「私たちの悲しみを喜びに変えるための道」三月第一主日礼拝 宣教 2026年3月1日
ヨハネによる福音書 John 16章16〜24節 牧師 河野信一郎
Good morning. February flew by in the blink of an eye, and today marks the start of March. Lately, warm days and cold rainy days have been alternating, and some of you may be feeling under the weather. Also, as it has warmed up, cedar pollen counts have been high daily, making masks essential for many. It seems rain is forecast again this week, so I pray for your daily protection. Amidst all this, I thank the Lord for the blessing of being able to offer praise and worship to God together with all of you again this morning.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. I went twice to provide meal support for residents on the Oshika Peninsula in Ishinomaki City, which was devastated by the disaster, and also went twice to support Sendai and Koriyama. We dispatched the music director from Okubo Church to temporary housing in Morioka Church and Otsuchi Town in Iwate Prefecture. Church members also volunteered to help remove mud from the homes of families affected by the tsunami. I participated in a meal distribution at Ogihama Elementary School on the Oshika Peninsula. As we finished cleaning up and prepared to leave, the women came out specially to see us off. I still remember their words: “Thank you so much! Please don’t forget about us!”
Among our congregation are members whose relatives were affected by the disaster, and the major accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant has still not been brought under control. In light of this, we will dedicate the upcoming worship service on the 8th as a “Worship Service Remembering 3.11.” We will pray for and offer financial support to three Christian churches established in various locations across Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima. These churches, despite being victims themselves, continue to stand alongside those affected by the disaster. We have already contributed ¥40,000 in support throughout the year. If it is God’s will, we hope to send ¥30,000 to each church. Please remember this in your prayers this week. Next week on the 11th, there will be a Memorial Concert at CAJ in Higashikurume. Please check the bulletin board for details and consider attending; the organizer, Mr. PaulM, would be delighted. Let us remember that the voices saying, “Don’t forget us!” still echo in the disaster-stricken areas.
Now, we are currently observing this year’s Lent. This period is a time to remember and reflect on the path Jesus took toward Jerusalem, the way of the cross, where He was crucified as our substitute and died for our redemption. Without this redemptive death of Jesus, there would be no resurrection of Jesus. Without the resurrection, there is no salvation for us. This church, this worship service, our very existence, and the encounters granted through this church would not exist. All is grace through the love of God and Jesus. Lent is the time to remember that grace.
Amidst this, we are listening to the farewell discourse Jesus spoke to His disciples before His crucifixion, found in John 13:21 through 16:33. These words can be understood as Jesus’ last will and testament. Last week, through John 14:1-14, we heard that Jesus Himself is the “Way,” the “Truth,” and the “Life” that leads us to God, and that following Him is God’s will and His invitation. and that following Jesus is God’s will and His invitation. This morning, through verses 16:16-24, I hope we can listen together to how Jesus walked the path of the cross to transform our anxieties, fears, pain, and sorrow into great joy.
I encourage you to read these words of Jesus yourself many times during this season of Lent—the words recorded in John 13:21 through the end of chapter 16, the words Jesus spoke to the disciples He was leaving behind on earth. Here, Jesus’ love for His disciples is woven throughout. Jesus knew the pain, sorrow, severe persecution, and the suffering of losing their livelihood through expulsion from Jewish society that the disciples would experience because they believed in Him. Therefore, before facing the cross, Jesus faced His disciples, giving them His final encouragement. In the following chapter 17, He pours out His heart in prayer to God, that their faith may not fail.
Yet, even though they were loved, taught, and guided by Jesus, the disciples did not understand His heart. They were only thinking about themselves. Do we understand Jesus’ heart? If we don’t, it seems to prove that we are constantly thinking only of ourselves. Yet even for people like us, and even for the disciples, Jesus loves us with patience and prayer. He invites and encourages us, saying, “Believe in me to know my heart, God’s heart.”
Jesus spoke enigmatically to His disciples in verse 16: “In a little while you will see Me no more, and again in a little while you will see Me.” But the disciples, in verses 17 and 18, said to one another, ‘What does he mean by saying, “In a little while you will see me no more, and again in a little while you will see me,” and “I am going to the Father”?‘ They also said, ‘What does he mean by “in a little while”? We don’t understand what he is talking about.’” They were filled with confusion, but no one asked Jesus.
Even though each of them wanted to ask questions, they rarely did. Why? Perhaps it was because there was anxiety or fear in the disciples’ hearts, a reluctance to know the truth. Or perhaps it was because they calculated that asking a trivial question might cause embarrassment. Or perhaps it was because they felt a sense of inadequacy, a sense of guilt that their own faith was insufficient to fully receive the heart of Jesus.
But Jesus understood the disciples’ hearts. In verse 19, he said, “Jesus knew 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 see me no more; and again a little while, and you will see me“?’” This was not a rebuke of their self-centered hearts. Rather, it was a gentle encouragement, concerned for the disciples who were filled with anxiety and fear: “If there is something you do not understand, ask me immediately. You need not struggle with it alone. Am I not right here before you?” These are gentle words of encouragement. Jesus is always a person overflowing with love.
Jesus always speaks truth to His disciples. Verse 20: “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.“ He declares to His disciples, ”You will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice.“ This means, ”You will weep and mourn because Jesus is arrested and dies on the cross, but those who do not believe in the Savior sent by God will rejoice that they killed Him on the cross.”
But Jesus declares, “God’s will is different. God’s plan of salvation is vastly different from the shallow thoughts of humans.” Indeed, Jesus is crucified and killed just as the Jewish leaders intended. Yet He did not die a mere brutal death. Jesus chose death on the cross to pay the price for the sins we have committed against God, thereby giving us life.
But Jesus’ death was not the end. God the Father raised His Son Jesus from the dead, and the resurrected Jesus appeared before His disciples. Here lies the promise and hope: He liberates us—His disciples and us—from unbearable sorrow and the pain of guilt, filling us instead with great joy.
Jesus compares the suffering of His disciples to the pain of childbirth. In verse 21, He says, “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come, and the anguish is with her now gone. Her hour has come. Yet when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a human being has been born into the world.” At the time of childbirth, one experiences great suffering and pain, but once the child is born, one is filled with immense joy and gratitude, no longer remembering the pain of labor. A moment comes when the temporary pain is instantly transformed into everlasting joy. Jesus tells His disciples that this moment is already at hand.
In verses 22 and 23, Jesus tells His disciples, “Now you are sad, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will ask Me nothing. Truly, truly, I say to you, If you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you.” Here, the Lord gives us two wonderful promises.
First, 1) The promise that the risen Lord Jesus comes to meet us in our sorrow, and through this encounter, our hearts are filled with God’s love and peace, and no one can take away this joy. This promise is continually fulfilled through Jesus’ companionship and the Holy Spirit’s protection. And second, 2) the promise that God always answers those who pray in Jesus’ name. Being able to pray to God through Jesus is a grace and a Christian privilege. It is a waste not to be thankful for this grace and to fully utilize this privilege.
Facing death on the cross, Jesus encourages His anxious disciples in verse 24: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” He also encourages us today, who face many troubles and sufferings: “Pray, and the way of salvation will be given to you; your heart will be filled with joy.”
This morning, God invites us through Jesus walking the path of the cross: not to be troubled by the problems standing before us, nor to live in anxiety, fear, or sorrow, but to live in the great joy and resurrection life given through Jesus Christ. Let us receive the love of God and Jesus, who still love us even as we doubt and wander, and live this week and always in the Lord’s love and grace. That is the heartfelt desire of God and Jesus.