Grief And Joy

Grief and Joy

Read: John 16:19-24

“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.”

John 16:20

“Griefs exalt us, and troubles lift us.”

—Charles Spurgeon

IN WORD The disciples had come with Jesus into Jerusalem with great expectations. The Messiah’s moment of victory had come. But how painful the moment and obscure the victory! They had no idea. They would later recall these words of Jesus—while the world rejoiced at the downfall of a “troublemaker,” the disciples grieved the death of a dream. Later, He tells them, the moods will be reversed; their grief will be turned to joy (v. 22) when they realize the dream was greater than they had imagined.

Jesus could just as easily say these words to us. We know His victory came through the Cross; it’s not His death we grieve today. But His Cross also belongs to us as His disciples; we’re called to take it upon ourselves. Meanwhile, the world rejoices. It pities those who have fallen “victim” to the constraints of the Christian faith. It can’t imagine that we find fulfillment without following their unbridled pursuit of physical and emotional pleasure.

But in our grief, there is joy. And in our joy, there is grief. We know both simultaneously. The Cross is painful, and the world’s rejection hurts. We live in a broken world, partly of our own doing, and we suffer because of it. But we rejoice that the suffering does not compare to the glory to be revealed (Romans 8:18). We look forward to a coming celebration, and we can begin celebrating even now.

IN DEED Many Christians have not found the balance between grief and joy. We can either wallow in the former, forgetting the joy of knowing Jesus and the promises He gives us, or dwell on the latter as escapists, unmindful of the needs of our generation. Our joy is to be a sober- minded joy, and our grief is to be a hopeful grief. Heartfelt ministry and joyful expectation—both are the inheritance of Jesus’ disciples.