Lenten Tour of the Gospels

John 16: Grief into Joy

"Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."

Good-byes are always sad, and for the disciples, this farewell speech is especially so. They have staked their lives on Jesus, and without him they can see no future. Jesus turns from word pictures and speaks directly about what will happen to the disciples. Some of it they comprehend; some of it they do not. John shows them whispering to each other, trying to figure out Jesus' meaning.

Perhaps the strangest words of all are these: "It is for your good that I am going away." Good? How could it possibly be good for Jesus to abandon them, thus dashing their hopes of a restored kingdom?

Jesus' analogy of childbirth gives a clue. Although childbirth may involve great pain, the pain is not a dead end. The effort of giving birth produces something- new life!- and results in joy. In the same way, the great sorrow he and the disciples are about to undergo will not be a dead end. His pain will bring about the salvation of the world; their grief will turn to joy.

Jesus concludes with a ringing declaration, "Take heart! I have overcome the world." How hollow this statement will seem the next evening when his pale, abused body hangs on an executioner's cross and the disciples slink away into the darkness. As the Book of Acts shows, only after Jesus' departure do these confused disciples fully grasp the meaning of his death and resurrection and begin to proclaim it joyfully to everyone around them.