“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
I was just telling a friend of mine that today my heart is filled with joy! I have an anticipation and a sense of expectation that exceeds what my eyes can see. Oh, I could name any number of things that could be part of that joy, but it goes way deeper than anything I could name. I love it!
Looking at this verse in its context, it seems sort of out of place. Here is Jesus in the Upper Room sharing His last meal with them. He is only hours away from His arrest, conviction, and crucifixion and He knows that. He knows full-well what will be expected of Him, He knows what will be exacted upon Him, and He knows what will be extracted from Him. Yet He has already overcome all of it. Interesting. He has not yet knelt in the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives and prayed that infamous prayer, “Father, not my will, but Thine be done.” He has not yet even faced the soldiers who have come to take him into custody. He has not yet stood before Pilate. He has not yet been tied to the whipping post and been beaten. Yet He has already overcome all of it. Needless to say, He has not yet been lain in the tomb. He has not yet descended into the depths of the earth and set the captives free. He has not yet risen from the grave. Yet He has already overcome all of it. Hallelujah!
In this discourse of the Upper Room, Jesus is sharing His last words of comfort and encouragement to His disciples. He has walked and talked with them at this point for three-and-a-half years, displayed to them the power of God in His life, taught them how to go out and spread the gospel, shared His authority over demons with them. But now it’s crunch time. The team is in the locker room (so to speak) for their motivational talk before they take the field against an ominous opponent. What Jesus says to them now they will remember forever when they look back at this time. They will remember the weight of this moment, they will remember the look in His eyes, they will remember the fiery passion of His words. This setting, this scene, this moment will forever be etched indelibly in their minds as they later watch the Giver of Life, the Anointed One, the Messiah, being beaten, tortured, and taunted at the hands of their enemies. The words He speaks in this whole passage are words – not just of encouragement, but – of faith.
I have always loved Jesus’ teaching style. When we go back and read of encounters He had with different leaders and the general populace, His questions, His statements, His insight went far beyond what was being offered on the surface. Go back sometime and just read through His encounters – it is baffling sometimes, it is entertaining at others, yet it is always revealing and it is always right on time. God is so cool! In my flesh I always wanted to copy that style – to know how to shut people down when they came against me, to be able to knock them off-center in their arguments or accusations. But look at how Jesus is teaching His disciples in this verse about how they are to handle adversity.
Whenever Satan comes and presents himself against you in life – whether it is in the form of a physical ailment or diagnosis, whether it is in the form of a financial crisis, whether it is in the form of a friend who betrays you, no matter what shape in which it presents itself – Jesus told them to be of good cheer. Laugh at it. Mock it. Dismiss it. Continue your mission. You might say, “Well, Tim, that is easy for you to say. You’re not the one who just got diagnosed with cancer or received a phone call bringing bad news.” And I would answer, “You’re perfectly right. It is easy for me to SAY.” Saying it, however, is the beginning of doing it. The words that come out of our mouths reflect the contents of our hearts. Remember, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”? That is why the Bible often states, “Be still and know…”. We must guard our mouths and our hearts against the immediate responses of our flesh. Our flesh is not who we are – it is just the man-suit we wear. We are our spirit and our spirit must be in tune with the Holy Spirit that lives within us. Our minds are to be renewed with the mind of Christ. Our spirit – the Holy Spirit must control our mind and its development and growth. That’s what Jesus is teaching us today through this passage.
Satan is nothing more than a yapping little chihuahua, an ankle-biter. He has no power except what we give him. He has no authority over us – we are the property of Jesus Christ Who purchased us with His very blood. Satan is a defeated foe. He was defeated long before the cross was ever invented. He was defeated back in the Garden. And he knows that. But that doesn’t stop his incessant chatter in our ears, that doesn’t stop him from trying to get us off-course in our walk with God. He won’t quit until he is kicked into the pit and the door forever sealed over him. That’s why Jesus told His disciples, “In this world you SHALL have tribulation…” He didn’t say, “You might have…” He didn’t say “Occasionally you might have hard days…” He assured us we SHALL have – that’s pretty strong language. But we can rest in Him no matter what form that tribulation takes because He has ALREADY overcome it – for us. Everything you and I face today has already been defeated, having been nailed with Him on the cross. When He was buried, so was cancer. When He was buried, so was diabetes. When He was buried, so was high blood pressure and every other disease and illness known to mankind. Even COVID was buried with Him. But only He came up out of the grave. They all remained sealed up – forever defeated and cancelled.
Today I urge you to take this message with you. Whenever something comes up (and we both know it will), just keep on walking, keep on doing what you were doing yesterday and the day before. Whatever Satan tries to tell you doesn’t change who you are in Christ. Whatever he throws in your path doesn’t stop you from achieving all you are destined to accomplish in the kingdom of God. Whatever spectre of ugliness tries to frighten you today, laugh at it, knowing it is merely a smoke screen, a ghost, a vapor you can walk straight through to the victory that awaits you on the other side. If you need to, personalize this verse and repeat it over and over again to yourself: “In this world I SHALL have tribulation, but be of good cheer, self, Christ in me has already overcome it.”
Be blessed.
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