How Jesus Gives Us Peace

John 16:25–33,

“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 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; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 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.”

Let’s start this morning with the last verse — verse 33 — when Jesus says, “I have said these things …” The “these things” is referring to what he has just said (in the most recent verses), but he also has in mind the entire Farewell Discourse going back to Chapter 13. 

Remember it’s still Thursday night, and Jesus has been teaching his disciples this whole time to prepare them for a world where he is physically absent. The next chapter, Chapter 17, is a concluding prayer that Jesus prays, but the teaching part of the Farewell Discourse concludes here with Chapter 16, in verse 33. 

And so when Jesus says “these things” in verse 33, he’s talking about all of that teaching. Which means: what he has just said, and all of what he has said going back to Chapter 13, is for the same purpose. Jesus tells us that purpose in verse 33.

He says, “I have said these things to you, [so that] in me you may have peace.”

It’s very clear: The reason Jesus has been saying what he’s been saying from Chapter 13 through Chapter 16 is so that in him you and me may have peace.

Now we know! So tomorrow at work or school when someone asks you, “Hey, what’s the purpose of the Farewell Discourse?” — you know the answer! 

You say, “The purpose is my peace.” Jesus wants me to have peace in him. 

Can you believe that? Can you believe that Jesus really wants you to have peace?

That’s what our passage today is about. Jesus shows us three ways he gives us this peace, and for the sermon, that’s what I want to show you. 

Looking at verses 25–33, I’m going to tell you three ways that Jesus gives us peace in him.

1. Jesus gives us peace by showing us the Father’s love (verses 25–28).

It’s gonna take us a minute to get there, but let’s start at verse 25 again. Jesus says, 

I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 

There are three things to track with here: 

First is how Jesus has been speaking.

Second, is why that is about to change. 

Third, the effect of the change.

Has Been Speaking

As for how Jesus has been speaking, he says it’s been in “figures of speech” — which is a super broad category. The word there can refer to all kinds of speech like proverbs, parables, maxims, similes, allegories, fables, and even riddles. Last week that’s what Pastor Marshall called what Jesus says in verse 16. It’s like a riddle. It makes you think a little bit. 

Another example is verse 21 when Jesus talks about childbirth — You know when a mother is preparing to give birth, there’s a lot of pain, but then after the delivery she’s happy to have the baby — we heard about that last week. That’s an image, a picture, for how to think about your sorrow turning to joy. Your sorrow is gonna have a baby!

That kind of speaking falls under that category of “figures of speech” and Jesus says that’s how he’s been doing it. He’s that kind of teacher. (And Jesus was a brilliant teacher. He’s the best teacher to ever walk this earth.) 

About to Change

But the way he’s been speaking is about to change. He’s going to start telling us plainly about the Father. And that word for plainly could also be translated boldly or frankly (it is a glorious word in the Book of Acts). And to understand what Jesus means by it, we need to understand the timing of this change. When he says “the hour is coming” in verse 25 and “in that day” in verse 26, he’s talking about after his death and resurrection, when the Holy Spirit is sent. 

The coming plainness of his teaching is owing to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has told us this, 16:13

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak… [which means whatever he hears from me he will speak].

Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit’s ministry continues his ministry.

This is a major theme in this section: Jesus being physically absent does not limit his ministry, but actually, because of the Spirit, his ministry is magnified! His message, his truth, will go broader and deeper than ever before. That’s what to expect “in that day” — the new day of the Spirt, after Jesus’s death and resurrection.

And church, Jesus was right. You know one thing different about the year 2026 from the year 30? In 2026, far more people have understood the truth about Jesus than when he first spoke these words in the year 30. Jesus was right. It’s a fact. His message has advanced more. His ministry has been magnified more … after his death and resurrection, because of the Spirit. That’s the change. 

The Effect of the Change

And the effect of the change is the access we now have to the Father. That’s the difference all this makes. That’s what it’s all about — our relationship to the Father.

Jesus is of course our way to the Father, but he really does bring us to the Father — he brings us into real relationship with the Father as his children. Romans 8:15 — we have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry “Abba! Father!” 

Jesus has made this reality, which means: the Father doesn’t need to use Jesus as an administrative assistant.

Recently, I needed to contact someone who would be considered a “high-profile person” (they probably get a lot of emails). But I had the person’s direct email, so I used that, and I got a reply. But it was from an assistant, speaking on behalf of the person. 

And I understand. I get it. There needs to be layers of distance and certain restrictions of access. But now for us, with the Father, there is no such distance. There are no such restrictions. 

Because of Jesus.

By his death and resurrection, through the sending of the Sprit, Jesus has truly made us sons and daughters of God, and therefore we get to pray to God as his sons and daughters. And God welcomes us that way. Jesus says, in verse 27, “the Father himself loves you.”

And that is so important for us to hear. Sometimes people can make the mistake of thinking that the Father is determined to show us wrath, but it’s the Son who is constantly standing in between us and the Father. As if the Father is all frown, and the Son is all mercy.

But that’s wrong. The Bible is clear. Jesus is clear. The Father himself loves us.

Don’t forget: the coming of Jesus to this world was from the Father! The death of Jesus for us was the demonstration of the Father’s love! Ultimately, Jesus is gonna bring us with him to the Father’s house.

That’s what all this is about. That’s what Jesus wants us to know. He is showing us the Father.

How deep the Father’s love for us!

How vast beyond all measure!

That he should give his only Son

To make a wretch his treasure!

The Father himself loves you, Christian. The Father loves you, Jesus says. And him showing us this gives us peace. 

2. Jesus gives us peace by not giving up on us (verses 29-32).

Verse 29 is the disciples’ reply to Jesus. And I appreciate that John doesn’t mention any of them by name, but this is reflective of the whole group. They all said verse 29.

And it’s not just what they said, but how they said it. I’ll do a paraphrase, but track with the tone. Basically, they reply: Oh! Finally, Jesus! We get it now! We know what you mean! Now that you’re talking so plainly, we understand exactly who you are and what you’re saying — Except they didn’t. There’s an irony here. The disciples are still confused, but now they think they get it (which is almost a worse place to be). Don Carson comments,

“No misunderstanding is more pathetic than that which thinks it no longer exists.”

These guys, all of them, are still missing it, and Jesus calls them out. He says in verse 31, “Do you now believe?” We translate it in English as a question, but literally it’s the statement: “Now you believe.” The idea is that Jesus is saying it with exasperation, like: Now you believe! It has an unconvinced ring to it. Jesus sees right through their self-declared understanding, and he really bursts their bubble in verse 32: 

“Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.”

He says: Now you believe! Is that right? In a matter of moments, you’re all going to run. You’re all gonna leave me. 

And if we were in Jesus’s shoes, we could imagine how easy it would be to resent these guys. It’s one thing to know they’re going to leave you, but then to hear them flex like this … that they would posture themselves as if they’re so devout, but you know it’s all a bag of wind — that is the world’s most favorite take-down. The world dreams of embarrassing people like this, and Jesus could do that here. But you know what he does?

The very next thing he says is that he wants them to have peace. These guys! People like them, … like us. …

You may remember, some weeks ago in John 14, we noted that in this section of the Farewell Discourse, John seems to feature the weaknesses of the disciples. He highlights several of them by name, and they’re all at least a little bit off (we see that here). And we saw that one thing John is making clear is that the only kind of disciple there can be is an imperfect disciple. 

And I hope we can see now that such a statement says more about Jesus than it does us — it says more about his patience than it does our weakness. Oh the patience of Jesus!

They will scatter, he stands fast,

They will falter, he will last;

He bears with them, weak and slow,

Refusing still to let them go.

Jesus is not done with these guys, and he’s not done with us. I mean that for us — each of us. Even those of us who are hyper-aware of our failures. Some of us just live there all the time. We always feel like we never measure up. We constantly miss the mark. And then we feel badly for feeling badly. We just cannot imagine ourselves being anything more than a miserable sinner.

But do you realize that these same men in Chapter 16 who are still scratching their heads about Jesus are gonna end up changing the world? Like within a year of this moment! 

Look, we have to stop underestimating what it means that Jesus will never give up on us. If you’re still here, he’s not done with you. Psalm 138:8,

“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; 

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. 

Do not forsake the work of your hands.”

He would never. And isn’t there peace in that? Jesus gives us peace by showing us the Father’s love, and by not giving up on us, and then third …

3. Jesus gives us peace by overcoming the world (verse 33).

This is verse 33, the final verse in Jesus’s teaching here, and it’s a verse to memorize. I at least want everybody to see it, so help me out and find verse 33. John 16, verse 33. Verse 33: 

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.”

Again, that’s the purpose. We’ve seen that, but now listen … Jesus says:

“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

This statement from Jesus is so amazing that I hardly know what to do with it. It is so precious and powerful and clear that I just don’t want to be in the way. 

The statement has three parts: Fact, Exhortation, Bigger Fact. 

Part 1, the fact is: in this world you will have tribulation. Some translations say trouble. It means affliction or distress. And it’s important to note that it’s tribulations in this world and of this world. There’s no such thing in heaven. This is only the case here, in this world. I appreciate what John Calvin says. He writes:

Under the term “world,” Christ here includes all that is opposed to the salvation of believers, and especially all the corruptions which Satan abuses for the purpose of laying snares for us.

That stuff happens here. It will happen in this world, Jesus tells us. 

But then he exhorts us. Part 2, the exhortation is: “But take heart.” And that’s a perfect translation. The word means to be courageous, but it lands more like an encouragement than an order. 

It means: Steady yourself! Be of good cheer! Take heart! — that’s the idea, and it’s what we’re supposed to do in the face of tribulation, which, if we stopped here, would make no sense. Because everything in us wants to flee tribulation. We want to protect ourselves! We don’t want trouble! So how can Jesus say “take heart”? …

egō nenikēka ton kosmon

I have overcome the world. 

Fact: in this world you will have tribulation. 

Exhortation: take heart because there’s a bigger fact to the fact of this world — Jesus has conquered the world.