Fourth Sunday of Easter (1885)

John 16:16-23a
We would be far more patient and confident in all afflictions if we would always keep in
mind 1 Peter 1:6: "thouh now for a little while! if necessary! you ha"e been rie"ed#" $ut few at
all always rihtly belie"e and keep it in mind% thus so much impatience and rumblin# &ne
complains partly about the nature of sufferin! partly about the lenth of sufferin# 'ow (uickly
the time is too lon for us when we should bear the cross a few steps farther than we had
imained#
1
'owe"er! it remains true that our liht affliction lasts but a short time# )his is (uite
clearly e"ident from today*s +ospel! amon other thins#
The short duration of all our suffering and tribulation on earth.
)hese are briefly:
1# in comparison with our sins and guilt accumulated by it,
2# in view of the many hours of divine assistance that do not fail to appear! and finally
3# in terms of the endless duration of the future eternity#
1# Let us remember our sins and what we have earned with it# We are born sinners! by
nature enemies of +od and ha"e a "ery corrupt heart% from where misconceptions
stirred amon the disciples about the kindom of ,hrist and their misunderstandin
reardin 'is sufferin#
2
)houh countless actual sins are added from inborn sin in
thouht! word! and deed that we ha"e committed since infancy# &ne reflects on the
terrible insult of the reat +od committed by it! Who showers us with race and
mercy! Who endures the unfruitful tree for so lon% one considers how we loaded
+od*s wrath upon us throuh inratitude! obstinacy! disobedience% on the other hand!
one considers the bitter sufferin and death of Jesus ,hrist! 'is "oin to the -ather"
3
!
and what kind of sufferin and pain we ha"e caused 'im by our sins
.
! then should our
sufferin on earth seem too hard! too lenthy/ What a sliht affliction in comparison
with our uilt0
1
%
2# and how many are the hours of divine help in our days of suffering0 )he 2ord indeed
has startled the disciples by sayin that 'e indicated to them 'is departure to the
-ather and the imminent departure in"ol"ed with it# $ut how (uickly 'e comforts
them with the prospect that they would see 'im aain in a little while0 3nd it is still
called "in a little while0" reardin ,hristian sufferin# 4othin stops a disaster! an
emerency to the e5tent that at times a standstill may not occur# )he 2ord knows our
1 Job 6:3#
2 John 16:16-17#
3 John 16:16#
. 8saiah 13:3-.% 'ebrews 12:2-3#
1 9:ekiel 21:1;#
weaknesses and 'e is far too faithful and compassionate than that 'e should let us be
tempted beyond our ability#
6
+od often completely diminishes our burden and turns
our sorrow e"en here into <oy! like a woman in labor! in reco"ery from a deadly illness!
etc#! where distress passes and is almost forotten# 8f sufferin further continues! then
the faithful +od still i"es times of relief% the crushed heart is raised up% the spirit
refreshed#
6
&ur sufferins are shortened by this chane of ood and bad days or hours!
the bitter cup of sufferin sweetened# 9"en in the hihest deree the time of sufferin
here on earth appears as a short time%
3# when one compares endless eternity with temporal suffering# What is our life! e"en the
lonest life! compared to eternity/ 2ike a little drop compared to the sea#
7
=o it oes
e"en with our tribulation! it is "temporal" - e"en "liht"#
>
8t must certainly sometime
come to an end#
3nd we think of the eternal punishment of hell of those who persistently re<ect ,hrist in
unbelief! of the unceasin aony and torment of those condemned! of the ne"er-e5tinuishin
fire
1;
- oh! how all our temporal sufferin then disappears0 'ow happy we should bear it in the
knowlede and in the cheerful confidence that we are redeemed from hell by ,hrist0
2ikewise! finally! temporal affliction must appear as (uite short and simple when we
compare them to eternal lory# "?our <oy no one shall take from you0" the 2ord says#
11
4ot only
therefore the an5ious hours pass by! not only the sorrow should one day be turned into <oy! as
with the disciples! but this <oy shall be an eternal <oy# 9ternal bliss for a short sufferin in time0
&h! how we will one day aree with <ubilation in the word of =t# Paul: ")his time of sufferin is
not worthy" etc#0
12
+eor =t@ckhardt
6 Psalm 1;3:1.% 1 ,orinthians 1;:13% 8saiah 1.:6-7#
6 Psalm 3;:6% Jeremiah 1;:2.#
7 Psalm >;:1;% 2 Peter 3:7#
> 2 ,orinthians .:16-17#
1; 8saiah 66:2.% Aark >:..% Be"elation 1.:11#
11 John 16:22#
12 Bomans 7:17#