Now
Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you
inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not
see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'? Most assuredly, I say
to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will
be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in
labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth
to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being
has been born into the world. Therefore you now have
sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no
one will take from you. – John 16.19-22
Confusion reigned supreme among the disciples. They just
could not seem to understand that Jesus was actually going to leave. They were
in turmoil, but were afraid to ask Him about it so He brought the subject up.
Jesus dealt with their fears and anxieties. He told them
that they would indeed have a time of sorrow. He had told them that they would
not see Him for a while, but then they would see Him. ‘You are indeed going to weep
and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorry, but your sorrow will
be turned into joy. It is like a woman who is in labour. Her pains are
terrible, but when she has her baby her sorrow is turned to joy. Just like
that, when I come again your sorrow will be turned into joy.
Obviously I have never been in labour, but I have been in the
delivery room six times. As an 'outsider' I watched Mary struggle through the
hours of labour. It broke my heart to watch her suffer so. But she stuck it;
she got through it, and as each child was born that sorrow and pain was
replaced by joy and excitement. The labour pains faded in comparison to the joy
of those new babies.
Jesus wanted them, and us I think, to know that we just need
to stick it out. Life is going to be tough. It is going to be laborious. We are
going to shed tears.
But at the end it will be worth it all. Our sorrow will be
turned into joy. And that joy will be such that no one can take it from us.
Weeping endures for the night, but joy comes for the
morning. Let’s just carry on till morning and wait for that great day of joy.
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