the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
John 16:19-33
The disciples are to experience the sadness of separation. But the Lord Jesus consoles them in advance by speaking to them of the joy which awaits them when they see Him again after His resurrection (John 20:20). The believer has many reasons to rejoice: the hope of the Lord’s return (cf. v. 22); obedience to to His commandments (John 15:10-11 – have you experienced the happiness which this brings?); dependence on Him and an answer to our prayers (16:24); the Lord’s revelations in His Word (John 17:13); communion with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3-4); such are the inexhaustible springs of "full joy" (v. 24).
Why does the Lord Jesus prefer not to tell His disciples that He is to pray the Father for them (v. 26) since this is the subject of the whole of the following chapter? The reason is that, far from claiming the disciples’ affection for Himself, His one great thought is to put them in direct relationship with the Father. Also His wish is that they should not be content with counting on Him as their intercessor before God, but that they should have a personal experience of the Father’s love and of the power of His Name. "Be of good cheer" concludes the Lord. "The world, our common enemy, is strong, ’but I have overcome the world’."
