By Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador
He pono, he pono taku e mea nei ki a koutou, Ka tangi koutou, ka aue, ko te ao ia ka hari: e pouri ano koutou, otira ka meinga to koutou pouri hei hari.
O le ‘upu moni lava ‘ou te ta‘u atu ‘iā te ‘outou, e fētāgisi ‘outou ma taufai tagiauē, ‘ae ‘oli‘oli le lalolagi; e fa‘anoanoa ‘outou, ‘ae liua lo ‘outou fa‘anoanoa ma ‘oli‘oli.
Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
John 16:20
Jesus says these things in the middle of his last meal with his followers.
It had been an unusual conversation. Jesus had exposed Judas’ betrayal. He foretold Peter’s denial. Jesus’ foreboding and dread seemed to be deepening.
He filled the conversation with statements like “the world will hate you”. But he sprinkled it with comfort: “the spirit will be with you”.
In verse 20 Jesus refers to his impending death. In a few hours I’ll be in custody; I’ll face a sham trial on trumped-up charges. “You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices”. I’ll be executed and buried. “But your grief will turn to joy”. But I won’t stay dead. I’ll rise from the grave.
In these comments, Jesus alludes to his arrest just hours away, his trial, his execution, his resurrection, and his return to the Father 40 days later.
In these comments, Jesus describes both the heartache and hope that is at the heart of the gospel.
The heartache is the reality of death. The hope at the heart of the gospel is that in Christ’s death in our place, for our sin, won the victory over death.
The hope at the heart of the gospel is that those who have died with Christ will rise with him. We know that we will be resurrected with our resurrected Lord in a restored creation to live for him and love him into eternity.
The hope at the heart of the gospel is that our grief for those who have died with Christ will turn to joy as we are raised together to join him in the new creation.
