Text: John 16:23-33

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

If you heard Jesus’ words from last week’s Gospel reading, then you’re all set for part two of Jesus’ diatribe. If you missed the first part of Jesus’ diatribe or if you’ve forgotten, Jesus is speaking of His impending departure, but before that happens, He needs to share more with them. In His absence, He will send forth the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, “and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” Jesus then goes on to tell the disciples, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” Following that, there is confusion among the disciples. In the end, there will a time of sorrow but that sorrow will turn into joy. He ends by saying, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

As Jesus continues His conversation with the disciples, He says, “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. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Jesus tells them that they have full access to God through Himself, something that they never enjoyed before. Prior to Jesus, access to the Father was always made through a mediator, through a sacrifice, through some sort of go-between. But with Jesus, that is no longer the case. Jesus is the bridge between God and man. Jesus is the sacrifice that is needed to make full atonement of man’s sin.

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, promises us that our needs will be met, though it may not be met according to our standards. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” We learn that, even as the petitions that we pray are made in Jesus’ name, so also the giving of what is asked is done in His name as well; it is made in connection with the revelation of Jesus as this is embraced by faith. That means for us that our prayers are indeed answered, though maybe not the way we would want them to be answered. God hears the prayers of His people and answers them according to His good and gracious will, meaning He will answer them as it benefits us in a God-pleasing way.

While Jesus has spoken much of His ministry in parables and other figures of speech, our Lord speaks plainly regarding the Father: “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. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

Of all the things Jesus has said, the disciples hear one thing that resonates with them, and it’s not something that they want to hear: Jesus was leaving them. They weren’t quite sure how this would happen, but they knew that He would be leaving them. They could not imagine living in a world without Jesus, yet in a few hours that is just what they will experience. They will watch Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death.

How does this come back to praying and asking in the Father’s name? What is it that the disciples need right now with the pending crucifixion of Jesus? They need understanding, they need clarity. As Jesus speaks, we know what is going to happen. Following the events of Holy Week, following what takes place on Easter Sunday, following the Ascension, Jesus takes His place behind the Father and God the Father deals with us, just as lovingly and just as intimately as Jesus did with His inner circle of disciples. He loves us because of the love of Jesus shown to us.

Christ is our Mediator and Advocate. We confess with John: “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Our Lord promises, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” At the end of our text for today, Jesus reassures the disciples by telling them, “But
take heart; I have overcome the world.” This is Christ’s assurance to them and to us all that Christ has indeed won the victory over the world and has won for us everlasting life.

Think of what that means for you, the beloved and redeemed children of God. Because Christ has overcome the world, we can be confident of life in His name: the promise of becoming a child of God, forgiven through His life, death, and resurrection; forgiven by the waters of Holy Baptism; having a faith strengthened and nourished through Christ’s body and blood given to us through His Holy Supper.

Our Lord tells us, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.” This world will indeed pass away and all that is in it. Things will get worse, but we are not left without hope. Because of what Jesus Christ has done for us, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Through His life, death, and resurrection, we have received the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. That means when this world seems to be falling apart around us, when things can’t seem to get worse than what they already are but they do, there is hope for us. We as Christians continue to pray. We pray that God’s will be done. We pray for God’s blessings upon us. And we are certain that God will indeed hear our prayers, for He has promised to hear the prayers of His people. But not only does He hear them, He promises to answer them as well. Fortunately for us, God does not answer the way that we would like or the way that we think is best; rather, God answers them in the way the He knows to be best for us, granting to us all that is good. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we have been given direct access to the Father and God does indeed hear the prayers of His people. We know that He will indeed answer the prayers of His people according to His good and gracious will, “For the Father himself love you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

God hears your prayers prayed in Jesus’ name. To pray in Jesus’ name is to trust that the prayer will be answered because Christ has died for you. And to pray in Jesus’ name is to trust that His will is best, rather than imposing our own sinful desires on Him. Rejoice, too, in this: after Jesus spoke of prayer in John 16, He then went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed for His disciples—and prayed for you. Even now, He prays for you until He comes again. Therefore, rejoice: you can be sure that the Lord hears your prayers for Jesus’ sake because you are forgiven for all of your sins.  In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.