Day 28—Saturday, December 27

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. 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.
In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
John 16:21-24

OVERFLOWING JOY!
When it comes to pain or illness in this life, relief is not a guarantee. We take over the counter medications for a racketing cough, or try a heating pad for gnawing back pain. When relief doesn’t come easy, we may seek a doctor’s assistance to soothe what ails. But, even then, an end to our symptoms may not be as simple as taking a medication or trying a new exercise routine.

Of all the physically painful experiences in life, giving birth would easily make the top of the list. Modern medicine has developed various pain management methods such as opioid medications or epidural anesthesia to ease the intensity of the process. But even these do not eliminate the pain completely. Truthfully, it is difficult not to anxiously anticipate what this day – the day you have been waiting nine months to experience – will actually hold.

In light of this, Jesus’ analogy is certainly an interesting choice as a description for what the disciples are about to experience. But His choice is purposeful. Labor pains are strong and intense, and they build as labor progresses. The pain and grief the disciples experience will be like this as they watch their friend, their Messiah, put to death. From their abandonment in the Garden of Gethsemane, to Peter’s denial, to watching Jesus carry His own cross, the disciples will experience an ever-intensifying grief.

Unlike most other kinds of pain, however, childbirth comes with a guarantee of relief.  There will be a moment when the child is born and the pain will subside. This is not to say that there is not pain in recovery, or pain that arises as one experiences the new challenges of becoming a parent, but nothing compares to that moment when your son or daughter is placed in your arms. You discover a new meaning to the concepts of home, wholeness, and joy.

Jesus is telling these men that there will be an end to their grief! He does not compare their pain to the uncertainty of a disease or a virus. Instead, He chooses a moment of human experience that comes with a promise of resolution and of new joy. He promises that, not only will He come back to them, but He will also send “the Helper” (John 16:7). He promises a joy that can never be taken away.

Having just celebrated His first coming, we anxiously anticipate His second coming when there will be a final resolution to the pain we experience in this life.  We will join with a multitude and say “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready…” (Revelation 19:6b, 7).

Amy Dry, Student Health Center

Prayer
Let your goodness, Lord, appear to us, that we, made in your image, conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imitate your majesty, power and wonder; nor is it fitting for us to try. But your mercy reaches from the heavens, through the clouds, to the earth below. You have come to us as a small child, but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts, the gift of eternal love. Caress us with your tiny hands, embrace us with your tiny arms, and pierce our hearts with your soft, sweet cries.
Amen.
(Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1153)