Grief and Joy

John 16:19-24

Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, "Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me'? I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.


The disciples had come with Jesus into Jerusalem with great expectations. The Messiah's moment of victory had come. But how painful the moment and obscure the victory! They had no idea. They would later recall these words of Jesus - while the world rejoiced at the downfall of a "troublemaker," the disciples grieved the death of a dream. Later, He tells them, the moods will be reversed; their grief will be turned to joy (v. 22) when they realise the dream was greater than they had imagined.

Jesus could just as easily say these words to us. We know His victory came through the Cross; it's not His death we grieve today. But His Cross also belongs to us as His disciples; we're called to take it upon ourselves. Meanwhile, the world rejoices. It pities those who have fallen "victim" to the constraints of the Christian faith. It can't imagine that we find fulfillment without following their unbridled pursuit of physical and emotional pleasure.

But in our grief, there is joy. And in our joy, there is grief. We know both simultaneously. The Cross is paiful, and the world's rejection hurts. We live in a broken world, partly of our own doing, and we suffer because of it. But we rejoice that the suffering does not compare to the glory to be revealed (Romans 8:18). We look forward to a coming celebration, and we can begin celebrating even now.

Many Christians have not found the balance between grief and joy. We can either wallow in the former, forgetting the joy of knowing Jesus and the promises He gives us, or dwell on the latter as escapists, unmindful of the needs of our generation. Our joy is to be a sober-minded joy, and our grief is to be a hopeful grief. Heartfelt ministry and joyful expectation - both are the inheritance of Jesus' disciples.


"Griefs exalt us, and troubles lift us." ~ Charles Spurgeon