have suffering in this world.” This is why Pastor Mark is so adamant that the so-called “health and wealth gospel” must be rejected as a false gospel.
Second, and this is the good news: Peace and victory are a possibility. But peace now and victory forever are possible only if you are “in Christ.” You may have peace, but only if you are united with Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit’s work of grace through personal faith.
Third, courage is required. If you are a believer, you must, indeed, you will, take comfort through your eschatological hope in the conquering of this world by Christ. The Greek word, tharseite, in John 16:33, means “courage” or “comfort.” It is a verb put in the imperative. Whatever your fear, he calls you to face it down and overcome it in him. Whatever your pain, he can walk you through it, for he has taken everything in his flesh, and he has won the victory over every trial, trouble, and temptation. You will have trouble in this world, but you must take courage and you must take comfort. You must overcome the world through the cross of Christ.
Personal Application
Men, let’s talk for a moment. You have been hurt, but you are stronger than the pain. Let’s man up and embrace our crosses together. Let’s be like Jesus and, in great peace, receive all God has given us to suffer. Have you ever noticed how, in the Gospel accounts of his trial, Christ faced his cross with perfect peace? He did not cry or beg or run—He went up on that cross like a warrior. He overcame death by virtue of his virtuous life. Gird your loins, my brothers, and let us take up our crosses. The strength you need for your trial will come when you bring your soul in submission to Christ and embrace the cross that he has assigned for you.
Women, let me talk to you for a moment. You have been disillusioned, but you are better than the illusions of this world. Whatever your disappointments, whatever the evil that has been dished out to you, be a woman of faith. Be bold, be strong, be courageous. Your real beauty is in placing your soul in submission to Christ and carrying his cross for you.
Every Christian man and every Christian woman wants to be better than we are. The cross Christ called you to bear is intended to perfect you, to make you fit for glory. An alternative band from Oxford, Radiohead, once gathered human hope into these lyrics, “I don’t care if it hurts. I want to have control. I want a perfect body. I want a perfect soul.” Know that Christ will gain control through your cross, as you surrender your life to him, and he promises you a perfected body and a perfected soul in him.
Children, let me talk to you for a moment. Whatever your fears, know that Christ has already faced every evil thing and overcome it. He is the light who shines in the darkness. He is the life who overcomes death itself. He is the Word who creates meaning out of the chaos. He is your comfort, your courage. Your hope is in submitting your soul to Christ and his cross for you.
V. Finally, Victory in Jesus
Where is the victory? The victory over evil in this world is found in every human heart that is submitting itself in faith to Jesus Christ. “You must have courage!” Christ says, “I have conquered the world.”
Do you realize that Christ was heading into the garden called Gethsemane when he prophesied his victory? Do you understand that his very words of victory were proclaimed immediately before he went to the hill called Golgotha, “the Skull”?
Christ looked death in the face, and he knew that, because he is God as well as man, that he alone can overcome death. He knew he was going to die for the sins of the whole world. He knew he would face every temptation yet never succumb to sin. He faced the fight of his life, the fight of his cross, and he said, “I have overcome!” He did not say, “I hope to overcome.” He did not whimper, “I wonder if I can overcome!” No, he said with boldness, “I have overcome!” Christ’s victory was assured before he fought the battle that won the war for every believer. You cannot kill God! And Christ is both mortal man and eternal God! Death has been “swallowed up” in his victory!
Spurgeon spoke well that Christ at the cross “had really overcome the world. Its blandishments he had overcome. Its temptations he had overcome. Its terrors he had overcome. Its errors he had overcome. Everything in the world that had assailed him he had put to the rout. He was tempted in all points like as we are, but he remained without sin. He had overcome everything that had come to attack his holiness, his patience, his self-sacrifice; he had been victor at every point.”
Personal Application
Whatever the difficulties you personally face in this life. Whatever the difficulties this church communally faces in this life. Whatever the troubles you face in society, in church, and in the family, I know a man who has overcome them all, and his name is Jesus the Lord.
Jesus Christ is the One with all authority and power. Jesus Christ has conquered the grave and hell itself. In him, I have no fear of death. Jesus Christ has conquered sin. In him, I have no fear of wrath. Jesus Christ has conquered every opponent of my soul and my body. In him, I have no fear of anything at all.
Christ has overcome! Christ has conquered! Christ has the victory!
Do you need healing? Christ is your peace! Do you need salvation? Christ is your peace! Do you need hope and comfort and courage, enough to face every problem that could ever come at you? Christ is your peace!
With Horatio Spafford, who just received news that he had lost his family in a shipwreck, let us learn to sing of that peace which is perfect, of that peace which comes from the One who has taken death itself and overcome it. The first and last verses of his famous hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul,” are worthy of deep reflection when you need health in your soul, when you need the healing touch of the powerful Savior of all who believe in him. Christ wants to bring to you his peace through your faith in his death and his resurrection.
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
And, Lord, haste the day, when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
“Even so, it is well with my soul.”
Whatever problem you face right now, please embrace this truth with your whole being: Christ is your courage for the cross. Christ is your conqueror for victory. Christ is your comfort in the chaos of this world.
Communal Application
Would you let me lead us in a church prayer? Would you join me in praying this prayer?
Lord, we ask you to continue walking with our church. We ask you to bring us healing from the hurt we have suffered. We ask you to preserve this, your flock, and us, your sheep, from further harm. We ask you to give the good shepherds of this flock wisdom about the spiritual opposition you said we would face. We ask you to continue guiding our pastoral staff and our lay leadership teams to discern the way forward for us in all things. We ask for you to preserve our unity. We ask for you, most of all, to bless us with your real presence to this covenanted congregation and to grant us supernatural guidance. We are yours, Lord. Heal us, preserve us, use us for your glory through our missionary calling. Give us your comfort in this chaos.
