John 16:20

You have your own registers, your own calendar; you have nothing to do with the joys of the world; nay, you are called to the very opposite, for "the world shall rejoice, but ye shall mourn." And I think the Lord affirms, that those who mourn are happy, not those who are crowned.

If we rejoice with the world, it is to be feared that we shall also mourn with the world. But let us mourn while the world rejoices, and we shall afterward rejoice when the world mourns.

It is perhaps, too, not impertinent to reflect that the worldly will contrariwise be doomed to a fate of endless misery. For if, when Christ died after the flesh, those who were truly His mourned, but the world rejoiced at His Passion; and if, when death and corruption were rendered powerless by the Resurrection of our Saviour Christ from the dead, the mourning of the Saints was turned into joy, surely in like manner also the joy of the worldly-minded will be lost in sorrow.

So many persecutions the soul suffers daily, with so many risks is the heart wearied, and yet it delights to abide here long among the devil's weapons, although it should rather be our craving and wish to hasten to Christ by the aid of a quicker death; as He Himself instructs us, and says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy." Who would not desire to be without sadness? who would not hasten to attain to joy? But when our sadness shall be turned into joy, the Lord Himself again declares, when He says, "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you." Since, therefore, to see Christ is to rejoice, and we cannot have joy unless when we shall see Christ, what blindness of mind or what folly is it to love the world's afflictions, and punishments, and tears, and not rather to hasten to the joy which can never be taken away!

That it was before predicted that the world would hold us in abhorrence, and that it would stir up persecutions against us, and that no new thing is happening to the Christians, since from the beginning of the world the good have suffered, and the righteous have been oppressed and slain by the unrighteous. The Lord in the Gospel forewarns and foretells, saying: "If the world hates you, know that it first hated me. If ye were of the world, the world would love what is its own: but because ye are not of the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I spoke unto you, The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also." And again: "The hour will come, that every one that killeth you will think that he doeth, God service; but they will do this because they have not known the Father nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the hour shall come ye may remember them, because I told you." And again: "Verily, verily, I say unto yon, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy."

For, desiring to infix in them the doctrine concerning His death, what saith He? "Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament"-which belonged to the Death and the Cross-"but the world shall rejoice." Because by reason of their not desiring His death, they quickly ran into the belief that He would not die, and then when they heard that He would die, cast about, not knowing what that "little" meant, He saith, "Ye shall mourn and lament." "But your sorrow shall be turned into joy." Then having shown that after grief comes joy, and that grief gendereth joy, and that grief is short, but the pleasure endless, He passeth to a common example.

"A time to weep, and a time to laugh." A time to weep, when it is the time of suffering; as when the Lord also says, "Verily I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament." But to laugh, as concerns the resurrection: "For …

"You," He says, "will weep and lament that I will die on the Cross, while the world will rejoice, that is, the Jews, who think in worldly terms, will rejoice that they have destroyed Me, their enemy; but your sorrow will be turned into joy, …

Amen, amen I say to you: That you shall weep and lament: you shall weep outwardly, you shall lament inwardly, for the time in which you will not see me: and therefore blessed; Luke 6: "Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh." …

But this speech of our Lord's is applicable to all believers who strive through present tears and afflictions to attain to the joys eternal. While the righteous weep, the world rejoiceth; for having no hope of the joys to come, all its delight is in the present.

2127 Now he explains his words and removes the perplexity of the disciples, not just repeating what he had said, but setting their minds at ease. First, he states that there will be a division of those who are sad and those who are joyful; …

What he added by way of explanation to those inquiring of him, "Truly, truly, I say to you that you will lament and weep, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be changed to joy" is fitting to their …

But he says nothing of the little while, because he saw that this perplexed them more than any thing; and it is of no consequence to us to know the times and the seasons. Note, Believers have joy or sorrow according as they have or have not a sight of Christ, and the tokens of his presence with them. (1.) What Christ says here, and in

Verily, verily, I say unto you,....

Ye shall weep and lament - To see me crucified and laid in the grave. But the world shall rejoice - The chief priests, scribes, Pharisees, and persecuting Jews in general, will triumph, hoping that their bad cause is crowned with success. But your sorrow shall be turned into joy - When ye see me risen from the dead. It is very evident that our Lord uses the word world, in several parts of this discourse of his, to signify the unbelieving and rebellious Jews.

At the same time the sorrow of the widowed Church in the absence of her Lord in the heavens, and her transport at His personal return, are certainly here expressed.

Not all Christ's sayings were understood by His disciples. We are told this distinctly in the passage we have now read. "What is this that he says? We cannot tell what he says." None ever spoke so plainly as Jesus. None were so thoroughly accustomed to His style of teaching as the Apostles. Yet even the Apostles did not always take in their Master's meaning. Surely we have no right to be surprised if we cannot interpret Christ's words. There are many depths in those who we have no line to fathom.

Not all Christ's sayings were understood by His disciples. We are told this distinctly in the passage we have now read. "What is this that he says? We cannot tell what he says." None ever spoke so plainly as Jesus. None were so thoroughly accustomed to His style of teaching as the Apostles. Yet even the Apostles did not always take in their Master's meaning. Surely we have no right to be surprised if we cannot interpret Christ's words. There are many depths in those who we have no line to fathom. But let us thank God that there are many sayings of our Lord recorded which no honest mind can fail to understand. Let us use diligently the light that we have, and not doubt that "to him that has, more shall be given." We learn, for one thing, in these verses, that Christ's absence from the earth will be a time of sorrow to believers, but of joy to the world. It is written, "You shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice." To confine these words to the single point of Christ's approaching death and burial, appears a narrow view of their meaning. Like many of our Lord's sayings on the last evening of His earthly ministry, they seem to extend over the whole period of time between His first and second advents. Christ's personal absence must needs be a sorrow to all true-hearted believers. "The children of the bride-chamber cannot but fast when the bridegroom is taken from them." Faith is not sight. Hope is not certainty. Reading and hearing are not the same as beholding. Praying is not the same as speaking face to face. There is something, even in the hearts of the most eminent saints, that will never be fully satisfied as long as they are on earth and Christ is in heaven.

WE were singing, just now a hymn in which the first verse started a difficult question— "'It is finished.' Shall we raise Songs of sorrow, or of praise? Mourn to see the Savior die, Or proclaim His victory?" The case is very well argued in the second and third verses— "If of Calvary we tell, How can songs of triumph swell? If of man redeemed from woe, How shall notes of mourning flow? Ours the guilt which pierced His side, Ours the sin for which He died; But the blood which flowed that day Washed our sin and guilt away."

WE were singing, just now a hymn in which the first verse started a difficult question— "'It is finished.' Shall we raise Songs of sorrow, or of praise? Mourn to see the Savior die, Or proclaim His victory?" The case is very well argued in the second and third verses— "If of Calvary we tell, How can songs of triumph swell? If of man redeemed from woe, How shall notes of mourning flow? Ours the guilt which pierced His side, Ours the sin for which He died; But the blood which flowed that day Washed our sin and guilt away." The conclusion at which we arrived in the concluding verse seems to me to be the right one— "Lamb of God! Your death has given Pardon, peace and hope of Heaven: 'It is finished.'Let us raise Songs of thankfulness and praise!" The chief thought connected with the Redeemer's death should be that of grateful praise! That our Lord Jesus Christ died upon the Cross is a very natural cause for sorrow and well may they who pierced Him—and we are all among the number—look unto Him and mourn for their sin and be in bitterness for Him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Before we know that we are pardoned, our grief may well be exceedingly heavy, for till sin is put away we stand guilty of the Savior's blood! While our souls are only conscious of our guilty share in the Redeemer's blood, we may well stand aghast at the sight of the accursed tree, but the case is altered when, by faith, we discern the glorious fruit of our Lord's sufferings and know that on the Cross He saved us and triumphed in the deed.

Ye shall weep ... - At my crucifixion, sufferings, and death. Compare Luk 23:27. The world - Wicked men. The term world is frequently used in this sense. See Joh 16:8. It refers particularly, here, to the Jews who sought his death, and who would rejoice that their object was obtained. Shall be turned into joy - You will not only rejoice at my resurrection, but even my death, now the object of so much grief to you, will be to you a source of unspeakable joy. It will procure for you peace and pardon in this life, and eternal joy in the world to come. Thus their greatest apparent calamity would be to them, finally, the source of their highest comfort; and though then they could not see how it could be, yet if they had known the whole case they would have seen that they might rejoice. As it was, they were to be consoled by the assurance of the Saviour that it would be for their good. And thus, in our afflictions, if we could see the whole case, we should rejoice. As it is, when they appear dark and mysterious, we may trust in the promise of God that they will be for our welfare. We may also remark here that the apparent triumphs of the wicked, though they may produce grief at present in the minds of Christians, will be yet overruled for good. Their joy shall be turned into mourning, and the mourning of Christians into joy; and wicked men may be doing the very thing - as they were in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus - that shall yet be made the means of promoting the glory of God and the good of his people, Psa 76:10.