John 16:16-33, NASB

1. An Overcoming Joy!
John 16:16-33, NASB

2. Joy Through Sorrow?
•This passage is the end of the
Upper Room Discourse
•Deals primarily with the emotions
of the Disciples
•Sorrowing, Confused, Afraid…this encourages
me to know they were men, just like me
•The recurring theme here is JOY– 20-22,24,33
•Not apparent now, but what He tells them will
make a huge difference in their lives-us too

3. 16 “A little while, and you will no longer see
Me; and again a little while, and you will
see Me.” 17 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’?” 18 So they were saying, “What is
this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not
know what He is talking about.” 19 Jesus
knew that they wished to question Him,

4. 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’? 20 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. 21 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

5. the joy that a child has been born into the
world. 22 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.
23 In that day you will not question Me
about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if
you ask the Father for anything in My
name, He will give it to you. 24 Until now
you have asked for nothing in My name;

6. ask and you will receive, so that your joy
may be made full.
25 “These things I have spoken to you in
figurative language; an hour is coming
when I will no longer speak to you in
figurative language, but will tell you plainly
of the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in
My name, and I do not say to you that I will
request of the Father on your behalf; 27 for
the Father Himself loves you, because you

7. have loved Me and have believed that I
came forth from the Father. 28 I came forth
from the Father and have come into the
world; I am leaving the world again and
going to the Father.”
29 His disciples *said, “Lo, now You are
speaking plainly and are not using a figure
of speech. 30 Now we know that You know
all things, and have no need for anyone to
question You; by this we believe that You

8. came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them,
“Do you now believe? 32 Behold, an hour is
coming, and has already come, for you to
be scattered, each to his own home, and to
leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone,
because the Father is with Me. 33 These
things I have spoken to you, so that in Me
you may have peace. In the world you have
tribulation, but take courage; I have
overcome the world.” John 16:16-33 NASB

9. 1. From Confusion to Hope
•Vv 16-18 would have completely confused me,
beyond any hope– Charlie Brown’s teacher
•His comments went from persecution
to arrest and torture, to even death!
•They missed the resurrection part—
He was trying to give them hope, but
they just couldn’t understand
•So, he patiently explains it so they are
able to understand

10. 2. Jesus Clarifies…
•Vv 19-22, He starts to explain, but instead
of asking, they opine with each other
•There is a principle to grasp here…

11. 2. Jesus Clarifies…
•Vv 19-22, He starts to explain, but instead
of asking, they opine with each other
•There is a principle to grasp here…
•God brings joy to our lives, not by
substitution, but by transformation
•The newborn baby is an
example
•If we as parents substitute every
time something goes wrong…

12. 2. Jesus Clarifies…
• Jesus did not say that the mother’s sorrow of
birth pain was substituted by joy, rather that
the sorrow of pain was transformed into
shear joy of her new born baby
• The same baby that caused so much
pain in delivery also caused such joy
• So it is in the Christian life: God takes
seemingly impossible and horrible situations,
adds the miracle of His grace
• In result, He transforms trial to triumph and
sorrow to joy

13. “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy
comes in the morning.”
Psalm 30:5b
“The Lord your God turned the curse into a
blessing for you, because the Lord your
God loves you.”
Deuteronomy 23:5b

14. 2. Jesus Clarifies…
•The cross is another example
•An instrument of 1st Century death,
has been transformed into a
symbol of hope
•V 20 reminds us, they will rejoice
while we weep
•The world wants nothing of Jesus
and will mock and rejoice in our
suffering

15. 3. Ask…
•Vv 23-24– it is important that we
understand there are two different
Greek words for “ask” used here…
•1st one in V23, “erotao”, which means“to ask
a question or request ”
•2nd word ‘ask’ in v23 and v24 are “aiteo”,
which means “to pray,” or “to request
something of a superior”
•Why? One reason is because of His plan…

16. 3. Ask…
•One of the many reasons we
should pray is because it is God’s
appointed way of giving to us
what we need in our daily lives
•Things He wants to say, do for, or give you
that for His reasoning, He wants you to ask
for before He can do them
•Not suggesting He’ll always say yes, but
what is there to lose? A privilege for US

17. 4. The Father loves you…
•Vv 25-28 says while He was He took care of
their needs, Now He says pray to the Father in
His name
•Why? He’s now at the right
hand of the Father interce-
ding for us
•The Holy Spirit is inside each of us dispensing
gifts and providing those answers according
to the Will of the Father; Advocate,
Intercessor, Power

18. 5. The Overcoming Joy…
•Vv 29-33, the Disciples are finally getting it!
•Although He knew they were weak, He
approved of the growing evidence of their
faith and assured them with His promise and
encouragement
•Is it possible to have faith, knowledge,
assurance and still fail Him? Sure!
•But we can choose to continue in
faith, apply the Knowledge we get in
Him and REST in assurance & peace

19. • Joy of the Lord has nothing to
do with happiness, which is but
a momentary emotion
• When you have joy in the Lord,
we find strength to go on
against all odds, against
everyone’s belief
• How? Because joy of the Lord
is our strength in Him
Understand this…

20. “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is
your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:10c

21. Every believer is either overcome or an
overcomer. The world wants to overcome
us; this is why Satan uses the world to
persecute and pressure believers. The
world wants us to conform; it does not
want us to be different. When we yield
ourselves to Christ and trust Him, He
enables us to be overcomers. We must
claim our spiritual position in Christ and
believe Him for victory.

22. Take Home!
•1. The way of transformation in
Christ is the way of faith and
spiritual maturity
•2. Prayer to the Lord is a privilege
of the believer of Jesus Christ. Exercise
that privilege daily
•3. We are overcomers in Christ Jesus.
Don’t let the world get under your skin.
Keep your faith in Him and be obedient in
His commandments!