HOST: Ron House
SPONSOR: Start2Finish
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘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, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Jesus is going away. He has made that point abundantly clear to the apostles. They are devastated by this revelation, as we have seen. His leaving will fill them with sorrow, but His leaving will not be the end of the story. In this text, He tries to make them understand “the rest of the story.” They will see Him again. Their sorrow will be turned into joy. Understandably, the apostles struggled with these words and this concept. If His going away was referring to His death, then how could they see Him again? And what did He mean by “a little while”? Jesus’ death, while agonizing for Him and disheartening for His apostles, was not final. He would overcome it, just as the prophets and even He had foretold. He would turn their sorrow into joy. Maybe the lesson for us in this text is that God is not a God of sorrow, but of joy. Despite the fact that life often involves hardships and sorrows, for the child of God, the story always ends with joy. Our salvation and eternal home in heaven guarantees it!
How can we find joy even in difficult times?
Don’t forget to pray and have a great day!
