John 16:20 KJV
[20] 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.
Just before Jeuss went to the cross, there was this conversation that He had with His disciples. It was a time of sorrow; Jesus had told them about his impending suffering, and as usual, they were uncomfortable with the news. We know now how it ended, but for them, it was hard to process. The One they had called Teacher was going to be treated like a common criminal, and there was not a single thing that any of them could do to stop it. In fact, stopping it was attempting to derail God's perfect plan of salvation for all mankind and that was not acceptable. The disciples were really sad, but the verse above held out some hope for them at the time, as it also holds out some hope for us today: the cross is God's path to eternal joy for all who come through it to Jesus.
At the time of the cross, it was sorrow. The disciples were even so affected that a few of them went back to what they were familiar with, which was fishing. One of them even denied ever knowing Jesus when he was confronted and another one betrayed him, taking his life in the process when he realised that the cross was irreversible. While they were sad, the world around them was excited and rejoicing that they had seen the back of their arch-enemy. The leaders of the people had seen the back of the man who constantly challenged their authority and made them look bad in front of the people. His miracles changed the landscape and the previous arguments in favour of them. What the leaders did not know was that a new lease of life was now in place, and the only way to be relevant was to be connected to the cross.
The cross is the channel for the change that is coming. Then, the world rejoiced as it put the Son of God to death, but now, the world is in pain for rejecting the Son of God. As long as the world turns its back on Jesus, it can never experience the joy that is possible only in Jesus. All who have come to experience the salvation that Jesus gives may have some inconvenience today, but there is an inner reality that gives joy in the face of all that is going on around them. The world will fight you but do not let it take that which you have from you. The state of my inner man is very critical here; who sits at the control center defines the end result. Sorrow may last for a night for the one who has walked the path of the cross, but end result will be eternal life with God. Nothing in tbis world will last forever; let it all go, and lay hold of that which Jesus offers. Your eternity will be glad you did. God's time of favour is here.
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