Need for Departure

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Need for Departure

John 16:19-22

19 Now [oun] Jesus [Iesous] knew [ginosko] that [hoti] they were desirous [thelo] to ask [erotao] him [autos] , and [kai] said [epo] unto them [autos] , Do ye enquire [zeteo] among [meta] yourselves [allelon] of [peri] that [toutou] [hoti] I said [epo] , A little while [mikron] , and [kai] ye shall [theoreo] not [ou] see [theoreo] me [me] : and [kai] again [palin] , a little while [mikron] , and [kai] ye shall see [optanomai] me [me] ?
20 Verily [amen] , verily [amen] , I say [lego] unto you [humin] , That [hoti] ye [humeis] shall weep [klaio] and [kai] lament [threneo] , but [de] the world [kosmos] shall rejoice [chairo] : and [de] ye [humeis] shall be sorrowful [lupeo] , but [alla] your [humon] sorrow [lupe] shall be turned [ginomai] into [eis] joy [chara] .
21 A woman [gune] when [hotan] she is in travail [tikto] hath [echo] sorrow [lupe] , because [hoti] her [autos] hour [hora] is come [erchomai] : but [de] as soon as [hotan] she is delivered [gennao] of the child [paidion] , she remembereth [mnemoneuo] no more [ouketi] the anguish [thlipsis] , for [dia] joy [chara] that [hoti] a man [anthropos] is born [gennao] into [eis] the world [kosmos] .
22 And [kai] ye [humeis] [men] now [nun] therefore [oun] have [echo] sorrow [lupe] : but [de] I will see [optanomai] you [humas] again [palin] , and [kai] your [humon] heart [kardia] shall rejoice [chairo] , and [kai] your [humon] joy [chara] no man [oudeis] taketh [airo] from [apo] you [humon] . KJV-Interlinear

19 Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, 'Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, 'A little while, and you will not behold Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'? 20 'Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy. 21 'Whenever a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she remembers the anguish no more, for joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 'Therefore you too now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you. NASB

The apostles have already demonstrated their confusion. Confusion come out of a lack of knowledge, and a lack of knowledge means disorganization in the soul, thus confusion.

When confusion meets uncertain events, then the apostles break out, in side conversations with each other. They do not ask Jesus point blank questions, but again, as they did at the table earlier in the evening, they broke out in their many side conversations and did not confront Jesus for a more clear explanation.

So to answer their questions, questions from which they were not really seeking clarification because, as we have already studied, they haven't been listening anyway, Jesus teaches them a lesson from a very simple event common to humanity - the birth of a child.

How can there be sorrow and pain and at the same time happiness in a single event. And in this example Jesus uses the birth pains that a woman experiences in her 'first' child birth. We should know that this is a first event experience, not a second of third or fourth event. But an event that none of us have encountered before. Though we know of the pains that occur, we can't really relate to them until we experience them first hand. Now a woman has a better understanding of all of this. But these are guys that Jesus is speaking to.

He might have used an event that they could relate to, like constipation or something, but that probably wouldn't have caught their attention.

They are not listening. They are discussing things amongst themselves rather than with Jesus. So He gets their attention quickly. Thus child birth with which they are probably familiar with since many of them are married, and they certainly must have been around when babies have been born. The woman experiences considerable pain when the birth occurs, but that pain quickly subsides and is forgotten (sort of) when the birth is over and the baby (the first born) is placed in her arms. Happiness quickly replaces the pain.

So it will be with the Cross, and with the apostles. They have never experienced anything like what is about to occur. Unlike the woman who has her growing up life, and then nine months to prepare herself for it, these men are going to be caught completely off guard.

Their sorrow will be for Jesus, but mostly for themselves at their loss of Him, and their loss as to what to do now with their lives. Perhaps another example could be like working at the greatest job in the world and then out of the blue you get laid off. You are totally unprepared for the layoff. Then a few days later you get an even greater job, but for those few interim days you are at a total loss. In a sort of shock because you were not prepared for it.

When we lack knowledge in Bible doctrine, then life can catch us by surprise. Even if we have academic knowledge about things in life, unless we have personally experienced them then we can't know what our reaction might be. With Bible doctrine we at least have an advantage, we have a stabilizer within us. We know that God is there to give us assistance, that is if we are positive toward Him and advancing in our spiritual life. So this leads us to confidence in that we will be cared for.

Without God in our lives then there is the unknown and uncertainty. Uncertainty leads to sorrow or self pity, which can further lead to reactions of various types like violence, hate, further inward withdrawal and so on and so forth.

In times of stress, then only the very simple examples of life can be remembered, and thus can be used to stabilize our thinking. Jesus gives them a lesson in child birth. For you and me, a better lesson would be to commit Bible verses to memory. By memorizing Bible verses, we can then recall them when times get tough. This helps us to stabilize our lives for the moment, and once our thinking is stabilized, then we can begin to think our way through our situation. And clear thinking helps to guide a person to better decisions rather than just reacting emotionally.