Personal evangelists, in their zeal to see people converted, make promises to the evangelized that leave the wrong impression. “If you follow Christ, you will know a life of joy and peace.” They’re not wrong, but they’re not telling the entire story, which can leave new converts disillusioned with the faith. The Christian life is one of joy and peace. Joy, however, comes through sorrow and suffering, and peace is experienced amid problems and persecution. So says Jesus at the end of his Farewell-For-Now Address in John 16:16-33.
The cross is a few hours away. Joy lies on the other side of the cross (Heb 12:2), but joy is on the other side of the cross. The cross must be endured. The new creation is on the horizon, but it will come through labor pains. As the woman was promised after the fall that she would give birth through pain to the seed-son who would crush the serpent’s head, so the old creation will give birth to the new creation through sorrow and suffering (Gen 3:16; Jn 16:21). Jesus must endure suffering so that the new creation can be born.
Though Jesus is speaking of his imminent crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, he is also explaining how God has and continues to bring about new creation: death and resurrection. The world and everything in it moves from glory to glory through death and resurrection. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the apex of that movement, but the whole world, and especially his disciples, follow that pattern. Jesus tells his disciples, “In the world, you will have tribulation” (Jn 16:33). There is no birth of new life without the labor pains. There is no glory without suffering (cf. Rom 8:17).
However, just as with a woman in labor, the suffering is purposeful and short-lived. The purpose of the woman’s labor is not suffering for suffering’s sake. Rather, her suffering is needed to bring life into the world. Though a woman in labor may feel that labor is interminable as she endures it, the pain is relatively short-lived. The joy on the other side of that labor is so great that she practically forgets it, even to the point of wanting to endure it all again to have another child (Jn 16:21). The suffering cannot be compared to the glory (cf. Rom 8:18).
Joy is at the end of sorrow, and peace is experienced amid tribulation (Jn 16:33). Jesus doesn’t promise the peace of escape. He promises that because of our hope in God’s promises, we will experience a tranquility that will guard our hearts and minds even in the most anxious of times (Phil 4:6-7). We know the peace of God because we know that Jesus has overcome the world. He hasn’t merely subdued the world or is now holding the world at bay. He overcame the world in his cross and resurrection. He defeated the world’s greatest power: death. There is absolutely nothing that the world can do to defeat us, even if they kill us.
This All Saints’ Sunday, we commemorate our fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters who know joy at the end of sorrow and peace through tribulation. Many of them kept the faith though the world threatened and eventually killed them. Others lived faithfully throughout their entire lives, moving from glory to glory through sorrow, pain, and suffering, and now enjoy their rest. Jesus’ words and their examples call and encourage us to follow them in the faith so that we might join their joy and peace and be worthy examples for those who come after us.