25 "“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.”"
John 16:25-33
Now, we must look at our Lord's final words, in 33. It is usually the second half of the verse that occupies our attention: 'In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world' - and, undoubtedly, this offers encouragement and hope for the believer. But, in its context, it is a much richer statement, and it is in its context that we must examine it. And what we must see first of all is the paradox, the contrast, that is presented here: in Me - peace; in the world - tribulation. It is interesting to note, in passing, that the word 'tribulation' here is the same as that translated 'anguish' in 21. The thought is obviously the same throughout. Several points emerge. In the first place, Jesus indicates that the believer belongs to two worlds. As to the one, he is 'in Christ'; he is a member of the new order, and for him old things have passed away; he has entered into the glorious liberty of the children of God, he has newness of life in Christ. But he is still also in this world, and he has to live that new life in the old order, in this old, sinful world. It is this fact that explains the paradox of tribulation and peace in our Lord's words. It will always be so. In this sense the Christian life is never a simple one, but complex; and this is reflected in the teaching of the New Testament as a whole (cf Ephesians 1:1, 'saints at Ephesus, faithful in Christ Jesus' (Galatians 2:21; Romans 6 etc.). This is something so important for true Christian experience that we must spend a day or two looking at it more deeply.