“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But have courage, for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Words of victory from Jesus turn into words of defeat and suffering in the hands of faithless preachers. They recite the words but refuse to acknowledge what the words say. They pounce on the part that says, “In the world you will have tribulation,” and downplay the rest of what Jesus said. This selective reading is not only theologically immature, but it also betrays the kind of wicked mindset that undermines anything positive in Scripture.
Which part should we focus on: the tribulation or the overcoming? The answer is obvious from the perspective of language alone. Suppose I say, “For my morning appointment, I left home late, but I arrived early.” What would be the point of this statement? Would it make sense for someone to focus on the fact that I left home late, as if the lateness were the defining reality? If he does that, it would be as if he is looking for the negative aspect of the situation to undermine me. He deliberately misses the point of the statement, which is to announce the outcome that I arrived early. In fact, the main purpose of the statement would remain intact even if we were to say, “For my morning appointment, I arrived early.” But the point would be absent if I were to say, “For my morning appointment, I left home late.” The lateness is an optional detail to what I wish to communicate.
Consider another example. Suppose I say, “In my business, I lost a thousand dollars, but then I gained three trillion dollars.” The main thrust of the statement would remain intact if we were to shorten it as, “In my business, I gained three trillion dollars.” The negligible loss has been long forgotten, overwhelmed by the astronomical profits. What kind of mindset would focus on the thousand dollars I lost and ignore the massive gain that followed? Something is profoundly broken and disabled in a person who cannot grasp the significance of such an outcome. Yet, this is how faithless people read the words of Scripture.
Jesus did not emphasize the tribulation, but the triumph. The mention of tribulation was only to provide context for the triumph. The statement would substantially mean the same thing if he had said, “In this world, you will have victory,” or “Have courage, for I have overcome the world.” He even said to “have courage,” making it impossible to misinterpret his statement or to mistake his intended emphasis.
Again, suppose you wish to buy a house and I say to you, “This house costs a million dollars, but be confident, because I have deposited fifty billion dollars into your bank account.” Would you say, “That is an expensive house!” or would you say, “Forget the house, I have fifty billion dollars!”? The cost of the house has become negligible. Yet when it comes to religious matters, people become stupid and cannot grasp simple language. What Jesus said ought to shape the whole perspective of the believer into a mindset of victory, but faithless people choose to dwell on the tribulation, the suffering, the persecution, as if they are determined to turn Scripture against themselves.
Jesus intended to establish peace in his disciples. He said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.” He told them how they were supposed to feel about what he said. He was not preparing them for a life of defeat. The statement is not about suffering, but about winning.
There are many passages in Scripture that declare both a problem and a solution. Faithless people will emphasize the problem and downplay the solution, and at times a preacher might not even address the part about the solution. For example, when a character in the Bible cries out in resentment against God, many preachers would declare that this is also how we ought to pray, supposedly in honesty about our feelings and frustrations, although in the same context the Bible proceeds to say that God rebukes the insolent person, who then repents in shame. Or, a character in the Bible might express doubt and fear, and preachers would seize on this and teach that such feelings are normal to the human experience, and that God empathizes, although in the same context the Bible proceeds to say that this character changes his attitude and gains an immovable confidence, declaring his certainty in God’s rescue and protection. This kind of faithless distortion of Scripture is almost universal, and it is perverse. It is a reprobate hermeneutic.
On the other hand, those who walk in faith believe that even when others suffer, it does not mean that they have to suffer. As the Bible says in Psalm 91, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.” The ones who have faith read this and see the promise of protection in the midst of widespread disaster. They believe that even if others suffer and perish, they will be protected, because God has promised his protection to those who trust in him.
It is true that Christians could face trouble in this world, but the Bible also says that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” This does not mean that we will only feel like we overcome, but that we will actually overcome. Faith sees beyond the suffering to the overcoming, just as Jesus did. Faithful religion declares that even when there are problems, God will deliver us. Even if others suffer and fall, God will sustain and rescue his own.
Faithless religion says, “In this world, we will suffer, and we must accept it as the will of God. But God will help us endure it, and things will be better for us after this life.” But Jesus teaches us to say, “In this world, we will have victory over tribulation. We are full of peace and courage, because our Lord Jesus has overcome the world.” The Christian life is not a life of suffering, but a life of winning, from faith to faith, and from glory to glory.