18 So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”
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 see 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 grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.
21 “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.
22 “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” John 16:16-22.
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Jesus did not spell out here all the events that would take place and the time frames. Jesus did not spell out exactly how much time would elapse between the point of time of this conversation with His disciples and His death, nor did Jesus remind His disciples here how much time would elapse between His death and His resurrection.
As one example, the disciples could have remembered that Jesus previously taught them that it would be only three days between His death and His resurrection, but they appeared to not consider it at the time of this conversation. John 2:19-22 states: “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” John 2:20-22.
Rather than remind His disciples or spell out everything, Jesus simply stated: “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” John 16:22.
Even after Jesus ascended and parted from His disciples, His disciples had great joy. “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God.” Luke 24:50-53.
Like the disciples, we may wonder and have questions. We can and should diligently study Scriptures about the last days (eschatology). But, like the disciples, we still may not be able to understand all the time frames or exactly what will happen. However, whatever we learn, we need to trust God about certain basic promises of God. We have and will have grief here on earth, but we will see our God with great joy which will not be extinguished nor even diminished.
To repeat, we can and should diligently study Scriptures about the last days (eschatology). We may read the Book of Revelation,which focuses almost entirely on the last days (eschatology) and teaches us more about this subject than any other Book of the Bible. But, we may find that the Book of Revelation is difficult to understand. Yet, we should not give up. Revelation 1:3 states: “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
The Book of Revelation closes with these simple comforting words. “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” Revelation 22:20-21.
There are also good commentaries on the Book of Revelation. One of my favorite is More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation by William Hendriksen – Click here: Amazon.com: More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation (9780801057922): William Hendriksen:
But, whatever we learn from the Book of Revelation and other Scripture, even with the help of commentaries, we need to trust God about certain basic promises of God. We have and will have grief here on earth, but we will see our God with great joy which will not be extinguished nor even diminished.
I love to tell the story about my youngest son Josh when I dropped him off at daycare. Despite knowing that he would experience many “bumps and bruises and insults” that would occur during the day, Josh always cheerfully said to me as I dropped him off: “Daddy, are you going to pick me up at the end of the day?”. Josh knew the answer, but I loved to say: “Yes Josh, I will pick you up at the end of the day.” And, he would cheerfully jump out of the car and run to his play area.
In conclusion, whatever events occur and whatever grief that we experience, we know at least three things. First, God will give us all the grace that we need to deal with those events and with the grief. Second, Jesus will come again quickly, and we will see Him (“again a little while, and you will see Me”). Third, our hearts will rejoice, and no one will take our joy away from us.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 