The Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 26, 2026

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

During Jesus' three years of ministry, things were going very well for the disciples.

They saw Jesus' miracles, giving sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf,

and even raising the dead.

They heard his teaching and his preaching.

They walked with him. They ate with him.

Life was good as a disciple with Jesus.

Life was full of joy. They had everything they needed. They were,

in many ways, you might say, at the height of it all.

On the night in which Jesus was betrayed, he met with his disciples in the upper

room. He spoke these words.

He said to them, A little while, and you will not see me.

Let me get a little while, and you will see me.

He went on to talk about them going through sorrow and anguish,

but their sorrow will eventually be turned to joy.

Jesus is talking about his death and his resurrection, but they didn't understand that.

That very night, Jesus was taken from them.

He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, And the disciples fled.

They were scattered. They left. They ran away.

Jesus was scourged by the soldiers. He was nailed to the cross.

He was mocked by the people.

He died and was buried.

Sure enough, the disciples were sorrowful.

They had hoped that Jesus would redeem them from the Romans, but now he's dead.

Where do they go? What do they do? They felt guilty for running away from Jesus

in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And I'm sure Peter felt the weight of his sin of denying Jesus three times there in the courtyard.

And they were also afraid of the Jews that they might crucify the disciples

as well. so the disciples were hiding behind locked doors.

Jesus' words came true. He said to them earlier, a little while and you will see me no longer.

He goes on to say, truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament. You will be sorrowful.

And this is the suffering that he's talking about.

And this is exactly what the disciples were experiencing. And yet,

the joy is just around the corner.

Jesus will soon appear to them on Easter.

The same pattern is in your life as well.

There are times when everything is going well. Your faith seems strong.

Life is good. There's blessings abounding.

Things are good in your family, your work.

Okay, state students here. Good in school. You see God's blessings in your health,

your home, your church, and your community.

And in these moments, it's easy to begin expecting that this is what the Christian

life is supposed to be. All joy and no problems.

But then comes the, quote, little while.

Then comes suffering.

And everything changes. You lose a loved one.

You fear the diagnosis from the doctor.

There's conflict in your family, in your friends, in your classmates.

Your prayers seem unanswered. you carry the guilt of your sin,

you lose your job, you fail the paper, the test, and the list goes on and on.

And suddenly the very things that once seemed certain begin to seem uncertain.

You begin to ask, does God really love me? Is he in control?

Why is this happening to me? And then the devil in the world tempts you with

lies Saying if God were good why are you suffering If Christ really loves you

Your life would be easy Or if your faith was strong enough You would not suffer

Do not believe these lies,

Jesus never promised a life on earth without problems.

He said, in this world, you will suffer tribulation. He was honest with us.

And even Paul says that we will suffer because we live in a fallen, sin-filled world.

Suffering is real. The time is really intense.

When life is easy and when things are going well, we are tempted to trust in

worldly things rather than in God, who is the giver of all good gifts.

We begin to think that our possessions will give us joy and happiness.

Our faith starts to trust in our stuff.

And we begin expecting from Jesus, not salvation, but we want him to give us success and comfort.

And this is dangerous, a dangerous place to be, Because if our faith were placed

on the things of this world and earthly happiness,

then faith could easily collapse in on ourselves.

And when suffering comes, and it will, and it does, we have no other option than to seek Christ.

We then are driven to the gospel, and there we find our joy.

Now, Jesus compares this, all this, to a woman giving childbirth.

He says, when a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come.

The pain is real. It's intense.

But when the child is born, she no longer remembers the pain,

but she rejoices that a baby is born.

Now, a woman's suffering and pain in childbirth is not meaningless. It has a purpose.

It leads to joy. A baby is born.

And so it is with you and me. Our suffering is not meaningless. It has a purpose.

It humbles us. And it breaks down our pride.

It brings us to repentance. to confess our sin that we have committed against others or before God.

At times, God uses suffering for our good to discipline us because he loves us.

Suffering draws us closer to God. It strengthens our faith, and it teaches us

that we cannot make it on our own.

It drives us to prayer. It drives us to rely entirely on Christ.

We need God's strength. We need his peace and joy, and he's the only one who can give it.

First comes the cross, and then comes Easter. First comes labor pains, then the baby.

First there is suffering, then there is joy. What is that joy?

Your joy is not in earthly possessions.

Your joy is found in Jesus, his

death and his resurrection for you and the forgiveness of all your sins.

Your joy is found in the gospel and the gift of life and salvation that God

gives to you through faith in Christ.

Your joy is knowing that you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Your joy is knowing that your guilt is gone, removed as far as east is from

the west, and your death is defeated, and your future of heaven is secure through faith in Christ.

Think about the disciples on Easter They

were afraid The doors were locked The outside

world hasn't changed And even the Christ's enemies

They're still powerful And yet Jesus stood among them And said peace Be with

you And everything changed Their joy came from Seeing Jesus alive And seeing

the wounds and touching them.

Jesus won victory over death and the grave.

And that is a joy that no one can take away from the disciples,

no matter if they suffer persecution or even martyrdom. No one can take that away.

And that same Jesus is for you. He hears your prayers.

He sees you. He speaks to you through his word as it's read and it's preached.

He gives you his precious gospel. He comes to you.

He comes to you in his own body and blood here at the Lord's Supper.

He comes to you in your sorrow and says, Peace be to you. Your sin's forgiven.

I love you. I care about you. Your suffering is not the final word.

Christ's peace is the final word.

This is why the Christian life is always marked by both, both, suffering and joy.

You have sorrow over sin, yet your joy is in the forgiveness of sins.

You have sorrow over suffering, yet your joy is in the promises of God,

that he's your refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble.

You have sorrow over death, and yet there's joy in the resurrection of the body.

These exist together, just as they did for the disciples.

And notice the duration of suffering.

Jesus said to his disciples that their suffering is a little while.

Now, to us poor sinners, suffering feels long. It feels heavy.

We think it'll never go away.

But from God's perspective, it's brief.

We are living in a little while because eternal life in heaven is coming.

Jesus said to his disciples in the upper room, I will see you again.

I will see you again And he saw them again three days later When he rose from the dead.

Jesus will see you He'll see you in the resurrection of the body But he sees you now,

He knows you He knows your pain He hears your prayers And he will bring you

through this little while to everlasting joy.

That joy is yours now by faith and it will be yours forever in heaven.

This joy in the gospel changes how you live even in the midst of suffering.

You do not live as one without hope.

You do not lose faith, but you trust that Christ will carry you through your suffering.

You have faith that he will help you to persevere in this fallen world.

You hold on to the promise that Jesus is with you, that he forgives your sin

and that he sustains you in this life here on this earth.

What is true joy? It's rooted in Christ and in Christ alone,

and it's rooted in the cross and the resurrection.

So what do you do in the meantime?

You wait and take one day at a time, just like Jesus said.

But as you wait, you love the neighbor because God and Christ loves you.

You carry your cross of suffering, even if it's hostility against against us

from an unbelieving world, count it all joy,

you love your family and care for them you are faithful in your vocation as

spouse, parent, student son, daughter.

Compromise, what are you to do? Shortly, you will acknowledge the gifts that

God gave you in your baptism. You will renounce the devil in all his works and all his ways.

You will confess your faith in God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But by God's grace, remain faithful to this confession, even in the midst of hostility.

May God bless you and richly bless you now and forevermore.

Dearly beloved, Jesus said, And no one will take your joy from me.

No one will take your joy from you.

In other words, suffering cannot undo what Christ has done.

This joy in Christ cannot be taken away. Everything else is taken away.

Health can fail, relationships can break, and life itself can end.

But Christ cannot be taken away. And if you have Christ, then you have everything.

So when suffering comes, and it will, don't be surprised. Jesus said,

we will endure tribulation.

Remember his words a little while, because Christ is coming soon.

And on the last day, all sorrow will be turned to joy.

And you will see Jesus face to face with your own eyes and your suffering will

end and your joy will be complete.

In heaven, there will be no more waiting. The goal will be reached.

You will be with our Lord forever.

God grant this in Christ our Lord. Amen.