John 16:19-22

‘Jesus perceived that they wished to ask him, and he said to them, “Do you ask among yourselves about this, that I said ‘a little while and you do not see me, and again a little while and you shall see me'? In very truth I tell you that you will weep and lament but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail has sorrow because her hour is come, but when she is delivered of the child she remembers the anguish no more, for the joy that a man is born into the world. And you therefore now have sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one takes away from you.”

Jesus now explains more clearly that they are entering a period of sorrow at losing Him. But it will be a sorrow which will turn into joy when they discover that they have not lost Him after all but have gained something far greater. At first they will weep and the world will rejoice because of what is about to happen to Him, for He will be snatched away from them and will be put to death, and they will fall into despair. But their gloom will be turned into joy for they will see Him again and then they will be filled with a joy that nothing can alter.

He knew that they could not at that moment fully understand what He meant, but His aim was to establish in their minds the fact that although gloom lay before them they could be certain that it would turn eventually into rejoicing. Thus in the midst of their gloom they could be conscious that hope lay ahead. The reader, of course, aware of the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus, fully understands what He is saying, but His past attempts to explain these things to His disciples had not met with great success (e.g. Mark 8:31; Mark 9:9).

The illustration He uses is telling and vivid, while at the same time being commonplace. As mere males they may not have been present at births but they would certainly know all about it. A woman in labour suffers great pains and begins to ask whether it is all worth it. And she often cries out in her pain. Indeed she can go into despair. But once the birth takes place it is all forgotten because of the joy of what follows. And that, says Jesus, is how it will be with them.

This illustration has in mind Isaiah 66:7 which portrays ‘a land born in a day', ‘a nation brought forth at once' as a result of birth travail, which is connected with the birth of a male child (compare Revelation 12:2). Thus they should not be surprised at the need for ‘birth pangs'. The new age is about to come in, but it can only come in through suffering and the birth pangs of those participating in it. Isaiah then adds appropriately ‘you will see it and your hearts will rejoice' (Isaiah 66:14), words which echo those of Jesus here. The new age is about to begin.