John 16:33

John 16:33. These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation; but be of good courage, I have overcome the world. ‘These things' refers to all that had been spoken from chap. John 14:1, to the thought of which beginning of His discourse Jesus now returns at its close. The present tense, ‘ye have,' seems to indicate that tribulation is not merely a historical certainty, but the natural consequence of the position of the disciples in the world. It must, as well as will, be so. But what of that, ‘Let not their hearts be troubled' (chap, John 14:1). The world is a conquered foe. Jesus has overcome it; and that not for Himself only, but for them. His faithful disciples have still sorrow in the world, but their sorrow is turned into joy; they have still to wage a warfare in the world, but each part of the field resounds with their exulting shouts, and the very death which the world may bring to them is the gate of higher and more glorious life. The world is not to be overcome: it is overcome; and to those who follow in the footsteps of their Lord, the path through is not so much a conflict as a victory. As reapers in the harvest field, they rejoice together with Him who sowed (chap. John 4:36); as soldiers of the cross, they share the triumph of the Captain of their salvation.