Complete Joy

John 16:16-24

¹⁶“A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? ²⁰Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. ²¹When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. ²²So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ²³On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”

Earlier in the chapter, Jesus tells the disciples that soon, there will be persecution and even executions by people who think they are doing it for God. He continues to tell them that He had not said these things before, because He was with them. But now, since He is going away, He needed to let the disciples know that these things will happen.

Jesus also tells them that it is better for them that He is going away, since He will be sending them the Advocate – The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will make clear to the world about sin, righteousness and that Satan is as good as defeated.

Then in this morning’s passage, Jesus tells them that soon, they will no longer see Him, but then they will in a little while. He is talking about dying on the cross but coming back on the third day. The world will rejoice at His death, but the followers will be in pain. But that will soon reverse, and the pain will turn to joy when He is resurrected. He uses the example of giving birth to a child. There is necessary pain, but there will be joy in the end. So, as they go through the pain of Jesus’ death, they should know that it will turn into joy.

Jesus tells the disciples that they have not asked anything of the Father in Jesus’ name, but going forward, if they do ask in the name of Jesus, they will receive it, so that their joy may be complete.

Going on in vv. 25-28, Jesus further explains that asking in Jesus’ name does not mean that they must pray to Jesus and Jesus will intercede on their behalf. Instead, they are to directly ask the Father in Jesus’ name.

Does this mean that if we just add the phrase, “In Jesus’ name we pray,” we would be granted whatever we pray for? From experience, we know that is not what Jesus means. Otherwise, there would be no believers who have any lack in terms of health, wealth, etc.

The meaning is probably closer to “if you ask in my stead”. We are to pray for what Jesus would pray for. That is where the Holy Spirit will play a role. He will guide and teach us what Jesus would pray for. It is like we are representing Jesus for what we pray.

In Japanese culture, the traditional way to come to an agreement was not by signature, but by a stamp, called “hanko”. If we had the family hanko, then we represent our household. It is analogous to Jesus handing us His hanko for us to use it for the Kingdom.

When we read the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, we know that all of this came to pass. In the next chapter, Jesus is arrested. He is then put on trial and is executed on the cross, even though He had no sin. Deep sadness was felt by the followers, but it turned to joy on Easter morning, when Jesus came back from the dead. After teaching His followers for forty days, Jesus returns to heaven and promises to come back.

Then on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit arrives. And as the followers spread the gospel, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and in the name of Jesus Christ, power, wisdom and love were given so that they could preach the gospel, and be witnesses that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. We see in Acts that Peter, Paul and others are able to escape captivity, heal, drive out demons, survive beatings and stoning. Even though life was not easy nor did they have wealth and health, they had complete joy.

In John 16, the disciples are feeling some doubt and anxiety, because Jesus told them that He is going away. Even though Jesus assures them that all the sadness will turn to joy, they are not sure that they can trust that hope.

When the Holy Spirit arrived, the world changed for them. They no longer had doubt about their final destiny and what they were to do until either they died or the Lord returned. They had motive to live and to hope and joy – Not through becoming rich or healthy or safe, but by serving Jesus and doing Kingdom work.

We are privileged to live in the post-Pentecost era, where as soon as we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit enters into us. He guides us each day on what to pray, what to do, what to say. And if we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it will give us joy complete.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano during worship on January 11, 2026.)