John 16:16-22 "In a little while you won't see Me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see Me again." 17 Some of the disciples asked each other, "What does He mean when He says, 'In a little while you won't see Me, but then you will see Me,' and 'I am going to the Father'? 18 And what does He mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand."
19 Jesus realized they wanted to ask Him about it, so He said, "Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won't see Me, but a little while after that you will see Me again. 20 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to Me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. 21 It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world.
22 So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.
Are you having a bad day? Maybe a bad week or a month or even a longer season of life that is incredibly difficult. No matter what the length of the trial, getting through it can seem impossible, without hope you can get so caught up in the situation that you can't see past it and you feel like things will never get better.
In today's verses Jesus is speaking to his disciples on Thursday night just after the celebration of Passover, this last Passover celebration would be Jesus last and it is what we refer to as the Lord's Supper. This night would be Jesus final opportunity to teach His disciples before He leaves them.
This Passover night was very eventful, first there was an awkward and confusing situation with Jesus washing the disciples feet, then there was the surprise departure of their friend Judas, followed by the prediction that Peter would deny Jesus three times.
Jesus keeps talking about leaving them, where is He going, and why can't they go with Him? They were supposed to be rulers in His kingdom! If He is going to die then how will we see Him again in a little while? Why isn't Judas back yet?
The disciples are at the beginning of the worst days in their life, soon they will see their best friend be brutally beaten, none of them can see that this dark moment is going to be the best thing that could ever happen. I cannot imagine seeing a friend die in such brutal agony. We like to think that we would have done better than Jesus' friends did but I doubt that we would have reacted any better given the confusing and desperate situation.
Jesus doesn't minimize their sorrow or tell them to man up. The same love and compassion that brought Jesus down here to live in this dark world with us is the same love and compassion that wants to ease their sorrow as he prepares his closest friends for his departure.
Romans 8:17-18 And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering. 18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.
There is no way that they could understand that the bad days that are coming are nothing compared to the joy that is on the way. They will soon realize that the very event that brought them all of this sorrow is the source of their eternal hope.
The disciples excitement and joy after the resurrection is nothing compared to the joy that we will experience when we step into heaven and see Jesus in our forever home. I need to remember that Jesus is just as compassionate about my bad days as he was to his disciples.
