Day Thirty One: Your Sorrow Will Turn Into Joy
At the heart of this passage is a message of hope that was intended by Jesus to breathe confidence and spiritual fortitude into his disciples. Their sorrow would transform into rejoicing.
Those two ideas are entwined throughout this passage in a way that communicates that the former will necessarily lead to the latter: Their suffering will not be forever, their hardships will pass, their angst will, and grief will be fully and finally satisfied. But we must ask ourselves, what grief and suffering is Jesus referring to?
In the most obvious and immediate understanding of Christ’s words, our vision is cast upon the cross and resurrection of Christ. “You will see me no longer” is certainly a reference to Christ’s death upon the cross, where he was crucified for our sins. “And again in a little while, you will see me,” is certainly a reference to Easter Sunday when the disciples discovered the empty tomb and saw their master face to face.
Oh, how their grief and sorrow must have been transformed upon seeing their crucified savior resurrected in the flesh! Surely, their sorrow was turned into joy that Easter morning. And yet, there are undertones throughout this passage that hint to us of a second meaning.
Augustine wrote of this passage, “At present the Church is in travail with the longing for this fruit of all her labor, but then she shall bring to the birth in its actual contemplation; now she travails in birth with groaning, then shall she bring forth in joy; now she travails in birth through her prayers, then shall she bring forth in her praises.”
Augustine believed Christ was speaking of the joy that all believers will experience at Christ’s second coming when death and grief are done away with forever.
Perhaps we are wise to lean into both interpretations. There is a true joy that is available for every faithful follower of Jesus today because of Christ’s resurrection. This is a joy that surpasses understanding and that no amount of suffering can steal. This joy is the firm foundation of the Christian faith, the declaration that Christ has defeated sin, Satan, and death and sits enthroned in the present. His love for us is unshakeable and unrelenting. In our deepest trials, we must see the resurrection as the core source of navigating this life well.
And yet, “the little while” of verse 16 certainly can feel like quite a long while at times. Extended trials tend to deplete our endurance and test our patience.
The Christian must continually ask for the faith to fix our eyes backward upon Christ’s death and resurrection, and simultaneously forward upon his certain return. These two events function like twin spotlights paving the road from beginning to end on this perilous pilgrimage that is the Christian life.
Those two ideas are entwined throughout this passage in a way that communicates that the former will necessarily lead to the latter: Their suffering will not be forever, their hardships will pass, their angst will, and grief will be fully and finally satisfied. But we must ask ourselves, what grief and suffering is Jesus referring to?
In the most obvious and immediate understanding of Christ’s words, our vision is cast upon the cross and resurrection of Christ. “You will see me no longer” is certainly a reference to Christ’s death upon the cross, where he was crucified for our sins. “And again in a little while, you will see me,” is certainly a reference to Easter Sunday when the disciples discovered the empty tomb and saw their master face to face.
Oh, how their grief and sorrow must have been transformed upon seeing their crucified savior resurrected in the flesh! Surely, their sorrow was turned into joy that Easter morning. And yet, there are undertones throughout this passage that hint to us of a second meaning.
Augustine wrote of this passage, “At present the Church is in travail with the longing for this fruit of all her labor, but then she shall bring to the birth in its actual contemplation; now she travails in birth with groaning, then shall she bring forth in joy; now she travails in birth through her prayers, then shall she bring forth in her praises.”
Augustine believed Christ was speaking of the joy that all believers will experience at Christ’s second coming when death and grief are done away with forever.
Perhaps we are wise to lean into both interpretations. There is a true joy that is available for every faithful follower of Jesus today because of Christ’s resurrection. This is a joy that surpasses understanding and that no amount of suffering can steal. This joy is the firm foundation of the Christian faith, the declaration that Christ has defeated sin, Satan, and death and sits enthroned in the present. His love for us is unshakeable and unrelenting. In our deepest trials, we must see the resurrection as the core source of navigating this life well.
And yet, “the little while” of verse 16 certainly can feel like quite a long while at times. Extended trials tend to deplete our endurance and test our patience.
The Christian must continually ask for the faith to fix our eyes backward upon Christ’s death and resurrection, and simultaneously forward upon his certain return. These two events function like twin spotlights paving the road from beginning to end on this perilous pilgrimage that is the Christian life.
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