March 16
“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 16:20.
The words above were first spoken to the Lord’s disciples. He had told them that He was going to suffer and die, which, of course, filled them with great sorrow. After the crucifixion, they wept and lamented. They were filled with fear, and they went into hiding behind locked doors.
Others also were weeping. We think of the multitude of people, and of women in particular, who followed Jesus along the way of sorrows to Calvary. Scripture reports, “(They) mourned and lamented Him,” Luke 23:27. We think of Mary, who stood by the empty grave on Easter morning and wept (John 20:11). We recall the two disciples on the road to Emmaus on Easter afternoon. When Jesus appeared to them along the way, they were conversing about how they had hoped that Jesus was going to redeem Israel. As they spoke with Jesus, whom they were kept from recognizing at the time, they expressed how they felt that their high hopes had been dashed to the ground. Only after He opened their eyes to recognize Him as the risen Redeemer did they rejoice.
While the disciples and other followers were sorrowing, the Jewish religious leaders and other enemies of Jesus were rejoicing, thinking that they had succeeded in silencing Jesus by crucifying Him. But it was only for a short time – really only a matter of hours.
When the risen Jesus appeared to His fear-filled disciples, Scripture reports, “The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord,” John 20:20.
Now, our risen Redeemer tells us in His holy Word, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” John 16:33. As Christians, we will suffer opposition from the ungodly and the people of the world. The non-Christians will try to silence our Christian testimony and witness. They will try to intimidate us. And the devil constantly tries to destroy our faith. However, standing firm in our faith, we will not be silenced. We remember what the apostle Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans: “We also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us,” Romans 5:3-5.
Our sorrow will be turned into joy as it was for the disciples. We, too, believe in a risen Redeemer and an ever-living Lord, who suffered and died to take our sins away and who rose again to conquer sin, death, and the devil. Our Savior ascended into heaven, and He is ruling over all things. He is preparing a place for us, and He has promised to come again to receive us and to take us with a resurrected body, united with the soul, into the halls of heaven. Firmly cling to Jesus’ promise: “Your sorrow will be turned into joy!”
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing.
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow,
Far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.” Amen.