Discipleship & Difficulty – Part 2

Scripture References:

John 14:28

²⁸You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I

John 16:16 – 24

¹⁶ “In a little while, you will no longer see me; again in a little while, you will see me.”

¹⁷ Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he’s telling us: ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again a little while, you will see me,’ and, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They said, “What is this he is saying, ‘In a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

¹⁹ Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. ²¹ When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. ²² So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.

²³ “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete (John 16:16–24, CSB)

Over the last two months Pastor Phil has taken us in an intentional, informed journey on the importance of walking as a disciple. In January he highlighted what a disciple is, what it means to grow in a Christ centered community, then he started a sermon series focused on the characteristics of a disciple (a disciple is a lover of the God’s Word (mainly the Bible), a disciple ABIDES in Christ, a disciple is a FRIEND of God, and last week Pastor lifted the truth of discipleship in difficulty.

Authentic discipleship is contrary to American Christianity. Unfortunately, we view spiritual effectiveness, we view messianic expansion, we view spiritual gifts, calling, purpose, and power through the pseudo lens of searching for significance. See searching for significance in many cases is really striving for attention.

We live in a generation at times where its hard to decipher who is a servant and who is a narcissist.

Sometime its hard to decipher who has “received power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” or who has “a form of godliness but denying its power” ?

The last 8 weeks have been extremely important as this Upper Room discourse between Jesus and his disciples paints the most accurate picture of authentic discipleship.

Imagine this Jesus is with his disciples for the Passover, they have been with Jesus almost 3 years now and have spent at least 2 Passover’s with Jesus. 13 men gathered to sharing a meal in the normalcy of their schedule. This is the backdrop of John 14-17 or what scholars call the Upper Room Discourse. Out of the five major conversations Jesus has with his disciples, John 14-17 is longest and the most intimate. Now the entire discourse didn’t take place in the Upper Room based on John 14:31 as Jesus says “Arise, let us go from here”. So, we can assume John 14-16 was a conversation in route to the Garden of Gethsemane but now it’s not 12 disciples its 11.

This is important to notice as this is one of the first instances of abandonment the disciples faced.

Judas who had been with the disciples for three years, Judas who ate with the disciples, slept with the disciples, ministered with disciples, faced the fear of death with the disciples (Matthew 14:22- Jesus walks on water), these men walked intimately with each other for 3 years.

So, Judas leaving the disciples as a betrayer was shocking and hurtful. As if Judas leaving didn’t create confusion and hurt, here is Jesus informing the disciples of his departure.

John 14:28

^28”You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I”

But not just that, Jesus says “Abide in me, stay close to me because persecution is coming your way. People will hate you AND hurt you just because your associated with me. But don’t worry I’m going to send help. Now don’t forget that persecution will be so intense that your very livelihood will change.

This leads us into John 16. Jesus says in verse 2:

They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. ^[1]

Here Jesus is alerting and stirring the disciples to get serious about their faith.

PERSECUTION IS COMING! Yes, I will send help but it’s still coming. Why? Because persecution is a litmus test for authenticity. Persecution isn’t just about hostility and oppression. Persecution is more about being content with God turning your life upside down because you are serious about following Him.

How do I know I’m serious about God?

The fruit of you getting serious about your relationship with God isn’t an assimilated life but an altered life. At a certain point in your journey, you have to move from getting familiar with Christ to getting serious about Him.

This is important because discipleship inappropriately defined cheapens God grace. Most of us view our devotion to God through a supernatural experience that calms our soul (we lift our hands during worship, we cry, we pray, we feel God’s presence and we allow that experience to confirm we have a relationship with God)

And then we call ourselves disciples, when really we don’t see Jesus as our Lord but we view him as a functional therapist on call when issues arise.

We don’t realize that true sanctification, true growth in God changes your way of life. For many today, your next step in Christ isn’t attending a worship service, for many your next step is allowing God to change your thinking and change your way of living. (Because the source of all your pain, frustration, and hurt is sin)

When Jesus says, They will ban you from the synagogues he is saying following me is you deliberately forfeiting your comfort in this world.

The question becomes, since we began this discipleship journey Have you made deliberate decisions to adjust your life to follow Him?

But this is not the end. Jesus doesn’t allow what he has conveyed go without explanation. Look at the text in

John 16:4:

⁴ But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you will remember I told them to you. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.^[2]

Jesus tells the disciples what to come not so they can run but so they can trust in GOD’s sovereignty. One of the primary issues of us following Jesus stems from us having the wrong theology of suffering. Here in one verse God shatters the disciple’s presumption of following Him. Following Jesus doesn’t always make it ok. A lot of time there is chaos, but authentic discipleship says “if I have to choose peace or his presence, make me reservations at the place of suffering, just make sure there is table for two”

Jesus wants to know if you’re in the toughest season in your life can you be satisfied with just Him? Not a solution, not a resolve, not an answer. Just Jesus

Why does Jesus desire us to find satisfaction only in Him?

Because satisfaction in Jesus leads to JOY in Jesus. Regardless of circumstances, a true disciple finds liberating and lasting joy in Jesus^[3]

As a matter of fact, God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him

Now Brandon you said be serious about Jesus. But it seems like if I’m serious I can’t be joyful.

‘In a little while, you will not see me; again a little while, you will see me,’ and, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They said, “What is this he is saying, ‘In a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

¹⁹ Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. ²¹ When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come.^[4]

The departure of Jesus and discipleship in difficulty is the constant theme in John 16 but around v16 a shift began to occur. Not only does Jesus establish a new theology of suffering for the disciples but Jesus repurposed the disciple’s satisfaction. You are going to be persecuted, I’m going to send help, I’m still leaving BUT I’m leaving you with joy.

Here in v16 Jesus speaks of joy while the disciple travel to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus says :

‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.^[5]

Here is Jesus giving the disciples a destination in the difficulty they are facing. The disciples were presently conflicted, vexed, and fearful and Jesus says “your sorrow will turn to joy” not situation will change for your benefit.

^[1] Christian Standard Bible (Jn 16:2). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

^[2] Christian Standard Bible (Jn 16:4). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

^[3] Carter, M., & Wredberg, J. (2017). Exalting Jesus in John (p. 327). Holman Reference.

^[4] Christian Standard Bible (Jn 16:17–21). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

^[5] Christian Standard Bible (Jn 16:19–20). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.