For More Than a Little :: John 16:16-22
Riddle me this: What occurs once every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a thousand years? The answer: the letter m.
How about: You can touch me, but I can’t touch you. You can turn away from me, but I can never reject you. What am I? The answer: a mirror.
I’ve never been much of a jokester, but riddles are fun. Riddles tease you, test you, perplex you, and make you think. And I like that. We can find riddles throughout the Bible. The first one was spoken by God in the Garden when he told the serpent that [the seed of the woman] would crush his head and he would bruise his heel (Gen 3:15). One of the more famous riddles comes to us in Judges chapter 14. There, the strong man Samson bets his opponents that they couldn’t figure out this one:
From the eater came [something to] eat.
From the strong came [something] sweet (14:14).
Today’s riddle from the Gospel of John was just as puzzling, especially when you read it in English. Jesus told the disciples: A little [while], and you will see me no longer; and again a little [while], and you will see me (v 16). We might think the disciples should have known what Jesus was saying, given that he had been prepping them to answer this for more than a year. Alas, they didn’t. But on this Fourth Sunday of Easter, we know exactly what he means. He means that ...
BECAUSE OF HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION, YOUR JOY WILL LAST MORE THAN A LITTLE WHILE: IT WILL LAST ETERNALLY.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!
I. So how much longer is a little while?
Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by a little while. When Jesus says in a little while ... he means literally in hours ... in days ... in months ... and in lifetimes. It helps to understand this if you can read Greek. The Greek language has at least five words for seeing. There are verbs for seeing with your eyes, seeing with faith, seeing with sustained action, seeing in glimpses, and seeing brilliance.
Now add in the context of John 16, and we know that ... in a little while, the disciples won’t see Jesus any longer because he’ll be betrayed by one of his own, arrested by a mob in the night, beaten, mocked, bloodied, crucified, pierced for our transgressions. They’ll see him die on a cross and be buried. So Jesus says, in a little while you will no longer see me all the time. It clearly points to the death of Jesus.
Then Jesus adds that, in a little while you will see glimpses of me. In other words, Jesus is telling them he will rise from the dead, and the disciples will begin seeing glimpses of their risen Lord ... at the tomb, in the upper room, on the road to Emmaus, on the beach, on the mountain. They will catch a lot of glimpses of their Lord for 40 days ... here, there, and everywhere ... until his Ascension into heaven.
And someday soon, in a little while, he will come again to judge the living and the dead. It will happen in a little while. This is why having hope in the resurrection is so important. Save for the return of Jesus first, we will die and be buried, just like Jesus. But we know death is not the total annihilation of man in his body. In a little while, because of our faith in Christ, we, who have a living hope, will fully realize the joy of the resurrection of the body and life everlasting and we will get to see him all the time.
II. We shouldn’t be surprised that the disciples don’t understand any of this, even if Jesus had been prepping them for this reality for more than a little while.
We have the benefit of the entire canon of scripture and the sacraments of Christ. They had only Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, which in some ways were riddles telling us about Jesus. Although they certainly had hope in the promises and saving faith in Christ ... honestly, ask yourselves, how could they understand any of the riddles that Jesus had been confounding them with riddles ...
that he is the fulfillment of all of scripture;
that he is the perfect sacrifice on the mountain of God foretold in Genesis 22[:14];
that his death will completely atone for their sins (1 Jn 2:2; 2 Cor 5:21; Rm 5:18);
that he is God in the flesh, Immanuel, foretold by Isaiah (7:14);
that he is the author of life who created the world (John 1:1-3);
that he would do something no man can do ... die and rise from the dead!
How can any of us who have not seen understand these things?
Like the disciples, we look for the Lord in all the wrong places. We spend more than a little time focusing on being just like Jesus all the time, focusing only on this good man’s good word about good living, trying to avoid the pain and suffering of life. We spend more than a little time longing to have our heart’s desire.
But that isn’t why Jesus came to us.
He came to save us from ourselves.
In a little while the disciples will realize they desperately need a redeemer from their selfish pride, greed, power trips, and refusal to forgive their brother. Do you? While the world tries to establish their place in the congregation, declaring that they are greatest among them, Jesus urges us instead to confess our sin, admitting that we don’t know what he’s talking about (v. 18). That is to say, brothers and sisters in Christ, repent everyone of you, weep and lament (v20a) your sin.
A little after telling them this riddle, Jesus led the disciples into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He urged them to stay awake for a little while. There, after he sweats blood knowing the fate that awaits him ... betrayal, rejection, beatings, humiliation, crucifixion, death, even death on a cross ... the disciples all began doing what we all do best ... going to sleep and abandoning our Lord.
Sadly, the world continues to rejoice at this thought. The world is fleeing from Jesus. Worse, they are mocking you for your love of Christ. But beloved, your sojourning here will last just a little while. You who believe in Jesus may be sorrowful now, but your pain will turn into joy (v. 20) because ...
He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
Thank God our salvation doesn’t depend on us.
Christ really did exchange the joy that was set before him for the shame of the cross (Heb 12:2) ... A little after Jesus said all of this, our sinless savior became sin for us so that God could reconcile himself to us, destroying sin, death, and the devil in one all-atoning sacrifice for us ... More than that, he rose from the grave to declare victory for us! Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus is turning sorrow into a glorious and inexpressible joy as we await the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls in a little while (vv.20–22; 1 Peter 1:9).
III. Indeed that is what “little a while” means, but it also means about forty days.
Our Easter season is nearly over. Ascension Day is just two and a half weeks away, on May 13. Then, we will remember that Jesus ... who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory (1 Tm 3:16) ... to be seated at the right hand of God, from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead.
This departure for a little while is for our good and his glory. His ascension into heaven means that in a little while the Day of Pentecost is coming upon us, too. What great joy the outpouring of the Holy Spirit brings into all of our lives for more than just a little while.
First and foremost, Pentecost reminds us how the Holy Spirit begins to do his work in our lives, opening our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to the Gospel that proclaims how Christ has lived for us, died for us, risen from the grave for us ... and that the treasures of heaven await you who have faith in this Good News of God.
Because of Christ’s ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we now realize how all scripture truly is God-breathed (2 Tm 3:16) and how all of it reveals all that Jesus did for us in his little while on earth, and all that he is doing for us. ... We can now see more fully how we were once dead in our trespasses and sins but made alive in Christ. ... We can now understand how through baptism Christ lives in us and we live in him (Col 2:11-12). ... And we can now witness how through the sacrament of the altar, our Lord continues to serve us, forgiving us, and nourishing us with the bread of life and the cup that overflows.
IV So you see, in a little while, you will see him again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you (v. 22).
The forgiveness of sins is yours. And every Lord’s day we have the opportunity to be reminded of that. What a blessing a little while really is.
So ...
Shout for joy to God, all the earth. And sing the glory of his name.
Say to God, how awesome are your deeds! (Ps 66:1-3)
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we began with a riddle, so let’s end with one:
One makes it, but has no need for it.
Another buys it, but does not use it.
Yet another uses it, but can neither see it nor feel it.
And the one who uses it, won’t need it for long.
What is it? It’s a coffin. For in a little while the Lord will come again, and on the last day, he will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ and we will rejoice eternally.
This is most certainly true. In Jesus’ name.