Benny Nalkara, CMI

“I say to you, that you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” (Jn 16: 20.) This saying of Jesus given in the farewell discourse to the disciples in the Gospel of John is often an enigma to the readers, but a strong assurance to the believers. Jesus anticipated his passion, death and resurrection and how these events would affect the disciples. The immediate painful experience that awaits the disciples after the death of Jesus and the temporary triumph of the world is the background of this saying. But, the disciples are comforted with the gospel of joy that awaits them after the trials and tribulations.
“To weep and lament,” in the bible denotes the most painful sorrow and the extremely difficult crisis in life. This expression brings back the memories of the weeping and lamenting of Rachel in Ramah, “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Jer 31:15-16). Jesus was reminding the disciples that such a weeping and lamenting will take place in their lives after his passion and death. Undoubtedly, the world’s gloating would intensify their pain. The expression, “the world shall rejoice,” denotes those who stand against Jesus and his disciples and their joy at the death of Jesus. In the Johannine terminology, “world” (kosmos) refers to those who oppose Jesus and his gospel. They will be rejoicing not only at the death of Jesus but also in the sufferings and trials that the disciples are going to face in the ministry of the preaching of the gospel. “The weeping disciples and the rejoicing world,” is the outcome of the paradoxical existence of the disciples of Jesus and the world. This is the continuation of the paradoxical existence between Jesus and the world. From the time of Roman persecutions to the present challenges and sufferings of the Christians are part of this “The weeping disciples and the rejoicing world.” This becomes the assured experience of a disciple in the following of Christ.
But, the telling statement of Jesus is that this agony and sorrow in the life of a disciple won’t be lasting forever. He promises: “your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” His promise is not that they will have joy after the days of sorrow and suffering. It is not the joy after the sorrow. But, what he promises is that their sorrow will be transformed into joy. It’s a divine act and that will happen in their lives. It points to the mystery of suffering and the salvific work of God in the suffering of humans. How the cross which was the sign of shame was turned into the sign of victory and glory, in the same manner, the sorrow also will be transformed into joy. Jesus compares this sorrow of the disciple with the sorrow and suffering of a pregnant woman. This comparison reveals both the painful experience of a pregnant woman and the inexplicable joy that she has after the childbirth. The labour pain is not a meaningless suffering, but a hopeful suffering. It’s a productive and efficacious suffering. The fact that a new life comes to the world is the basis of this hope. This imagery is given in the book of Prophet Isaiah (Isa 66:7-10). A woman after seeing the face of the child, won’t remember or ponder over the pain of childbirth. That sorrow will be turned into joy, and so the sufferings of the disciple in witnessing to Christ and his gospel. Here, the word for pain is thlipsis in Greek and refer to the pains and sufferings the Church undergo before the revealing of the Kingdom of God.
The worldly reasons are not the reasons for the joy of the disciple. This joy is the gift of the risen Christ. The joy experienced in the human heart is the result of the encounter with the risen Christ. The beauty of this joy is the fact that this joy is eternal and no one can take away this joy from the disciples. The world cannot destroy the joy given by the Lord. The phrase, “no one will take away your joy,” gives an indication about the eternal heavenly joy after the death. The disciple of Jesus who is called to have the privilege of participating in his sufferings, is also entitled to inherit the eternal bliss.
It is true that the disciples will be tried, tested, they will suffer very much, they will be alone in a hostile situation, abandoned in a world which rejoices because of the death of Jesus, but, he assures them, their sadness will be changed into joy. Against the time of sadness is opposed a time in which everything will be overturned. That opposing clause “but your sadness will be transformed into joy,” underlines such a change of perspective. The pain of suffering would turn into joy when we are united in Christ and to His Spirit. We should interpret the troubles of our lives in the light of the cross. Sorrow is an opportunity to enter into the experience of the cross as the way to eternal life with Christ and to be the witnesses of the gospel of Joy. We have received from Jesus a promise of happiness, of joy; in virtue of that instant in which the difficult situation is overturned, and we will enter into a reality of the world enlightened by the resurrection.