19From Sorrow to Joy  (John 16:16–24)

“A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. 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. In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” (16:16–24)

Most people can endure a trial if they can see an end. Lack of hope is the ultimate agony of suffering, since “hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12). In the midst of his trials Job lamented, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and come to an end without hope…. Where now is my hope? And who regards my hope? … He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; and He has uprooted my hope like a tree” (Job 7:6; 17:15; 19:10). During a time of great personal turmoil, the psalmist challenged his heart with these words, “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence” (Psalm 42:5; cf. Pss. 86:17; 119:76).

Because He is the “God of all comfort,” God “comforts [His people] in all [their] affliction” (2 Cor. 1:3–4; cf. Pss. 23:4; 119:50, 52; Isa. 12:1; 40:1; 49:13; 51:3, 12; 61:2; 66:13; Matt. 5:4; Acts 9:31). God comforts His depressed children (2 Cor. 7:6) by affirming that suffering is for their spiritual good and also by reassuring them that their sorrow will only be temporary. Proverbs 23:18 promises, “Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off” (cf. 24:14). Such promises ultimately point to heaven. Though this life may be full of trials, believers can hope with confidence in the eternal rest that awaits them after death (Rev. 21:1–4; cf. Heb. 4:9–11). Despite the many sufferings that the apostle Paul endured (2 Cor. 11:23–28), he expressed his hopeful perspective with these words, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17; cf. 1 Tim. 4:8–10).

During the seventy-year Babylonian captivity (Jer. 29:10; Dan. 9:2), God reminded the people of Israel that their ordeal would one day come to an end. “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’” (Jer. 29:11). In Jeremiah 31:17 He added, “‘There is hope for your future,’ declares the Lord, ‘and your children will return to their own territory.’” During the captivity, recalling God’s compassion gave Jeremiah hope:

During His incarnation, Jesus Christ modeled God’s compassion for hurting, sorrowing people. In Matthew 15:32 “Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, ‘I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.’” “Moved with compassion” at the plight of two blind men, “Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him” (Matt. 20:34). Mark 1:41 records that again “moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched [a leper], and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’” Later in Mark’s gospel, “Jesus … saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things” (6:34). Luke 7:12–15 records the Lord’s compassionate reaction to the tragedy of a widow who had just lost her only son:

Because of His perfect and complete love for the disciples (13:1), Jesus selflessly (cf. Phil. 2:3–8) spent much of this final night with them comforting them in their sorrow (cf. 14:1, 18–19, 27; 15:11). Actually, they should have been comforting Him as He faced the ordeal of the cross, now only a matter of hours away. They should also have been glad for Him, since He was returning to His place of glory at the Father’s right hand (Acts 2:32–33; 5:31; 7:55–56; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22). Instead, characteristically viewing events from their own self-centered perspective, the disciples were overwhelmed with grief and a sense of impending loss (cf. 16:6).

Of course, they should have known better. On multiple occasions, Jesus had told them that He would one day die and rise again (Matt. 12:39–40; 16:21; 20:19; Mark 8:31; 9:31; Luke 9:22; 18:33; John 2:18–22). One day, “while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day’” (Matt. 17:22–23). While on the road to Jerusalem, Jesus similarly told His disciples, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again” (Mark 10:33–34). Though Jesus frequently balanced the news that He would die with the fact that He would rise again, the disciples did not fully understand what the resurrection meant until after it took place. Thus, when He predicted His resurrection in John 2:19, it was not until after “He was raised from the dead, [that] His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken” (John 2:22; cf. Luke 24:8).

Though they had heard His repeated predictions (of both His death and resurrection), the disciples were not ready when the moment for Christ’s passion actually came. Thus, as that fateful evening drew to a close, Jesus once again spoke words of comfort to the disciples. He reassured them that their sorrow would be short-lived, predicting that they would soon see Him again. When they reacted to that prediction with uncomprehending perplexity, Jesus illustrated His point with a parable. Then Jesus closed the section by promising the disciples fullness of joy.

THE LORD’S PREDICTION

“A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” (16:16)

The key to understanding this statement lies in correctly interpreting the two uses of the phrase a little while. That phrase refers earlier in John’s gospel to the time remaining until Jesus’ departure, whether that was several months (7:33), or several days (12:35) away. The first reference in this verse looks to the events set in motion by the death of Christ, which would culminate in His ascension. After that brief period, the disciples would no longer see Him.

Interpreters disagree over what the second little while, after which the disciples would again see Jesus, refers to specifically. Some view it as a reference to the second coming, connecting the Lord’s illustration of a woman’s pain in childbirth (v. 21) with His reference to the birth pangs preceding His return (Matt. 24:8). But the two references illustrate different truths. The birth pains associated with the second coming refer metaphorically to the cataclysmic events of the tribulation. On the other hand, the Lord used childbirth in this passage to show that the same event that initially produces sorrow can ultimately result in joy. Further, it is difficult to stretch the phrase a little while from the few days or months of its earlier uses into the more than two thousand years that have elapsed since Christ spoke these words.

Others believe that the Lord’s second use of a little while points to the three days between His death and resurrection. (Those who hold this view would limit the first use of a little while to Christ’s death on the cross.) The disciples, of course, were overjoyed and greatly comforted to see Him alive again. But the Lord was only with them for forty days (Acts 1:3) after His resurrection before leaving them again at the ascension. According to this view the disciples’ grief would turn to joy, and then back into grief as Jesus left them again. That is hardly the permanent joy Jesus promised them (v.22).

It seems most accurate to view the Lord’s promise that He would see the disciples again primarily as a reference to the coming of His Spirit on the day of Pentecost (cf. 14:16–17, 26; 15:26; 16:7, 13). After accomplishing the work of redemption and ascending to heaven, Jesus sent His Spirit to be with the disciples (cf. 15:26 and the exposition of 16:5–7 in chapter 17 of this volume). Christ came to them through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who is the “Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9; cf. Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19; 1 Peter 1:11) and reveals Christ (John 16:13–15). The Lord’s presence with His people through the Spirit is permanent, as His promise, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20), indicates. The sending of the Spirit was to take place after He had ascended to the Father’s right hand; it was, He said, “because I go to the Father” (v. 17). This argues for the view just stated.

THE DISCIPLES’ PERPLEXITY

Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? (16:17–19)

The disciples had not been heard from since Judas’s question in 14:22, but Jesus’ enigmatic statement in verse 16 startled them out of their silence. Unwilling to question Him openly (cf. Mark 9:31–32), perhaps because He had just told them, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (v. 12), some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’? … What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” They had a difficult enough time coming to grips with the reality that Jesus was about to die (see the exposition of 16:12 in chapter 18 of this volume); His words, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me,’ left them utterly bewildered. Adding to their confusion was the Lord’s statement because I go to the Father (cf. vv. 5, 10; 7:33; 14:12, 28), seemed contradictory. The nineteenth-century Swiss commentator Frederic Louis Godet aptly summarized the disciples’ perplexity: “Where for us all is clear, for them all was mysterious. If Jesus wishes to found the Messianic kingdom, why go away? If He does not wish it, why return?” (Commentary on John’s Gospel [repr.; Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1978], 875).

With His omniscient insight in the hearts of men (cf. 1:47–48; 2:24–25; 4:17–18; 6:64; 21:17; Matt. 12:25; Luke 5:22; 6:8), Jesus knew that the disciples wished to question Him. Seeking both to alleviate their ignorance and comfort them in their sorrow, Jesus said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?” The Lord took the initiative and moved to comfort the disciples by answering their unasked questions. His action is reminiscent of God’s words through the prophet Isaiah: “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear” (Isa. 65:24).

THE ILLUSTRATIVE PARABLE

Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. 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. (16:20–22)

The solemn phrase amēn amēn (truly, truly) underscores the importance of what the Lord was about to say to the disciples (cf. v. 23; 1:51; 3:3, 5, 11; 5:19, 24, 25; 6:26, 32, 47, 53; 8:34, 51, 58; 10:1, 7; 12:24; 13:16, 20, 21, 38; 14:12;21:18). Jesus’ followers would soon weep and lament over His death (cf. 20:11; Luke 24:17–21) but the world, the Jewish leaders, and the apostate nation which had so bitterly opposed Him would rejoice.

But Christ’s enemies’ joy over His death would be short-lived. The Jewish leaders had mockingly promised to believe in Jesus if He came down from the cross (Matt. 27:42). But when He did the far greater miracle of rising from the dead, they refused to believe. Instead, they hastily concocted a scheme to cover up the resurrection, bribing the soldiers to spread the lie that Jesus’ body had been stolen while they were sleeping (Matt. 28:11–15). Then the Jewish leaders tried desperately, but futilely, to suppress the apostles from preaching the resurrection (Acts 4:1–21; 5:17–18, 27–42).

While the world’s joy over Christ’s death would turn to dismay, just the opposite would be the case with the disciples. Your grief, Jesus assured them, will be turned into joy. The Lord was not saying that the event causing their sorrow would be replaced by an event producing joy but rather that the same event (the cross) that caused their mourning would be the cause of their joy. The dark shadows of sorrow and grief cast by the cross fled before the brilliant, glorious light of the resurrection and the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4–47). That light also caused the disciples to view the cross in its proper perspective, making it an unending source of joy for them (cf. v. 22; Acts 13:52). As Paul exulted, “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). The cross is foundational to all Christian joy, because it is the basis of redemption.

A vivid example of an event that initially causes pain but ultimately brings joy is childbirth. The reality that a woman … in labor … has pain stems from the Edenic curse that God pronounced on Eve in the aftermath of the fall. Genesis 3:16 records that “to the woman [God] said, ‘I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children’” (cf. Ps. 48:6; Isa. 13:8; 21:3; 26:17; Jer. 4:31; 6:24; 22:23;49:24; 50:43; Mic. 4:9–10; 1 Thess. 5:3). Yet after a woman gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish she has been through. The intense anguish and suffering of labor in giving birth fades in the face of the consuming joy that a child has been born into the world.

In the same way though the disciples would have grief in the short-term, they could take comfort in the Lord’s promise, I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice. In verses 16 and 19 Jesus spoke of the disciples seeing Him; here He told them that He will see them. His knowledge of believers is more important than and foundational to their knowledge of Him. “You have come to know God,” Paul wrote, “or rather to be known by God” (Gal. 4:9). The reality that no one will take the disciples’ joy away from them indicates that more than just seeing Jesus after the resurrection is in view, since that lasted only forty days. The Lord’s reference, as noted above, is to the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost to permanently indwell them. The disciples’ Spirit-produced joy (Gal. 5:22; cf. Rom. 14:17; 1 Thess. 1:6) would be permanent. Nothing can undo the work of grace wrought in believers’ lives through the power of the cross.

THE BLESSED PROMISE

“In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” (16:23–24)

In the day when the disciples see the Lord again (v. 23) and their sorrow turns to joy, they will not question Him about anything. That further suggests that the day cannot be the resurrection (cf. the discussion of v. 16 above). The disciples undoubtedly asked many questions during the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension that the Lord spent “speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3; one of their questions is recorded in v. 6). But after the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they would no longer question Jesus.

Obviously Jesus, having ascended to heaven, would no longer be physically present for them to question. But more significantly, the disciples would have the indwelling Holy Spirit as their resident truth teacher. Jesus had just finished telling them, “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (v. 13; cf. 14:26). In his first epistle John wrote,

The disciples would at long last understand why Jesus had to die (cf. Luke 9:44–45), His relationship with the Father would be clarified (cf. John 14:8–9), and they would realize why it was to their advantage for Him to go away and send the Spirit (John 16:7). All of this clarification of the cross and resurrection by the Holy Spirit is contained in the rest of the inspired New Testament.

The phrase truly, truly introduces another important truth (cf. the discussion of v.20 above); namely, that if the disciples ask the Father for anything in Christ’s name, He [the Father] will give it to them. This is the third time that evening that the Lord stated that truth (cf. 14:13; 15:16), underscoring its immense significance. As noted in the exposition of 14:13–14 in chapter 9 of this volume, to pray in Jesus’ name is not to use His name as a formula, ritualistically tacked onto the end of a prayer to ensure its success. Rather, it is to pray for that which is consistent with Christ’s person and will, and to affirm one’s complete dependence on Him to supply every need, with the goal that He would be glorified in the answer. Such prayer was new to the disciples, who until that point had asked for nothing in Jesus’ name. They had either asked Jesus Himself, or prayed to the Father. But now Jesus urged them, Ask and you will receive, and then added the blessed promise so that your joy may be made full. Answered prayer, based on the finished work of Jesus Christ and springing from an obedient life (15:10–11), is a powerful force in turning sorrow into joy.

Even in the face of His own unimaginable sufferings, Jesus compassionately countered the anxiety of His disciples with comfort and hope. He promised them that the pain of the moment would result in their profound joy; and also assured them that though He was going away, they would see Him again soon in the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Though He would shortly ascend to the Father, He would be with them “always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).