Day 31
A good thing
To Start
One of my favorite quotes from Oswald Chambers is this:
Faith is the heroic effort of your life; you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God.
One way to fling yourself in reckless confidence is to sit in silence, to refuse to think or strive or discover your way into a plan. You might not think of silence as “heroic,” but it is. Try it today.
Pray
Yahweh, show us how to move forward with unshaken faith. Open us to Jesus’ words. Let them stand guard over our hearts.
Read
Today we’re reading John chapter 16, the last chapter of Jesus’ farewell discourse (not including His prayers in chapter 17).
As you read,
Look for repeating words and phrases. What have you already heard Jesus say in chapters 14 and 15 that you’re hearing again here in 16? Do you learn anything new about those major themes here in this context?
Consider Jesus’ character again. Who is He? Who are you discovering Him to be through repeated readings of the text?
If you only had this chapter, how would you describe Jesus’ relationship with his apostles?
Jesus spends a lot of time in this chapter talking about what’s coming. What IS coming? Make a timeline of the next two months. Be as thorough as you’d like. What’s about to happen to Jesus and the apostles?
How does listening to this speech on the other side of the cross and resurrection change the way it’s interpreted? Consider:
Imagine listening and not knowing what was coming.
Then imagine remembering it as the events recorded in the book of Acts unfold.
Then finally, consider how our modern context shapes our reading. Can a modern American Christian understand this passage?
John 16 (J.B. Phillips)
1-4 “I am telling you this now so that your faith in me may not be shaken. They will excommunicate you from their synagogues. Yes, the time is coming when a man who kills you will think he is thereby serving God! They will act like this because they have never had any true knowledge of the Father or of me, but I have told you all this so that when the time comes for it to happen you may remember that I told you about it. I have not spoken like this to you before, because I have been with you; 5-11 but now the time has come for me to go away to the one who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ That is because you are so distressed at what I have told you. Yet I am telling you the simple truth when I assure you that it is a good thing for you that I should go away. For if I did not go away, the divine helper would not come to you. But if I go, then I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convince the world of the meaning of sin, of true goodness and of judgment. He will expose their sin because they do not believe in me; he will reveal true goodness for I am going away to the Father and you will see me no longer; and he will show them the meaning of judgment, for the spirit which rules this world will have been judged.
12-15 “I have much more to tell you but you cannot bear it now. Yet when that one I have spoken to you about comes—the Spirit of truth—he will guide you into everything that is true. For he will not be speaking of his own accord but exactly as he hears, and he will inform you about what is to come. He will bring glory to me for he will draw on my truth and reveal it to you. Whatever the Father possesses is also mine; that is why I tell you that he will draw on my truth and will show it to you.
16 “In a little while you will not see me any longer, and again, in a little while you will see me.”
17-18 At this some of his disciples remarked to each other, “What is this that he tells us now, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again, in a little while you will see me’ and ‘for I am going away to the Father’? What is the ‘little while’ that he talks about?” they were saying. “We simply do not know what he means!”
19-23a Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him what he meant, so he said to them, “Are you trying to find out from each other what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will not see me, and again, in a little while you will see me’? I tell you truly that you are going to be both sad and sorry while the world is glad. Yes, you will be deeply distressed, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman gives birth to a child, she certainly knows pain when her time comes. Yet as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers her agony for joy that a man has been born into the world. Now you are going through pain, but I shall see you again and your hearts will thrill with joy—the joy that no one can take away from you—and on that day you will not ask me any questions.
23b-24 “I assure you that whatever you ask the Father he will give you in my name. Up to now you have asked nothing in my name; ask now, and you will receive, that your joy may be overflowing.
25-28 “I have been speaking to you in parables—but the time is coming to give up parables and tell you plainly about the Father. When that time comes, you will make your requests to him in my own name, for I need make no promise to plead to the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. Yes, I did come from the Father and I came into the world. Now I leave the world behind and return to the Father.”
29-30 “Now you are speaking plainly,” cried the disciples, “and are not using parables. Now we know that everything is known to you—no more questions are needed. This makes us sure that you did come from God.”
31-33 “So you believe in me now?” replied Jesus. “The time is coming, indeed, it has already come, when you will be scattered, every one of you going home and leaving me alone. Yet I am not really alone for the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may find your peace in me. You will find trouble in the world—but, never lose heart, I have conquered the world!”
In the Comments
Reading the text today I couldn’t help but notice the theme that Jesus must go to make room for something better. Over the course of God’s history with His people He’s often leading them through doorways, eliminating one way of being to make room for another. Practically speaking, I’ve seen God encourage me to let go of good things in order to embrace new and better things.
If you’ve experienced this, please share. Tell us about a time when you had to be willing to let go of something (something that had been truly beneficial to your life) in order to receive what God had next.
I’d like to use these stories this week as we dive deeper into chapter 16.
Good morning, all. I would like to share that I noticed that Jesus was sharing truth with many words of, "Let me tell you..." Preparing us for faith. I am stuck by that. To JL's questions. Yes, I have made a transition. I founded a nonprofit, Bridge II Sports, and adapted sports program to serve youth, adults, and veterans with physical disabilities through adapted sport in hopes they would find life again after profound brokenness. Twenty years later, many event, many lives' impacted, I felt like Yahweh was asking me to let that go. In December of 2025, I passed the reigns to another leader, and stepped down. I fully believe it was the right decision. I fully believe Yahweh is in it. Many have asked, how does it feel to let go of your "baby". I started it because I felt like Yahweh asked me to be a "light in a dark place, to shine a light as no-one flourishes in a box. I said yes. I have been seeking and asking where God would have me serve. I have been dealing with some health issues that are slowly coming into some compliance (LOL, as if I have much control over my body.). Yahweh gave me time to rest, focus, and pray. The Hebrews study and this study has been a wonderful refreshment of what is faith, and how we all can interact with Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirt as we all walk this earth together.
I don’t like change. I typically hang on to things until they are practically ripped from my hands. I remember being a junior in high school and finally feeling a sense of belonging. I had a super close-knit group of friends in my church’s youth group, and almost all of us were set to go to the same christian university. Then, on a college visit, I came to find out that they didn’t offer my desired major. I was devastated. The future I had envisioned was no longer possible. Doors were opening to another university and it started to all click into place. I see now that going to school with my youth group friends might have been fun but likely stagnant. God was offering me other friendships and opportunities and I’m so glad I took Him up on them.