Fourth Sunday of Easter + Jubilate
Text: John 16:16-22
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
A little while, a little while, a little while…. These are the words of our Lord to His disciples in today’s Gospel reading. He uses this phrase seven times. This theme emphasizes time; it looks forward in time, a duration of time.
What’s the significance?
The reality is that we only have a grasp of time once we are in the very midst of life (Like the disciples).
For a child, time is endless; for the aged, it is fleeting; and for those in crisis, it is a prison. The reality of our lives on earth is that our perspective of time is out of synch; the ebbs and flows of life distort.
Even as our time on this earth is utterly short, today's Gospel reading is one of preparation. It’s preparation for the Christian life, the disciple’s life, your life, and the trials and crosses you will have to bear. If you are to apply the teachings of Christ to your lives, if you are to use this Gospel reading in your lives, you cannot do so unless you first understand the original intent of the Words spoken today.
So, we ponder today these words spoken in the upper room—the words of preparation for the disciples on the night of Christ’s betrayal, the night of His arrest.
Jesus wished to prepare the disciples for the troubles before them. Soon, they would abandon Jesus, lose faith, and dwell in despair. The time had arrived for sadness. The time was at hand for the Son of God to be lifted up, for Him to be mocked, ridiculed, spit upon, tortured, and put to death. The time had arrived as Jesus told the disciples, “You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.”
Their sorrow arrives, but it is not permanent, as their sorrow becomes joy at the resurrection of Jesus.
The resurrection, you see, changes everything.
Your own experiences tell you a different story, though—cancer diagnosis, troubled relationships, employment difficulties, barren wombs, aging bodies, cold tombs.
How does the resurrection help this? How does the resurrection change these things?
The Lord also says to you, “In a little while.”
And so He speaks a parable of a woman in labor. The parable seems out of place; what bearing does it have on His current situation? The fact it is Holy Thursday, and He will soon be arrested? What bearing would this parable have on you? Even the language appears to be out of place.
The parable goes like this,
“A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.”
This is not a common way of thinking, even when it comes to the birth of a precious baby boy or girl. No one buys balloons or teddy bears for newborns that exclaim, “It’s a human!” But, I do wonder, if we did, would it change the view this world has that a baby is a human being and worthy of life?
You see, when we hear of a human - being born, we don’t think MACRO, we think micro. We don’t think cosmic; we think personally. We say, “Look at this sweet child.”
A father looks on and says, “This is my baby girl,” or a mother says, “This is my baby boy.”
But something bigger happens when Jesus says, “A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.”
He uses this illustration of the excruciating pain of a mother in labor and the uncertainty of childbirth to give way to the joy of the brief “Little while” of labor.
The deeper message goes back not just to Christmas; it goes back to Genesis when the Creator and giver of life promised a seed to Eve that would bruise and crush the head of the serpent. The promised seed is He whom we hear, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”
Jesus is the long-awaited Son of Adam and Eve, not born exclusively for Mary and Joseph, but for every child descending from the lineage of your first parents in the Garden.
Jesus was born for one reason, for one purpose: to become man, to become human, to suffer and die for the sins of the world, to give His peace and mercy to those who confess their sins and call upon His name. But for this, He first must become sin; He must for a little while suffer trial and tribulation.
The disciples understand nothing of what Jesus says. Their great hope had been crushed; the Savior was buried, sealed in a tomb, and guarded by Soldiers.
He is gone, placed into the cold earth, out of sight. The time of sorrow, the time of fear, the prison of time had arrived. Thus, the disciples said in the Gospel of Luke, “We hoped the Christ would redeem Israel (Luke 24:21), as if to say, “Hope is lost.”
But Jesus also says today, “Again after a little while, and you will see me!” The disciples' despair and sorrow were not endless, as Jesus' words, “A little while,” also gave way to the end of this sorrowful time and season.
His words, unknowingly to the disciples, speak of His victory. They speak of how His faithful obedience to the Father leads Him to triumph over Satan, sin, and this world, a world that rejoiced in His death.
“A little while” is the hope the disciples have that their sadness will end, the shackles of doubt will be crushed, and their joy will return.
Trials and tribulations come to all of your lives. It may not be the persecution the disciples suffered; maybe it is the prisons of fear and anxiety experienced when death comes to those close to you, or perhaps it’s the sorrow of betrayal or the terrors of illness.
But if Christ appears dead and buried to you, run to His Word, hold on to His peace, suffer the darkness of night, endure the storm, trusting in His resurrection. Trust that as He has brought you out of death and into life through the waters of baptism, so He continues to abide with you in these latter days.
As crosses approach, keep your eyes focused on the cross of Jesus. As the world cheers your sadness, your afflictions, and your periods of imprisonment, Jesus stands with the peace and comfort of His Word; He nourishes you with His flesh and blood. He does not forsake you, nor does He leave you. So run to Him, elevate your eyes to He who has risen from the dead, and sing of the Easter joy you possess as His dear child.
A mother loves her newborn baby, so He loves you as His own. Trust in His steadfast love, believe, and hear His promise to you this day, “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”
Spring storms pass, and babies cry, so the sorrows of this life last only a little while.
But the joy of your resurrected Lord is endless. It’s the joy you sing with angels and archangels, the joy of all the company of heaven.
It’s the joy and comfort that your Heavenly Father will be gracious and merciful to you for the sake of His only begotten Son.
By His death and resurrection, He will bring you into everlasting life and a time of joy that has no end. +INJ+
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Pastor
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
