“YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE”

Jesus did not want His disciples taken by surprise by the trouble in the world around them or even by direct threats and attacks aimed at them.

He was referring to His arrest and the fact that they would soon be scattered, but He was also describing life in a broken and troubled world, particularly for those who would choose to live as His followers. They should not expect that following Jesus would smooth their path, clear all obstacles out of their way, and guarantee trouble-free lives.

Instead, trouble would be a recurring experience.

That Jesus was able to warn them about some of what they would face was one way in which He offered assurance. When experiencing trouble, they need not be afraid that He had abandoned them or that somehow God’s plan had been defeated.

Instead, they could have peace in the knowledge that Jesus knew and understood, that He had seen and heard their troubles. Jesus knew their world, and He knew them. But Jesus took His assurance a step further in urging that He had, and would, overcome all the trouble in the world. When we begin with Jesus, whatever we encounter in our lives and in our world has already been overcome. The worst of suffering, grief, isolation, and fear are already defeated in Jesus. And He was already working out the plan for the full and final defeat of all that is evil, with the promise of a full reunion with His Father. Jesus’ disciples could have the confidence that Jesus had as He approached His arrest, trials, and crucifixion with the knowledge that His Father was with Him (see John 16:32). And ultimately, in His resurrection, His followers could have the confidence that Jesus had truly overcome the worst that our world could offer.