Grief Will Turn to Joy

Some disciples ask one another what Jesus means by saying they will not see him for a little while and then will see him again, and they admit that they do not understand.

T¹⁷hen some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸They kept asking, “Why is He saying, ‘a little while’? We do not understand what He is saying.”

Jesus knows they want to ask him, and he says their grief will be turned to joy, like a woman’s pain that gives way to the gladness of a child’s birth, so that no one can take away their rejoicing when he sees them again.

¹⁹Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’? ²⁰Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. ²²So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.