Peter Barnes | John 16:16-22
SERMON NOTES
Jesus Turns our Sorrows into Joy
Psalm 30:1-12; John 16:16-33
1. There are times of bewilderment in the Christian life.
– 16:16-19; Does it refer to Jesus’ resurrection (Leon Morris, Don Carson), the coming of the Spirit (Calvin, Charles Ross), or the death of Christians and the Second Coming of Jesus (Augustine, J. C. Ryle)? Jesus’ own resurrection seems the best fit.
– Believers can be bewildered e.g. Job; Psalm 73:1-3; Daniel 12:8; Habakkuk 1:2-4; James 1:5
2. The resurrection turns sorrows into joy.
– 16:20; death is associated with weeping (John 11:31, 33; 20:11, 13, 15); but note John 20:20
– sorrow turns into joy, like childbirth (16:21); the birth pangs of the Messiah in Isa. 21:2-3; 26:16-21; 66:7-14; Jer. 13:21; Micah 4:9-10.
3. Resurrection joy is forever.
– 16:22; see the development in Luke 23:27; 24:17, 1, 50-53
– Acts 4:40-41; 2 Cor.12:10; 1 Pet.1:8; 4:13
– Elisabeth Elliot: ‘Sometimes the worst has to happen in order for the best to happen.’
– Isa.35:10