In That Day

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 25, 2025

John 16:23-33

 “In That Day”

With the Memorial Day holiday upon us, in the midst of picnics and parades, backyard barbeques and baseball games, our nation pauses to remember all those who have served our nation and given the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for the freedoms we enjoy. Arlington National Cemetery, close by to us here in northern Virginia, is the final resting place of many who did this very thing, as well as many others who served our nation, including many members of our congregation. A significant milestone occurred earlier this month with the eightieth anniversary of VE Day, or Victory Europe Day, on May 8, 1945, which marked the end of WWII in Europe. After so much destruction and loss of life, that day must have seemed like a dream. “In that day” – these are important words spoken again and again in the Law and the Prophets to reassure God’s people that a day of justice and reckoning appointed by the Lord God would come when all would be made right. Twice in the Gospel lesson for today Jesus uses those words: “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you… In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:23, 26-27). The message for this day, based on the Gospel lesson, is entitled “In That Day.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

Jesus is preparing his disciples for that day – the day when he will withdraw his physical presence at his ascension. We will celebrate this on Thursday of this week at an outdoor worship service, remembering and rejoicing that forty days after he rose from the dead, Jesus ascended into heaven (Acts 1:1-11), where he sits at the Father’s right hand and from which he will come again to judge the living and the dead. How confusing Jesus’ words must have been to his first disciples: “I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father” (John 16:28). For us who live this side of Jesus’ resurrection, we understand these words through the lens of all that he has done. But it was not so clear to those first disciples. Remember that Jesus spoke these words before his suffering, death, and resurrection. He revealed the truth of what would happen. With all of this looming on the horizon, Jesus pointed ahead to that day with the beautiful words that close out today’s Gospel: “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 16:33).

Before we get to that day we hear about in today’s Epistle lesson (Revelation 21:9-14, 21-27), when through the cleansing blood of Jesus we are gathered together in the city of God where there is eternal day and the glory of God is its light, Jesus tells us: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33a). Following Jesus as his disciples doesn’t guarantee that the world is going to love and respect us, giving us preferential treatment. If anything, it’s the other way around. We shouldn’t be surprised if the world sets its face against us who are Jesus’ followers because that is what the world did to Jesus. Why would we expect that things should be different for us? That word “tribulation” (θλῖψιν) has both a literal and a figurative meaning. It comes from a verb (θλίβω) that means to press or squash. That’s the literal meaning. But the figurative meaning is even more descriptive. This is life’s demands and burdens pressing on you like a pressure cooker. It’s the weight of the world bearing down on us, threatening to crush us. That is something that we can all understand, regardless of what our situation in life may be. Jesus tells us – he promises us – that this is going to happen (see Acts 11:19, 14:22; Romans 12:12). That’s not very comforting, but it reminds us that we have a truth-telling God who doesn’t gloss over the hard things; things that we might choose to avoid if given the opportunity. And when the world is bearing down upon us in whatever form this might take, it hasn’t caught God off-guard or unaware. The Lord God has not abandoned us to deal with all of this by ourselves. In the midst of the tribulation and pressure, Jesus reminds us: “In me you may have peace” (John 16:33a). In that day, when the pressure is on, in the midst of things that seek to take us down, Jesus bestows on his children peace which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7); peace which the world cannot give (John 14:27).

In that day, our hope is not in ourselves, but in Jesus and what he has done. He reminds us: “But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33a). Throughout his earthly life and ministry, Jesus encouraged his disciples to “take heart,” like when he spoke to the disciples in the stilling of the storm (Mark 6:50); when he spoke to the man who was paralyzed (Matthew 9:2); and to the woman with the hemorrhage (Matthew 9:22). Because of what Jesus has done for us – entering into our messed up lives and world where things seem to be spinning out of control, offering his very life as the atoning sacrifice for all our sins – we are of good courage (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). Even when life is pressing down upon us and we know first-hand what tribulation looks like, we are of good courage. We are people of hope because Jesus has overcome the world. Because of Jesus, who loves us and has laid down his life for us, we know where we are headed. Because of Jesus, come what may, we know our future is secure in his nail-pierced hands. Even when things seem to be falling apart around us, we know that this is not the final word. We wait with hope for that day when Christ will make all things new.

That word “overcome” (νενίκηκα) in the text is significant. It’s where the Nike sporting goods company gets its name, meaning “victory” (νίκη). The verb tense of this word is the “perfect, indicative, active form of the verb νικάω (to conquer). The perfect suggests completed action with enduring results. Note when Jesus made this promise. It was before Easter. Even before He rose from the dead, Jesus had overcome the world. His resurrection confirmed His victorious lordship of the world opposing Him. This is no small thing, for it reminds us how His victory over the ongoing pressures we face is already completed, even before we finish enduring them” (Dr. Peter Nafzger in Gospel: John 16:23-33 (Easter 6: Series C) | 1517). And that is good news for all of us.

As we look forward to that day, our Christus Victor – Christ the Conqueror – comes to us today, as he does at every gathering of Christ’s people. He comes to us through the Means of Grace, Word and Sacrament, to strengthen and sustain us in faith to the end. Amen.