Jesus said to His followers, “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. “I have told you these things, so that IN ME YOU MAY HAVE PEACE. In this world YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:32-33) There isn’t a human being alive on this planet who isn’t acquainted with troubles. Times of difficulty arrive unexpectedly, often remain indefinitely, and the sorrowful memories they produce take deep root in the mind. It is no wonder, then, why Jesus’s promise in John 16:33 also can give peace in the minds and hearts of so many Christians. Because Jesus said, “I have overcome the world.” These are Jesus’s final words of reassurance, comfort, and encouragement to His disciples in the upper room before His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion.
In these two verses, we see two certain realities: 1) the followers of Jesus WILL SUFFER GREAT DISTRESS, and 2) Jesus HAS ALREADY WON THE VICTORY. He didn’t want His disciples to be under the delusion that their future ministry would be full of ease and comfort, and He doesn’t want us to think that either. Here is the real dilemma, some people choose not to follow Christ may be thinking they can avoid this trouble. Our enemy Satan (the devil) goes by many names but he’s always evil; a liar, deceiver, accuser, false prophet and more. He has one strategy, “The thief comes only to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY…” (John 10:10a) The devil will steal our desire to know the Lord, kill our fear of going to hell and destroy our hope of ever having a relationship with the Lord. BUT JESUS SAID, “I have come that they may HAVE LIFE, and have it TO THE FULL.” (John 10:10b)
-Bill Stockham