Courage, Cheer, Confidence
“Courage, Cheer, Confidence” (Gospel of John) – March 8th, 2026
A little film trivia for you. What do these movies have in common? Please call out your guesses as you think of them!
- Die Hard
- 12 Angry Men
- Speed
- 1917
- The Breakfast Club
- High Noon
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
All the action in these films takes place in a single day!
We talked several weeks back about how the first 12 chapters of the Gospel of John are known as the “Book of Signs.” Those 12 chapters focus on Jesus’ three ministry years. The rest of John’s Gospel, chapters 13-21, is known as the “Book of Glory” and cover a much shorter time period, the vast majority of that section happening on a single day.
Two weeks ago, we dropped in on a conversation Jesus and the disciples are having in the Upper Room after the Last Supper. Jesus is preparing them – he will be going away and then coming again, because the Father will send the Holy Spirit to continue his ministry. This Holy Spirit, the Paraclete – Advocate, Helper, Comforter – would enable and empower all who follow Jesus to participate in his ongoing work of restoration to reveal the glory of God. Last week Mariana reminded us of the importance of abiding in Jesus, leading to a life of love in which the Holy Spirit empowers mercy in us. In our journey through the Gospel of John, we are now almost halfway through the Book of Glory, in this second half of the Gospel, and this Upper Room conversation is still going!
I encourage you this week to read all of John 16 – don’t be surprised if you find yourself thinking, “I thought Jesus already said that!” Jesus tells the disciples the same things over and over because he wants them to know and understand what is about to happen. He knows it is going to be hard for him and for them, and he wants to assure them that even after he goes, they will be able to continue the work of restoration that he has already started because the Holy Spirit will be with them. There is a lot to talk about in John 16, but today we are going to focus on just one verse, in which Jesus points to all that he has said in the Upper Room that night.
John 16:33 – “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’”
While John, whose first vocation in life was a fisherman, did not likely receive a traditional, formal education in classical rhetoric, his writings show that he developed as a sophisticated writer who used advanced rhetorical and literary devices to present a powerful and persuasive narrative. John strategically crafted his gospel approximately 50 years after Jesus’ resurrection to highlight Jesus’ most important words by placing them at the end of the Upper Room narrative.
Before we look more closely at Jesus’ most important words, let’s take a little side trip. I have always felt scared of heights. In order to intentionally face my fears, I have periodically forced myself to do adventurous things involving heights: in order to inspire 4-year-old Jonathan to go on a ride he was nervous about, I rode the Huntsville, AL, Moon Shot, which launches you with 4G’s and gifts you with 2-3 seconds of weightlessness before a stomach churning freefall for about 14 stories (my inspiration did not work!). I’m not sure I breathed except to scream while riding in the front seat next to delighted 8-year-old Cascade on SheiKra, a 90-degree roller coaster that drop-dives 200ft at 70 miles per hour. I briskly walked the longest half mile of my life with our Peter & Alex on the Republic of Georgia’s terrifying Okatse Canyon hanging cliff trail, which offered panoramic, palpitational views of the canyon directly below. I enjoy the vicarious thrills of watching much more adventurous souls conquer incredible heights like Half Dome, North Face, or Mt. Everest.
Six weeks ago, I eagerly yet anxiously watched one of my living heroes do something no human has ever done before. 6.2 million people watched this event live, with over 850 million global impressions across social media platforms that day. Forty-year-old professional climber, Alex Honnold, is known for his methodical and deeply disciplined free solo climbing (which means he uses no ropes, harnesses, or safety equipment). I find him to be quite an inspirational person, one who exudes joy, calmness, humility, and generosity while doing what, frankly, seems impossible and foolish to the rest of the world. On January 25th, Alex scaled the eleventh largest skyscraper in the world, the Taipei 101, without the use of ropes in less time than it would take for most of us to walk up the stairs. I related to what one reviewer wrote: “Every grip, every breath, it’s edge-of-your-seat intensity. My palms are sweating buckets, heart pounding like a drum, but I can’t look away.” I think the world breathed a collective sigh of relief when Alex not only made it to the top but finally climbed down from the tiny, spherical pinnacle where he stood for an uncomfortably long time taking selfies in the high winds! Alex Honnold has often stated that he is not driven by fear or a desire to die, but rather by the personal satisfaction of mastering a difficult, beautiful, and challenging, yet prepared, adventure. We can respect all that!
As great as Alex’s and other heroes’ experiences are, they pale in comparison with the adventure of all adventures to which Jesus calls us. Jesus invites you and me to follow him and work with him in his kingdom project of the restoration and liberation of the world! Jesus’ call is anything but an ordinary adventure. Following Jesus has eternal significance and completely reorients our lives! In the Upper Room, Jesus has been preparing his disciples for what is about to happen. They don’t fully understand yet, but Jesus is about to give his life for the sake of the world. They don’t want to think about the things Jesus has been telling them – they can’t imagine how they can go on without Jesus. N. T. Wright says of this scene in the Upper Room: “They are about to be tossed to and fro like timber in a tidal wave. The horrible events that Jesus has up to now hinted at and interpreted in various ways are about to engulf him and them. Their initial reaction will be panic and flight … even in the worst that is to come, the disciples can have a peace that will carry them through … not from a detached, philosophical attitude … not a shrug of the shoulders … It’s a matter of standing on the ground that Jesus is going to win – indeed, that here he claims to have won already.” Biblical scholar Mary L. Coloe describes this final consolation which Jesus offers to his disciples as “the assurance of his ultimate victory in which [we] can find peace.”
In his final words in the Upper Room, Jesus gave his followers three descriptions (of three realities) and one prescription (a three-part remedy). Let’s examine each of these in turn.
The first reality that Jesus describes is “in me you may have peace.”
What is your relationship with peace? Do you feel perfect peace in every situation and at all times? Do you think that you should? What if we don’t experience peace in our hearts, minds, bodies? What if we lack peaceful sleep? We may feel defeated, disqualified, or discouraged. I wonder how much time and energy we divert into worrying that we are not feeling as peaceful as we think we should be as followers of Jesus? There are over 400 mentions of peace in the Bible, a hundred of them in the gospels. Remember, that the word “peace” in the Bible means shalom, which is “universal flourishing, wholeness and delight … the way things ought to be.” Here are a few things Jesus said about peace.
Matthew 5:9 – “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Jesus is saying: The ones who participate with God in making things the way they ought to be by promoting flourishing, wholeness, and delight are fortunate.
John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” Jesus is saying: I gotchu – I give to you [plural] flourishing, wholeness, and delight. There’s more of it and it’s better than anything you can imagine!
And now here in John 16:33, Jesus tells us that in him we may have peace. There’s a conditional “may have” tucked in there. While we are in the world, our peace will fluctuate. How often do we beat ourselves up when we “lose our peace?” Jesus isn’t berating us; here he is describing for his followers the way things are. It is in Jesus that the possibility of peace – universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight – even exists. As long as we live in this broken world, in the presence of suffering, pain, uncertainty, distractions, chaos, challenges, emotions, anxiety, and so forth, we will not always experience what we think of as perfect peace in every possible way. Please don’t think of that as failure. Jesus invites and welcomes us unconditionally. The peace Jesus gives is universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight. Jesus’ peace is more and better than our wildest dreams.
The second reality that Jesus describes is “in the world you face persecution.”
We might hear the word “persecution” and think, “Wow, I’m glad I am not experiencing that right now, and I hope I never will.” If we worry that we could undergo persecution one day, we might imprison ourselves with a sense of dread and foreboding. We might choose to play it safe and not do anything risky in case it puts us in the persecution spotlight. We might draw a line in the sand, as though we’re saying to God, “I will follow you to this point, but no further.”
The word translated “persecution” here is, again, one of those words that is much richer than any one word in English can capture.The primary picture which the Greek word thlipsis paints is that of a narrow place that hems someone in, in which someone feels confined, restricted, internally pressured, or without options. When we hear the word “persecution,” we naturally think of harassment or punishment inflicted by one person on another that is designed to injure, grieve, or afflict. Certainly, Jesus prepared us, his followers, for this kind of outward distress, and there are many Christians in the world today who are suffering from this kind of persecution – let us be faithful to pray for and remember our sisters and brothers in Christ! But there is a different Greek word for the kind of tribulation that focuses on the external pressure exerted by circumstances. In John 16:33, Jesus chooses thlipsis, which is the inward distress caused by our own hearts and minds. In this case, the verb is not a “maybe” – it’s definite and in the present tense. Not might have, not will have (in the future). In this world you have inward distress.
Jesus wants us to accept the reality of our lives as his followers, the way things are: inward distress is not unexpected, and inward distress does not define who we are. Inward distress is simply part of how life is in the world. We may not be able to see a way out of whatever situation we are in. Jesus, the New Testament, and all of church history all show us quite plainly that following Jesus is not accompanied by a trouble-free life. We will experience inward distress and at times feel confined, restricted, internally pressured, or without options. Why? Because the kingdom of God is inherently at odds with the kingdom of the world. There’s gonna be friction. We often, or at least sometimes, lack the creative imagination to see other possibilities. Again, let’s not be beating ourselves up for feeling inward distress. Please don’t think of that as failure. Jesus invites and welcomes us unconditionally. Hard times will come as we follow Jesus, but all will be well because Jesus is always with us, the Holy Spirit is always with us, God is always with us in the middle of it all.
The third reality that Jesus describes is “I have conquered the world!”
What image flashes through your mind when you hear “conquered the world?” If you think of an image of Jesus wielding a sword or some other violent imagery, it might be because of the sad influence of Christian triumphalism in our culture. Triumphalism is a theological mindset and attitude that emphasizes victory, dominance, and success in the present life. Triumphalism seeks to impose a Christian worldview on society through force and domination instead of service and love. Triumphalism tends to overemphasize the “already” of God’s kingdom while neglecting the “not yet” of suffering and struggle. In sharp contrast, Jesus showed throughout his ministry the new reality he established, the kingdom of God, the way of love. The kingdom of God which Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated is not characterized by violence or domination but by humility and gentleness.
Matthew 11:29 – “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Kings in Jesus’ day rode into cities on horses. Matthew 21:5 tells us that Jesus, upon entering Jerusalem, fulfilled Zechariah’s ancient prophecy, “Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey.”
When Jesus said, “I have conquered the world,” he chose the word nikaó, which speaks of depriving the world of power to harm and of rendering the influence of the world ineffective. Theologian D. A. Carson says that Jesus, by his death, has “made the world’s opposition pointless and beggarly. The decisive battle has been waged and won. The world continues its wretched attacks, but those who are in Christ share the victory he has won. They cannot be harmed by the world’s evil, and they know who triumphs in the end.”
Jesus wants us, his followers, to know that the world may do its worst to us, but we are secure in him! Later the apostle Paul would write, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). Theologian Craig Keener describes Jesus’ statement as “a promise that evil and suffering do not ultimately prevail for Christ’s followers.”
Jesus leaves us with a practical prescription.
In a single Greek word, tharseó, Jesus offers us a very practical and life-giving prescription, a three-part remedy, three beautiful invitations from Jesus: take courage, be of good cheer, be confident.
How can we take courage? Thirteenth century thinker and theologian, Thomas Aquinas, famously said, “The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them.” Courage is not just something that God drops into us, fully formed. Courage is neither cowardice nor foolhardiness. To take courage is to displace fear linked to shame or hopelessness through a myriad of small, conscious choices. We notice our fears and then face them one at a time and do one small act at a time from a motivation of love instead of from fear. Like all virtues, courage is built through frequent, repetitive action. We pray for the Holy Spirit to empower us with strength and a bold inner attitude. We refuse to allow our hearts to be conquered by fear or distress, choosing to remain in love.
How can we be of good cheer? While the world offers beauty, wonder, and growth, it also offers steady uncertainty, inevitable suffering, and fleeting satisfaction. As followers of Jesus, we choose to maintain a disposition of good cheer whenever we are tempted towards despondency, sarcasm, cynicism, or hopelessness. The battle is in our minds, y’all! As temptations arise, as the apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” We don’t have to react just like the culture around us. We can be of good cheer because we belong to the One who has overcome the world.
How can we be confident? The kind of confidence here is social boldness that arises from warmheartedness. When we have a fire inside of us, the assurance that we are deeply loved and enfolded in the Beloved, that warm confidence radiates from us in every direction. Henri Nouwen wrote in The Way of the Heart, “Our first and foremost task is faithfully to care for the inward fire so that when it is really needed it can offer warmth and light to lost travelers.” Perhaps counterintuitively, the way we care for this inward fire is through retreating from the world’s noise and practicing solitude, silence, and prayer. As we embrace a silence of the heart, it will guard us from spiritual apathy, which is the worst kind of pandemic the world could ever know! In every kind of season, what we and the world around us really needs is the calm confidence that no matter what happens, we are deeply and forever loved by the One who created us and gave his life for us and is with us always.
Let’s finish with a guided prayer exercise, engaging our minds and our hearts, holding ourselves and others before the Lord, and praying our closing Lent prayer together. Start by considering a situation or an arena of life in which you or another person or group is feeling confined, restricted, pressured, or without options. I invite you to hold yourself or the other person or other group in the light of God’s merciful, healing, and restoring presence. Jesus Christ still gives peace today as he gave the disciples in the Upper Room that night. Beloved, receive the peace of Christ, the flourishing, wholeness, and delight that God desires for each person, including you! Name and give to Jesus every inward distress. Remember that in an ultimate sense, Jesus Christ has deprived the world of the power to harm us and has rendered the influence of the world ineffective against us. Beloved, receive the assurance of your security in Christ. Take courage! Beloved, receive the boldness and strength of the Holy Spirit. Be of good cheer! Beloved, give to God all of your temptations, despondency, hopelessness, anxieties, and fears. Be confident! Beloved, receive the warm-heartedness, love, and kindness of the Lord. Let us pray together: Come, my Light, and illumine my darkness. Come, my Life, and revive me from death. Come, my Physician, and heal my wounds. Come, Flame of divine love. Amen.
