JOHN 16:17-20
17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
19 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’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
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Jesus Christ chose His twelve disciples and worked with them for about three and half years. He did everything with them. They were very fond of Him, thus, they became so intimate. All of a sudden, Christ said to them, "In a little while, you will see me no more, and then after a little while, you will see me", The disciples were in a state of confusion and began to ask one another, "What does He mean by saying in a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me". The perplexity of the disciples upon the intimation given them was clear- they were at a loss on what to make of the statement. Though Christ had often spoken to them on this issue, yet they could not read any meaning in to that. This was caused by the disciples' weakness, in that they could not understand so plain a saying to which Christ had already given them a key, having told them so often in plain terms that He should be killed and on the third day rise again; yet they say, we cannot tell what He said, because sorrow had filled their hearts. This made them unable to receive the impression of comfort. Sometimes we have very bad experience and looking at its intensity, we can not even perceive that it may be a blessing in disguise.
Again,the notion of Christ' secular kingdom was so deeply rooted in them that they could make no sense at all of those sayings of His. They simply did not know how to reconcile with that notion.
John 16:20 says," I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve but your grief will turn to joy". Christ was talking about His death and resurrection which has given us victory over the enemy as stated in 1 Corinthians 15:24.
Brethren, Christ wants all the people in this world to believe in Him and be saved. Yes, you and your household!
Philippians 2:12 states, " Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed not only in my presence,but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling". Work out your salvation so that when Christ comes for the second time, your sorrows, agony and grief would turn to joy.The Lord does not want anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. It is only after repentance that you can enjoy the ending Joy we speak of.
