GOSPEL REFLECTION, FRIDAY, 6TH WEEK OF EASTER, 15 MAY 2026

John 16:20-23a.  In Jewish thought of Jesus’ time, thoroughly versed in what we call the Old Testament, the whole of time was divided into two ‘ages.’  The present age, with all its difficulties and burden of sin, and the age to come, the Golden Age of God.  In between there was to be a terrible day, the Day of the Lord, in which everything of the present age would be shattered.  It was a time of grief which will come suddenly with great noise and confusion but necessary for Messiah to come.  This is the background to Jesus’ words in the final part of his farewell to the disciples at the Last Supper.  He had just told them that he would disappear, no longer be seen among them (vv. 16-19), and after a little while would return.  That day would be like birth pains for the coming of the Messiah.  The disciples were confused and did not know what he was saying.  However, the day would come when Jesus ascended to the Father.  With the Master and Teacher being withdrawn they would have to continue faithfully and live out of what they had already been taught.  As we are just a few days away from our celebration of Jesus’ Ascension to the Father, we need to keep Jesus’ words in mind.

Jesus told them there would be pain and grief, weeping and mourning during that time, the Day of the Lord, as they learned to live in his way, but without his direct presence.  For those who endured the Day of the Lord, the time of pain and sorrow would turn into joy.  Christians must always remember that when their faith costs them dearly, that joy will follow.  Christian joy will never be taken away forever, and that joy will return and be complete; the time of pain and distress will turn into the eternal joy of the presence of Christ.  This world will indeed provide sorrow and pain amongst its fleeting times of joy, but that sort of joy will always fade.  The joy that Christ promises will find pain and sorrow forgotten amid the eternal joy that comes with his presence.