Monday, May 21, 2012
Read John 16:12-22. "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father. ... Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy" (John 16:16, 20).
SORROW IS TURNED TO JOY
Doesn't that sound like a grave understatement? Those disciples already had sorrow because of the things Jesus was saying. He was talking about leaving them; He spoke of one of them betraying Him; He told Peter he would deny Him. They were already sorrowful, but in a little while the bottom would fall out of their lives. Literally in just a few hours they would not see Jesus, because He would be taken from them, condemned and crucified. Sorrow hardly seems like a strong enough word to describe what they would feel then.
They would weep and lament for sure, when Jesus was crucified. Their whole faith was shaken. Their hearts were burdened with guilt for having forsaken their Lord and now He was dead. Their minds were reeling. How could the Son of God die? Was He really the Son of God, the Messiah? Had they been so badly deceived? Their lives were turned upside down and filled with fear. Would the Jews come after them next? Where would they go, what would they do? The One they had followed, trusted and depended on was dead.
Then, just as suddenly, Jesus' promise came true also, "again a little while, and you will see Me" and "Your sorrow will be turned to joy." Just three days later they did see Jesus again, alive from the dead and their sorrow turned into the greatest joy.
Have you experienced the depth of sorrow? When a very close loved one was ripped from you by death, perhaps even a sudden, unexpected death? Does it feel at the moment that your whole life has come apart, that you will never be able to feel joy again? Even if you have not felt that depth of sorrow, we all have smaller times of sorrow. This week we are going to see how, with Jesus, that sorrow is turned to joy. As King David says in Psalm 30:5, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning," because Jesus turns our sorrow into joy.
During this week between Jesus' Ascension and Pentecost, we are going to examine the words of Jesus from Maundy Thursday which tie Good Friday, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost all together. It shows how Jesus and the Holy Spirit work together to turn our sorrow into joy. Tune in tomorrow to see how our sorrow is turned to Joy when we see Jesus.
