29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:29-33
You’re speaking plainly! Giving it to me straight, love it. You know everything, you came from God, and we trust you.
Little do they know; they are writing a check with their mouth that they cannot cash with their lives.
Jesus doesn’t respond with particular confidence: You finally believe? You’re going to run. You’ll go back to your own homes and you’ll leave me alone.
But God needs nothing from us. You’ll leave, yes, but I will not be alone. The Father is with me.
Even now, when you think you get it, you don’t get as much as you think you do. Because you’re about to see something that you cannot make sense of within the basic framework you have for these things.
The disciples will run because they will see such a gap between these final words of Jesus and “reality.” Jesus says he has overcome the world. (Past tense, note.) But he’s dead.
What’s truly true? The celebration of the world or the message of Jesus? It does not look like he’s overcoming the world; it looks like he’s been overcome by the world.
So, who’s right? The rulers of this world or Jesus? Can you overcome by dying? Win by losing?
Are we not still asking that question? Can we believe the testimony of Jesus in a world with so much sin, suffering, and pain?
Friends, when Jesus calls us to pick up our cross, he calls us to believe his testimony. He calls us to live not by what seems true, but by what is truly true.
We are filled with the Spirit to walk in love, to walk in the truth, and to preach the good news of Jesus.