Truth Exposed 60 The Birth of Something New, John 16:16-22. (468)

Previously, Jesus had warned his disciples about going to a place where they could not follow. Though that statement had disturbed them, he was ready to leave them with a more reassuring message. He would leave them, but he wouldn’t stay gone.

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Foretold
when Jesus tells his disciples that he would leave them, he is referring to his arrest that will be coming in a few short hours and would lead to his crucifixion. He would leave his disciples presence in a temporary way while he was being arrested, falsely accused and put on trial. He would leave them in a more permanent way when he paid the final price on the cross, and laid in the tomb until the third day. Rather than assuring his disciples in the moment, it seemed to only confuse them.

His disciples became confused over the statement, “’A little while, and you will not see Me; and again, a little while, and you will see Me’; and.”

Speaking among themselves, they ran the words through their minds again. They said them out loud. They hunted for the slightest clue and the puzzling statement. No matter how they tried to make sense of it, it wasn’t possible. At least not in the moment.

They knew they repeated his words correctly, but under their own understanding it was not yet possible to understand the meaning.

I wonder if Jesus was amused at watching them puzzle over this important statement. He knew their minds, and he knew the answer. Just like someone who was beginning to learn how to work crossword puzzles, the answers are in the back of the book. Since Jesus was still here, he asked whether they wanted to know the answer in the back of his book. The curious statement was more than a simple puzzle, it carried the weight of eternity.

He warns them that they are about to go through a time of great grief and lament. Their enemies would find it joyful. In the end his disciples would come through it with joy. He doesn’t share details of the events. Instead, he tells them what will happen through emotions. Things that are grievous to God and his righteous people, are a joy to an evil world. They will suffer the worst grief that they have ever known. The worst grief that the world has ever known.
The evil elements in the world will rejoice, false religious leaders will scoff and mock. Romans who inflict the agony will scoff and gamble over his clothes. Although one criminal will change his heart, the other one will join in with jeering at Jesus.

The grief that would stun the disciples motionless, would not last. Jesus assures him here, that their sorrow would turn to joy.

Jesus compares their coming anguish to that of what a woman feels while giving birth. The word picture of giving birth is an apt one. You know there’s a baby in there, a good and joins thing. You know it has to come out soon. It’s the beginning of untold opportunities and potential. When the time is right, the labor begins.

As hard and painful as it may be, the labor doesn’t last. In a single explosive moment, it’s over. The new and greater joy can now begin. Although the warning has been given, the disciples seem to remain clueless up until that resurrection morning.

22 “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

The disciple’s grief in their early stages of labor has just begun. Jesus warns them that it will get darker before it gets better. He will go away in death, which will only compound their sorrow and hopelessness. But he promises that not only will they have great joy, but it will be a joy that can never be taken away.

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