A Day of Mourning

If God’s people would take their
Bibles and turn back to John chapter 16. John chapter 16 is
where we have been. It’s where we pick up this morning.
And we will return again in a few weeks. John chapter 16. And for the sake of time this
morning, I want to go immediately to Beloved apostles, 11 of them,
one having already departed, he is trying to shore them up
and ready them for his departure. And he addresses that very issue
once again here in chapter 16. We want to begin in verse 16,
and we’ll course down through verse 22. A little while, and you will
no longer see me. And again, a little while, and
you will see me. 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.
So they were saying, what is this that he says, a little while? We do not know what he’s talking
about. 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? 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.” Jesus has been encouraging them. taken the time to answer
all kinds of questions. He is patiently born with them
and graciously given them answers to their questions and encouragements
for elements that they hadn’t even considered. But Jesus is
preparing to depart. That’s what caused the consternation
from the very beginning. Jesus is preparing to leave them
and they are gravely concerned. And so Jesus begins to take a
new approach in encouraging them. And he begins with a somewhat
enigmatic statement. I trust that by the end of our
time together this morning, it won’t be enigmatic to us. But to the disciples, as soon
as they heard this statement, they were bewildered. The statement
is found in verse 16 where Jesus said, a little while and you
will no longer see me, and again a little while and you will see
me. Jesus basically dwells again on his impending departure. They will no longer see him. Now he has been dropping hints
all along the way, not just in this upper room discourse, that
really all along through the course of his ministry. In John
chapter 7, verse 33, Jesus said, for a little while longer I am
with you. Then I go to him who sent me. There in the upper room, just
immediately following the foot washing, the great encouragement
and admonition to serve one another as he had served them, In John
13, 33, he said, little children, I am with you a little while
longer. You will seek me. And as I said
to the Jews, so also I say to you now, where I am going, you
cannot come. And so this had to begin to sink
in to the disciples. It had to begin to resonate with
them that he really means business. He is going to depart, really
depart. So having warned them a number
of times, Jesus says it again in chapter 14. In the midst of
all of those questions, who and where and what and why, by really
representatives of all of the apostles, they were all thinking
the same thing, only a few had the courage to ask so bold a
question. But Jesus said again in John
chapter 14, verse 19, a little while After a little while, the
world will no longer see me.” And so the apostles there in
this room met for encouragement, already having been challenged.
And in a sense, their world turned upside down at the departure
of Judas. And now the news of Christ’s
departure, the apostles there were just grasping at any word
of hope, any word of comfort. And so hearing this statement,
they are bewildered all the more. It did nothing to help them initially. Look at verse 17. Some of his
disciples then said to one another, what is this thing he is telling
us? a little while you will not see
me, and again a little while you will see me.” They heard
it accurately. They quoted it perfectly. They know exactly
what Jesus said. They still don’t understand it. And now they string together
another statement that Jesus had made from verse 10, because
I go to the Father. They knew where He was going,
basically. They knew that He was leaving.
They know what the statement is. it together. They know that it’s
coming. They know that it’s going to
be in just a little while, but they don’t even understand that
simple phrase in the particular reference. Look at verse 18.
So they were saying, what is this that he says? If we only
knew the time reference, if we only knew what a little while
meant, What is this thing that he says a little while we do
not know what he’s talking about? We have no idea this reference
to time, the significance of it. How soon are we talking?
And so there’s a series. I sense here in the course of
these three little verses some stammering, some pausing. The
disciples seemingly pull aside from Jesus, and they’re muttering
to one another and expressing their questions and their doubt,
and Jesus bears with them. Jesus knows their hearts, He
knows their mutterings, He knows what they’re murmuring about,
and He bears with them until they reach kind of a new
low. I sense that the disciples here
are almost frustrated with Christ, as if he’s toying with them.
As if he’s giving them just a little bit of news, but not too much
to really clarify things for them. And so Jesus now is going
to explain his own words. Jesus is going to take the time
to explain to them what it is he means. A little while and
you will not see me. And again, a little while, and
you will see. I’ve entitled the message, A
Day of Mourning, because that’s what Jesus tells them they’re
already experiencing. They’re already in a day of mourning. We’ll look at that in a moment.
But the Lord wants to inform his friends about four elements
regarding the effect of his departure. His departure is legitimate,
His departure is real, and His departure is going to have an
effect on His beloved friends. And so Jesus wants to walk them
through that departure. He wants to walk them through
the effects of that departure, and He wants to tell them four
things regarding it. First of all, the Lord informs
His friends of the cause and the effect of His departure. If you would, look at verse 19.
Jesus knew they wished to question Him, and He said to them, Are
you deliberating together about this, that I said a little while
you will not see Me, and again a little while you will see Me?
I’ll just tell you one of the… key elements of this entire section,
these two sentences, which really are two promises. You will, you
will. There are two promises. And part
of the key of that whole section is understanding what he means
when he says, a little while. But it’s absolutely sure that
whatever we do with the first what we do with the second promise.
We have to understand them. And they have to fit. This little while, this short
period of time. It says that after this little
while his departure will be ended. He will return in some fashion
and that will be met with joy. And it will be a perpetual joy,
an unending joy. It is, without any pre-planning,
it is the, it is well with my soul kind of joy. It is an unending joy that they
will have when Jesus returns and so we must back away and
look at these two sentences, these two promises. Both include
this little phrase regarding a period of time To what do these
sentences refer? To what is Jesus referring when
he promises his departure and his return? As I said, there
are two elements to each of these sentences. In each sentence,
there is this reference to time, a little while. And in each sentence,
a promise, I will. And we have to almost interpret
them as we interpret each sentence, each promise, we have to interpret
each of those elements concurrently. As we do, each of those elements
serves as a kind of check and balance in the interpretation
of the other element. Let me explain. If you look at
the first sentence a little while, you will not see me. Whatever
we say that first element means, of the second element, you will
not seem, and vice versa. So, let’s embark. What do these
two sentences mean? Let’s take the first promise. You will not seem. To what does
this refer? I will tell you there are two
major interpretations of that first sentence, that first promise,
and they are dramatically different. And let’s face it, after all,
there are a lot of different options to begin to explain the
idea that the disciples would lose physical sight of Jesus. They would not be able to explain,
they would not be able to see, rather, Jesus with physical eyes. He would be absent from their
view. And there are many options, as I said. You know, the first
one that comes up is they immediately leave the upper room and they
go to the garden, remember? Well, while Jesus is praying,
they are sleeping. They can’t see Jesus then. But
it can’t possibly be referring to that. Because after they woke
up, they still were in exactly the same predicament. Jesus was
still departing at some point, and they weren’t exactly joyful. They lost sight of him at his
arrest. Remember Matthew’s Gospel. It says that all of his disciples
left him and fled when he was arrested. This is their fault. They departed here. They are
the ones that took their eyes off of Christ and left the scene
entirely. Even though that would fit an
element of this sentence, it doesn’t fit entirely. when they saw Jesus again, because
the next time they see Jesus, he’s being called off to jail,
as it were, and taken through a series of silly trials, all
of which culminated in his indictment, in his crucifixion, first before
Caiaphas, They didn’t see him then because he was literally,
Jesus was literally in the house of the high priest, Luke 22. He was taken before Pilate. They
didn’t see him then. He was taken before Herod and
then back again to Pilate. And they would see him again
after all of those trials. But it was on the cross. It’s hardly a time of joy. And then they would bury Jesus.
John records in John 19, they took the body of Jesus, wrapped
it in linen wrappings, laid it in a new tomb in which no one
had ever laid. They laid Jesus there. And Jesus is absent from their
sight. There were a number of different
approaches I can do away with one of them very quickly this
morning. There are two primary views, two of the two promises
that Jesus mentions here, his departure and his return. There
were some who say that the promises refer to Christ’s ascension and
a spiritual apprehension of Christ after Pentecost. I’ll come back
to that one. the second view said that these
promises refer to Christ’s death and burial and resurrection,
very similar. That there is a third, and this
is the one that I’ll do away with very quickly. That these
promises refer to Christ’s ascension, that’s when he’s going to depart,
that’s when he’s going to leave them, and then after his ascension,
the second coming. And there have been many throughout
the history of the church that tried to suggest that the promise,
you will not see me, refers to the time, the period of time
between Christ’s death and his second coming. You will not see
me. But if we consider the first
clause of the second sentence, a little while, I think after about a year of
waiting, that argument began to fade really quickly, and 2,000
years added up overwhelmingly in favor against this argument. You can’t say that 2,000 years
is a little while, not by any stretch. So there’s no reason
to go here. There’s no reason to say that
Christ’s departure is His ascension and that we’re just waiting for
a little while until Jesus’ second coming. I would ask you just
to brush that aside. I want to turn to the first plausible
argument. There are two. The first of which
is that these promises refer to Christ’s ascension and a spiritual
apprehension, a spiritual view of Christ after Pentecost, which
they did not have. Let’s look at the ascension first.
Jesus is saying that his departure, this phrase that he says, after
a little while you will no longer see me, that that is referring
to his ascension. And there are many who say that
when Jesus said that, he was referring to Christ’s ascension
into heaven, as recorded in Acts 1, that this would be the occasion
when Christ’s disciples would no longer see Him. They have
just enjoyed His presence again for 40 days, but now He’s really
leaving. And He’s really going to be gone
for a long time. He’s going to the Father. There’s a major problem with
this view. Jesus goes on to say that to whatever period of time
this refers, it is followed by a time of grief. When Jesus goes
away, there is going to be a season of grief. If you’re in John 16,
look down at verse 20. Truly, truly, I say to you that
you will Weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will
grieve. Look at verse 21, at the first
part of his illustration, to which we’ll get in a moment. Whenever a woman is in labor,
she has pain because her hour has come. He’s likening that
to what the disciples will endure. Look at verse 22. Therefore,
you too have grief, Now, they are already experiencing
the pain of Jesus’ departure. And yet the position of those
who say that this is the ascension, say that after his resurrection,
after being reunited with his disciples again, for a mere 40
days, and then he leaves again, that this first promise refers
to his ascension. Since there was no doubt, sadness
again when Jesus left, again, these two promises cannot be
pointing to Jesus’ death and burial and resurrection. The
promises have to be pointing to Jesus’ ascension and something
that happens at Pentecost. We’ll see in a moment. The problem is the ascension
was not an event that would produce weeping and lamenting and grief,
like Jesus just described. It doesn’t happen at the departure
that is mentioned here. If you would, turn to Acts chapter
1. And I have you turn to Acts chapter
1, because I want to show you that Christ’s ascension is not
a season of grief for these apostles. It isn’t. In no way, no way of
construing it can it be seen as a season of grief. I want
to begin in verse 9, where Luke records, after He had said these
things, He was lifted up while they were looking on. And a cloud
received them out of their sight. Now, if this was really a season
of grief, if they’re really supposed to be weeping, where are the
tears? Where is the blubbering? Where
is the sadness? As Jesus literally is taken up
to heaven. There’s no despondency here.
Look at verse 10. As they were gazing intently. They’re not casual about it.
But they’re also not brokenhearted about it. I’ll tell you why in
a moment. There was no grieving here. They
were gazing intently into the sky while he was going, and behold,
two men in white clothing stood beside him. Look at verse 11. There’s no weeping here either.
They said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the
sky? And the angel doesn’t point out,
why are your eyes glazed over with tears? There’s no weeping here. They
know where Christ is going. Look at verse 12. I suppose somebody could say
that they were like so many Eors, you know, kind of meandering
and muttering their way back to Jerusalem with a sense of
defeat. Then, verse 12 says, they returned
to Jerusalem from a mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem,
a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city,
they went into the upper room where they were staying, the
same upper room where Jesus had said these things to them. There’s
no sorrow. There’s no debilitating sadness
here. In fact, I take it as a sense
of resolve. the fact that they didn’t scatter,
the fact that they didn’t give up, the fact that they returned
exactly where Jesus last had them? Look at verse 14. These all with one mind were
continually devoting themselves to prayer. This doesn’t sound
like a bunch of men who have lost all hope and are weeping
and lamenting and grieving. It’s not here. Look at verse
15. There is no stunted spiritual
effectiveness. They’re not just a bunch of men
wandering aimlessly around the land because their savior is
gone. At this time, Peter stood up
in the midst of the brethren, and he exercised spiritual leadership. There just isn’t this despondency. There isn’t this depression. Turn, if you would, to Acts 2,
likely at the next page. In Acts 2, verses 1 through 4,
you know the verses well. Look for depression here. Look
for weeping. Look for grief. It’s not there. Verse 1, when the day of Pentecost
had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there
came from heaven a noise, like a violent rushing wind, and it
filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there
appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves
and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with
the Holy Spirit and began to speak to one another with tongues
as the Spirit was giving them utterance. There was no weeping.
There was no sadness. And so this position that this
first promise if you will, back to John 16, this first promise,
the fact that you will not see me, the suggestion that it refers
to Christ’s ascension, and then the second promise, again, a
little while, you will see me, is talking about some kind of
spiritual perception, an ability to see Christ in a whole new
way. that they will see him spiritually
and that this will occur at Pentecost at the giving of the Holy Spirit.
Now there’s no doubt that when they received the Holy Spirit
they were infused with a whole new perspective on God’s plan
of redemption. They were encouraged. They were
able to see and understand. They understood God’s plan of
redemption. In other words, the suggestion
is, for those who say that this is Ascension and Pentecost, the
suggestion is that the second promise is referring to some
new perspective on Christ’s presence, a spiritual perspective of Christ. Here’s how one commentator explains
it. When his bodily presence was withdrawn, their view of
him was no longer after the flesh. He is seen and known by faith. That is absolutely true. But
is that what Jesus is speaking about with that second promise?
Another called it a spiritual seeing. That they saw Christ,
but now they saw Him with spiritual eyes. And this new vision of
Christ is said to have come at Pentecost, at the giving of the
Holy Spirit. In that sense, they saw So let’s look at this. In John 16, Jesus has been discussing
the Holy Spirit. First in his ministry, as we
saw, to the world, a ministry of conviction, and then in a
ministry to his people, a ministry of revelation. But the discussion
of the Holy Spirit very much seems to have ended in verse
15. And Jesus seems to have taken up a very germane but a very
different subject, beginning in verse 16. But further, even though the
disciples did see Jesus with their bodily eyes during this
40-day period, this is exactly what the angel had promised them. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 28. Remember, they’re weeping. They’re
grieving. Jesus has been crucified. They
buried him in a tomb. They are left heartbroken. Matthew
chapter 28, beginning in verse 1. Now after the Sabbath, as
it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary came to look at the grave, and behold, a severe
earthquake had occurred. For an angel of the Lord descended
from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon
it. What a scene! And his appearance
was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. The guards shook
for fear of him, and became like dead men. The angel said to the
women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for
Jesus, who has been crucified. He is not here, for he has risen,
just as he said. Come see the place where He was
lying.” And then the angel said to them, go quickly, tell His
disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going
ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him. The spiritual vision had the disciples not physically
seen Jesus Christ risen? But they had. And that changes
everything. For those who hold to the view
that this refers to the Ascension and Pentecost, one of the arguments
that is used to support the idea is the suggestion that the disciples
became sad again. And we’ve already seen that wasn’t
the case. They were supposed to rejoice
perpetually. And then the ascension must be
followed by some kind of greater surpassing presence of Christ,
whatever that might look like. And so they conclude that Jesus
can’t be referring to his death and resurrection here because
the disciples became sad again after the ascension. Well, we
saw the disciples didn’t become sad again after His ascension,
there was no indication, there was no weeping, no mourning,
no grieving. The reason that I don’t believe
the disciples became sad again was the reason for their sadness. The reason for their sadness
was caused by something far greater than Jesus’ mere physical absence. It wasn’t just their lack of
a sight, a physical sight of Christ. It was much more than
that. And you know what it is. Their sadness included their
remorse over the fact that Jesus Christ, in going to the cross,
was doing so for their sin. We refer to the Lord’s table.
communion. Frequently. It is a time of solemnity. Because we know that in that
time of remembering the Lord’s table, we’re remembering that
He went to die for us. I think I’ve told this story
before in small circles. But when I constructed When I
took opportunity of the men’s permission, I said, I want to
create, I want to make an old, rugged cross. Something more
appropriate, something more realistic to the real thing. And when I went to size the cross,
it became real to me. when I stretched out my hands
to see about how far apart those nails were then. Is the cross
real to us? Because it was real to the disciples.
We sing these songs all the time. Behold the man upon a cross,
my sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
call out among the skies. until it was accomplished. His
dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished. We sing these all the time, don’t
we? Alas! And did my Savior bleed? And did my Sovereign die? Would
He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior’s blood? Died he for me who caused his
pain, for me who him to death pursued? Amazing love, how can
it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? As it was, these simple men had
watched the events They had seen God’s promises fulfilled in Christ. He had accomplished their redemption. They knew that His sacrifice
on the cross was accepted in full because He rose again, three
days later, just exactly as He had promised. And at the realization
of all of that, joy flooded their hearts. then it would never fade. And if their sadness was largely
caused by Christ’s crucifixion for their sin, then his resurrection
would be a cause for immeasurable and unending rejoicing. So there is another perspective.
It doesn’t have to be the Ascension and Pentecost. There is another
perspective that when Jesus says, a little while and you will not
see me, and again a little while and you will see me, he’s talking
about his impending death, burial, and resurrection. Let’s consider
the elements of that little sentence briefly. When Jesus says, a little
while and you will not see me, he’s talking about his death
and his burial. It’s that simple. you will not see me, is talking
about Jesus’ departure, not about his ascension. The only real
plausible answer to that conundrum is that, much more simply, the
first promise is that Jesus is really going to depart. He will
not be able to be seen with the physical eye. That clearly refers
to the period of time involving Christ’s death and burial. These
events would begin this very same night and end with his death
that very next night, a little while. They would no longer see
Christ. James Boyce said of the resurrection,
the resurrection of Christ is proof that death is not the end of
this life. Death is, in fact, defeated for
all who, by faith, are united to Him on the basis of the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. The believer can have perfect
confidence. The only sure evidence of our
resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself, who
said, because I live, you will live also. Now remember when
I said that that temporal pause, a little while, could serve as
a check and balance for whatever conclusions we draw? It fits. It fits this perspective that
Jesus is referring to, his death and burial, and it fits far better
than the other view. This temporal clause at the beginning
of the sentence, a little while, it can only refer to the mere
hours now, about 24 hours, before the events of the following evening. Jesus’ crucifixion, ultimately
his death, followed by his burial. Not the 40 days leading up to
his ascension. No way that that could, in a
sense, be construed as a little while. Jesus is pointing to the
events of the following day. A little while, culminating in
his crucifixion, his death, his burial. In just a short time
from now, a little while, Jesus is going to be taken from their
view. They will not be able to physically see him, but ah, again
a little while. And the second promise is fulfilled.
After His departure and death comes His return by His resurrection,
and the resurrection was enough. They saw Him. And seeing Him
with their very eyes, resurrected from the dead, and repeatedly
visiting them over a period of 40 days, it was enough to stop
their weeping. It was enough to put an end to
their mourning. It was enough that they quit
grieving. it was enough to instill in them
perpetual, unending joy. It was proof enough that Jesus
Christ had vanquished death, that not only these 11 friends,
but all who believed in Christ would enjoy resurrection life
for eternity. One theologian, crafted these
words when he said the resurrection of Christ constituted a declaration
of the Father that the last enemy had been vanquished, the penalty
paid, and the condition on which life was promised met. Jesus
did it. It’s a simple, straightforward
explanation to these words. These words that the apostles
stumbled over. In the first sentence, the promise
is that of Christ’s departure, a little while and you will not
see me, referring to Jesus’ death and burial. The second promise
is easily explained then. When Jesus says, a little while
and you will see me, he’s speaking of his resurrection just now,
days later. The whole thing would obviously
include Christ’s 40-day post-resurrection stay and his many post-resurrection
appearances with the apostles. But regarding this second sentence, remember the check and the balance,
a little while? It seems reasonable that this
second little while should be relatively the same length of
time as the first. Just as the first
little while refers to about a 24-hour period of time, the
second little while indicates approximately the same duration,
from Friday night to early Sunday morning, so that this second
sentence points clearly to Christ’s resurrection. when His friends
would see Him again. It’s Jesus’ appearance at His resurrection
that He’s referring. The bottom line here, the resurrection
was, for them, enough. It was all the proof they needed.
They saw Him. They saw the risen Savior with
their own eyes. And seeing Him with their very
eyes, resurrected from the dead, it was enough to stop their weeping,
and their mourning, and their grief. It was enough to instill
in them a perpetual and unending joy. It was enough, pardon me,
it was proof enough that Christ had conquered death, that not
only these 11 friends, but all who believed in the Lord Jesus
Christ would enjoy resurrection life, for eternity. They saw
him again. They saw him at his resurrection,
and this was a time of joy, perpetual joy. Jesus refers here to his
death, his burial, and his resurrection. We’ll take up those additional
three elements, all pointing to the effect of Jesus’ departure. on Easter Sunday. Do humble yourselves
in prayer. Our merciful King, we do thank
you and praise you for this good news. We thank you that Jesus
Christ willingly went to the cross to pay for sinners’ sin,
to pay for their penalty. and having paid for their penalty
to release them from that death, to grant them forgiveness, to
give to them the hope of eternal life, the promise of heaven. Lord God, we thank you that you
are willing to depart for what must have seemed like an eternity
as you bore the sin of humanity. Lord God, we thank you that your Heavenly Father received
that precious payment in full. And He counted it as absolutely
good enough. It met absolutely the need for
the payment of the sins of sinners. So that it never needed to be
repeated again. It was enough. It was a perfect
sacrifice. of the Lamb of God. Lord God,
we humble ourselves in preparation for Resurrection Sunday. We humble ourselves before you
and rejoice in what you have provided in Jesus Christ, our
Savior, who willingly took our sin upon himself. Lord God, we
pray If there are any here who do not know this Savior, who
have not received the benefits of what He accomplished on the
cross, the full payment for their sin, and an offer of forgiveness, Lord God, I pray that You would
bring them to knees of repentance. Only Your Spirit, we know, can
accomplish that great work. Having brought them to knees
of repentance for their sin, Lord, grant them faith as you
give them eyes to see. Lord, grant them faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, saving faith, the faith that receives in full
the righteousness of God in place of their sin. Merciful God, We plead with you
on behalf of sinners. Have your way with them. Lord,
for all of us who know Christ and love Christ, we humble ourselves
all the more. And while there is a deep solemnity
knowing that we sent Jesus to the cross, that he would have
gone to the cross if it was for our sin alone. Lord, because of that, there
is also overwhelming joy that he did go to the cross and he
did pay. Because of that we are forgiven.
We thank you for our Savior.