The Perilous Gospel

4/24/25 Bible Thought (John 16)

Photo by Ali Aliakbari on Unsplash

One of the things I love about Scripture is the realistic lens it puts on life. Many of us have experienced hardships, and we can look within the Bible’s pages and find countless others who have experienced similar hardships. Not only this, but we see those who have experienced far worse than us. These things remind us that God hasn’t promised to us an easy life.

In fact, today’s passage begins with a warning from the Lord Jesus to His disciples:

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ² They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴ But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you” (Jn. 16:1-4).

Jesus, on the eve of His death, sets aside time to prepare His disciples for that which is to come. They weren’t to expect an easy life filled with luxuries. Rather, many of them would suffer persecution and martyrdom.

Truly, this predicted suffering was fulfilled. Stephen, the deacon, was martyred (Acts 7). James, the brother of John, was martyred (Acts 12). Both Peter and Paul were put into prison on multiple occasions. Likewise, church history is filled with the record of countless martyrs suffering horrific deaths, beginning with many of Jesus’ original disciples.

Jesus never promised it would be easy.

Rather, life will be hard. At times more than we can bear—that is, in our own strength. But thank God that’s not the end of the story. We might be hated down here, but that’s not the end of the story. Things might seem bleak, but the story isn’t over.

The story ends with hope.

For the Lord Jesus says,

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).

What is so beautiful about this promise is that it is the last piece of Jesus’ teaching in John’s Gospel prior to the crucifixion. In John 17, He prays, in John 18 He is arrested, and in John 19 He is crucified.

The last words of Jesus intended explicitly to teach His disciples are about hope.

They can take heart, they can be of good courage, they don’t have to fear. Why? Christ has overcome the world. The story might be filled with ups and downs. It might end with martyrdom for some. Yet, the disciple of Christ can find hope.

Life might be filled with problems without solutions, but in the end, He is victorious, and we will share in His victory.

As the apostle Paul would later say in speaking of the inescapable nature of the love of God, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

In Christ Jesus, we don’t have to fear. We can have perfect peace. Problems down here are to be expected. They are part of the package in a fallen world—but thank God there’s a new creation coming.

At times the world might seem to be falling apart, and it may appear every enemy of Christ has the upper hand. Perhaps in the moment they’re winning the battle, but ultimately the war is His.

He has overcome.