John 16:16-23.
Over a little one ye shall not see me; but over a little one ye shall see me: for I go unto the Father. Then said some of his disciples one to another, What is this that he saith unto us, Over a little thing ye shall not see me; and over a little thing ye shall see me, and that I go unto the Father? Then they said: What is this that he saith concerning a little one? we know not what he saith. Then Jesus perceived that they were about to ask him, and said unto them: Of this ye ask one another, that I said of a little one ye shall not see me, and of a little one ye shall see me. Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye shall weep and wail; but the world shall rejoice. But ye shall be sorrowful: but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. When a woman gives birth, she is sad, because her hour has come. But when she has given birth to the child, she no longer thinks of sorrow for the joy that the man is born into the world. And ye also now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man shall take from you. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing.
First of all, we want to tell the story in detail, which happened after the Lord's Supper on the way when the Lord went with his disciples into the garden to his suffering. In this story of today's Gospel, the Lord proclaims his death and resurrection to the disciples, which words the disciples did not understand at that time, they were dark and completely hidden from their eyes; just as it might happen to us, who are not yet well founded in the faith. But what prevented the dear disciples from understanding? It prevented them from thinking that Christ would set up a worldly kingdom, which would have a standing before the world, and which would go forth in life, not in death, of which he speaks here, saying, "Over a little one, ye shall not see me. As if to say, "I will be with you a little while longer, perhaps until midnight; after that I will die and be buried, and will be taken out of your sight, so that you will see me no more. "But again for a little while, and ye shall see me," that is, on the third day I shall rise again, and see you again, and ye shall see me again also.
2 This is the understanding according to history; which are cold words, if they are not understood spiritually. But the Lord comforted the disciples and said that they would be saddened by his departure, but that this sadness would soon end. They will be like a pregnant woman in childbirth: as soon as she is rid of the child, she will forget the pain. And although these things are clear and well understood, yet the disciples did not understand how it should be with them, or where the Lord wanted to go with these words and with the likeness. For they had never heard nor experienced such words before. But to us they seem to be easy, because they are often preached. If it were not so, they should be as obscure to us as they were to the dear disciples. Let us therefore consider these words carefully, and first consider what is meant by "going to the Father.
Going to the Father" is nothing else.
because to come into another life. As if Christ wanted to say: I will leave the temporal, sensual, natural, mortal life, and will come into an immortal life, where the Father will make everything subject to me, where there will be no sleep, no eating, no drinking, as before in the bodily life, since the flesh and blood, which he took from the virgin Mary, will remain; That is, I will take upon me a spiritual government, to rule the hearts of the faithful in spirit and faith, and not, as ye think, to set up a temporal kingdom; which spiritual government I cannot come to, but by death. But, as I said, the disciples did not understand and thought that they would have to lose the Lord if he died; therefore they fell into grief and sadness.
Now we must have respect here, and also learn something from it, so that we do not read such history in vain. To the dear disciples it was not the greatest pain and sorrow that they should no longer see the Lord bodily, but it was a great pain and sorrow to them that they lost him with their hearts. They loved to see the Lord in the flesh, but they were much more attached to him in the heart. That is why they said, "If he comes out of our sight, he will also come out of our heart. So it was also with the joy. For this was not real joy, that they saw him again in the flesh; this did not almost comfort them. But when they received him again with the heart spiritually and in faith, as a Savior and Comforter, that was the right comfort and the right joy. For when Christ is believed as a Savior, he gladdens the heart; otherwise there is no help, no counsel, nor any comfort. This we see in the case of the dear disciples: when they fled and forsook the Lord, denied him and fell into the sin of unbelief, there was no more Savior before their eyes; the comfort was gone, Christ had fallen out of their sight, there was no more counsel nor help; they would have had to remain forever in such sorrow and despair, if Christ had not gladdened them again. For there is no other Savior than this Christ. Dar-
When he is moved away, there is no more consolation, but only fear, distress, and despair, and hell itself must be there. And this was the disciples' real fear, grief and sorrow.
005 What think ye that the disciples were afraid and distressed, when they remembered the goodness and kindness of the Lord, and the benefits which he had shewed them, and that they had all been so unfaithful to him? Man has dealt so kindly and sweetly with us, has shown us all love and friendship, that it has been exceeding great; and we have done such things to him, have forsaken him, have fled from him, have denied him, like the faithless wicked, have abused his teaching and grace. What will become of us now? We may not come before God; we cannot stand against men, much less against the devil: there is no more comfort, the Savior is gone, it must be desperate, damned and lost. Behold, in such fear, distress and anguish the dear disciples stood; no fasting, no praying, no fasting would have helped them, all would have been lost.
Thus God deals with His children even today. When he wants to comfort them, he puts them in such fear and temptation before. It is an unmistakable torment when one's conscience refuses, one's heart and all confidence vanish, and fear searches all corners of the conscience; fear consumes marrow and bone, flesh and blood, as the prophet David often complains about in the Psalms.
(7) But Christ does not leave the disciples long in such anguish and distress; as he says to them before, "Over a little while you will see me again. This happened on the very day of Easter, when he appeared to them and offered them peace, so that they became joyful, forgetting all the sorrow, anxiety and distress they had endured for a little while until the third day. We should remember this history, even if we were in anguish and distress and had now lost all comfort. For when a man is in an evil conscience because of his sin, the heart thinks that there is eternal torment; just as it is also there to punish man.
reckon. For he sees no end; he thinks that God is against him and does not want to help him; and he cannot help himself either. He looks around and finds no help from any creature; indeed, he thinks that all creatures are against him. Therefore the heart soon closes and says, "Here is eternal torment, there is no other way out, there is no comfort nor help: God and all creatures are against me. Although it is not like that, but only a transition, and will not last long, if we could only keep still for a little while, he will certainly not remain outside with his comfort for long. This is what the Lord means when he says to the disciples, "Over a little thing ye shall not see me," that is, when ye are in anguish and distress; "but over a little thing ye shall see me," that is, when I shall come unto you with my consolation, and make you glad.
(8) If this happened to the holy disciples, that they were in anguish and distress, we must not think that we will be better off. God will not do anything special with us. But let us look at this: Christ tells his disciples of their fall, their anguish and distress beforehand, and comforts them so that they will not despair. So we should also comfort ourselves with this, and let it be said to us that when we are in sin, when our conscience is troubled and weighed down, we should not despair, but think that it will not last long. Therefore this is a comforting gospel to all troubled and distressed consciences: first, because Christ promises his disciples that he will not leave them in distress for long; then because he treats them so kindly, does not soon cast them away, even though they cannot hear or understand his words, but tolerates them, instructs them, and bears them with all meekness.
(9) Therefore, when a man is in such anguish and distress of conscience, he should remember this saying, and say, "Well, it is a transition; Christ says, "For a little while you will see me again"; it will not last long, be still, it is for a little while, and Christ will let himself be seen again. But where the consciences are so frightened, they may not be so
not understand comforting words when they already hear them; as happened here to the disciples: because they were in distress, they did not understand these words. It takes effort to comfort such troubled and frightened consciences. That is why the Lord uses a parable here, so that he may transfigure his previous speech, so that he may make it clear to the disciples, and takes an example of a woman who is in childish distress, and so in childish distress that she does not die of it, but brings a joyful sight into the world. This is almost comforting, so that they do not despair when they are in distress or fear, but think, like a woman in childbirth, that it will soon be over, even if it is for an evil hour, so this simile makes their distress and sorrow sweet and pleasant.
10 Now this example must be considered carefully. For as it is here, so it is also in temptation and especially in mortal distress. See how God deals with a woman who is in childish distress: she is left helpless by all men in these pains, no one can help her, yes, all creatures cannot save her from this distress, it is entirely in God's power. The wistful mother and others around her may comfort her, but they cannot avert the distress; she must go through it, dare to live it, and freely strike at the entrenchment, die or recover over the child; then she is in dire straits and surrounded by death. St. Paul also uses this simile when he tells the Thessalonians about the last day, how it will quickly overtake us, "like the pain of a pregnant woman," and we will not escape it. 1 Thess. 5, 3.
(11) It is the same when consciences are in anguish, or when someone is in mortal distress: no reason, no creature, no work, neither this nor that will help, there is no comfort at all, it seems to you that you are abandoned by God and by all creatures, even as God and all creatures are against you. You must keep still and cling to God alone, he must help you, nothing else.
neither in heaven nor on earth. The same God helps when it seems time; as He does to the pregnant woman, He gives her a joyful sight, because she no longer remembers the pain, but there is joy and life, where before there was death and all sorrow. So also here: in temptation and mortal distress God alone makes us joyful, and gives us peace and joy, where before there was misery and all fear. Therefore, Christ holds up this example to all of us and comforts us with it, so that we will not despair in the anguish of death and other trials. As if he wanted to say: Dear man, when fear, affliction, temptation and adversity come, do not despair, do not despair, it is a matter of a little; when that is over, fruit, peace and joy will follow.
(12) In such anguish and distress were the dear disciples when the Lord came from them. They were abandoned by everyone, they had no refuge, they were in the gates of hell, waiting all the hours of death, fearing the judgment of God, thinking: We have sinned and must now go to the devil. But immediately after the resurrection Christ comes, and makes them forget all unhappiness and heartache, and they become joyful, and go and bear fruit, desiring to help all men to this joy through faith in Christ. It is a fine example and a comforting saying to all those who come into temptation and tribulation; they should remember that Christ says, "Over a little one you will not see me, but over a little one you will see me," and never forget the example of the pregnant woman who goes out with joy and soon comes to the end.
(13) So this gospel prepares us for temptation and adversity, and this is the sum of it, that the Lord Christ shows vain love and friendship toward his own, so that we are comforted, however we may be, because we know and learn from this gospel that Christ does not forsake those who are in distress of death and temptation of conscience; but he comes and comforts them, and does not leave them long in this distress, as he does here to his disciples.
14. for he can still be helped, who
the conscience is frightened and troubled with sins. But whoever despairs and falls into this presumption, that he thinks in his heart: It is now over with you, it cannot be otherwise, you must be damned, there is no more help nor comfort, you may well do it now as you will. This is a terrible case, namely, when man falls into it and throws everything into the redoubt. May God Almighty protect us from this sin. Let a sinner be as great as he wills, but let him not despair, and he will have no trouble: God will find his time to save him.
(15) So now you have heard here of two kinds of suffering. The first, that Christ was taken away from his disciples bodily; the other, when he is taken away from us all inwardly in our hearts. Christ took away the first suffering with his resurrection. He takes away the other when he makes the conscience joyful again. Of this he says here further, saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye shall weep and wail, but the world shall rejoice: but ye shall be sorrowful. But your sadness shall become joy." And soon after the likeness he saith, "Ye also now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man shall take from you."
(16) The Lord means the joy of which the conscience is again comforted and made glad, namely, when Christ is recognized as a Savior; for there tribulation, sin, death, hell and all misfortune are accepted. And this is not a worldly joy, as the world rejoices, sings and leaps over a happiness; but it is a heavenly and everlasting joy before God, which also pleases God. Of which the prophet in the 68th Psalm v. 4. says: "The righteous must rejoice and be glad in the sight of God, and have delight in gladness." And Christ says here to His disciples, "This joy shall not be taken away from you." How does this work? Thus, when Christ is again before the eyes, and the conscience finds that it has the Lord, to whom it looks for all good things, nothing more can hurt it. For who would give the heart
which is thus insured on Christ? What would anyone be afraid of, because he can say: My Lord Jesus Christ is Lord over all things, over death, hell, the devil, and over all creatures in heaven and on earth? As St. Paul also defies Rom. 8, 31 ff: "If God is for us, who can be against us? Who also spared not his own Son, but gave him for us all; how shall he not with him give us all things? Who will accuse the elect of God? God is here who justifies. Who wants to condemn? Christ is here, who died, yes, much more, who was also raised, who is at the right hand of God, and represents us. Who wants to separate us from the love of God? Affliction or fear? or persecution? or hunger? or nakedness? or peril? or sword? As it is written (Psalm 44:23), "For your sake we are killed all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. But in all this we overcome far, because of him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor things high, nor things low, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ our Lord. These were the words of St. Paul.
17 David also speaks to this opinion in a psalm and says (Ps. 27, 1. 2. 3.): "The Lord is my light and my salvation; of whom should I be afraid? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom should I be afraid? For when the wicked, my adversaries and enemies, came to devour my flesh, they ran and fell. Though an army come against me, yet shall not my heart fear: though a battle rise against me, I will trust in it." And in another Psalm he says (Ps. 23:1-4): "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to feed where there is much grass, and leadeth me beside the waters that cool me. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of the swords for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff.
comfort me." Behold, how brave and defiant is the man. Who gave him such valiant and defiant courage? Or where did it come from? From the Savior alone. And the more we are driven away, the more we cling to him. The more harm, misfortune and affliction are inflicted on us, the more we will rejoice, for this joy is eternal. And the more one wants to tear us away from it, the greater it only becomes.
18. Now one would like to speak: Can one also fall from this joy? Yes; and as soon as we fall, the eternal chastisement is present; which, though it is eternal in its nature, yet God saves His own from it. So the joy also remains eternal. But the person may well fall from it while we are on earth. This is what you should understand: Christ is my Savior; if I believe and know it, it is an everlasting joy to me, as long as I remain in it. But if Christ is gone from the heart and conscience, the joy is also gone. Grace remains, but the conscience may well fall. This I say, that ye may not be offended, when many shall fall away from the gospel, and deny Christ. For where Christ is with
of his joy and comfort, the cross and persecution are soon not far away.
(19) But I fear that we have neither joy nor the cross because we take so little notice of the gospel. We still remain in our old nature, thus despising the precious treasure of the Gospel. Because of this, God will send us a greater punishment than He did to the Jews, namely, blindness and error; as Paul says to the Thessalonians, 2 Ep. 2, 10, 11: "Therefore God will send them strong error, that they may believe the lie, that all may be judged who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness. For God cannot suffer the reproach of the gospel. He may well suffer stumbling, but to despise His great mercy in this way He will not suffer; nor is it fair that He should suffer. Therefore it is to be feared that such heresy and error will come, that no one will know what we find; as has already been proven, and will become even better. May God ward off Satan and deliver us from him, amen.