Your sorrow shall be turned into joy. St John Chapter xvi .16-20

St John Chapter xvi : Verses 16-20

Contents

• St John Chapter xvi : Verses 16-20 Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text, Greek (SBLG) & Latin text (Vulgate); 
• Annotations based on the Great Commentary of Cornelius A Lapide (1567-1637)

St John Chapter xvi : Verses 16-20

Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.   
1503-04. National Library of Wales.

16 A little while, and now you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me: because I go to the Father.  

17 Then some of the disciples said one to another: What is this that he saith to us: A little while, and you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me, and, because I go to the Father?  

18 They said therefore: What is this that he saith, A little while? we know not what he speaketh.  

19 And Jesus knew that they had a mind to ask him; and he said to them: Of this do you inquire among yourselves, because I said: A little while, and you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me?  

20 Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

16 Μικρὸν καὶ ⸀οὐκέτι θεωρεῖτέ με, καὶ πάλιν μικρὸν καὶ ὄψεσθέ ⸀με.

16 Modicum, et jam non videbitis me; et iterum modicum, et videbitis me : quia vado ad Patrem.

17 εἶπαν οὖν ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἀλλήλους· Τί ἐστιν τοῦτο ὃ λέγει ἡμῖν· Μικρὸν καὶ οὐ θεωρεῖτέ με, καὶ πάλιν μικρὸν καὶ ὄψεσθέ με; καί· ⸀Ὅτι ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα;

17 Dixerunt ergo ex discipulis ejus ad invicem : Quid est hoc quod dicit nobis : Modicum, et non videbitis me; et iterum modicum, et videbitis me, et quia vado ad Patrem?  

18 ἔλεγον οὖν· ⸂Τί ἐστιν τοῦτο⸃ ὃ ⸀λέγει μικρόν; οὐκ οἴδαμεν τί λαλεῖ.

18 Dicebant ergo : Quid est hoc quod dicit : Modicum? nescimus quid loquitur.  

19 ⸀ἔγνω Ἰησοῦς ὅτι ἤθελον αὐτὸν ἐρωτᾶν, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Περὶ τούτου ζητεῖτε μετ’ ἀλλήλων ὅτι εἶπον· Μικρὸν καὶ οὐ θεωρεῖτέ με, καὶ πάλιν μικρὸν καὶ ὄψεσθέ με;

19 Cognovit autem Jesus, quia volebant eum interrogare, et dixit eis : De hoc quaeritis inter vos quia dixi : Modicum, et non videbitis me; et iterum modicum, et videbitis me.  

20 ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι κλαύσετε καὶ θρηνήσετε ὑμεῖς, ὁ δὲ κόσμος χαρήσεται· ⸀ὑμεῖς λυπηθήσεσθε, ἀλλ’ ἡ λύπη ὑμῶν εἰς χαρὰν γενήσεται.

20 Amen, amen dico vobis : quia plorabitis, et flebitis vos, mundus autem gaudebit; vos autem contristabimini, sed tristitia vestra vertetur in gaudium.

Annotations

    16. A little while, and now you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me: because I go to the Father.  For in a few hours I shall die on the cross, and be buried, but in three days I shall rise again, and manifest Myself to you with great joy, for I shall shortly afterwards ascend into heaven, and sit at the right hand of the Father. For I shall not be detained by death, but shall conquer it in My own Person, and with you overcome it also. So S. Chrysostom, Cyril, Leontius, Theophylact, Euthymius, &c., S. Augustine, Bede, and Maldonatus explain it otherwise. I shall abide with you for forty days only, and then after My ascension ye will see Me no more, then after another “little time,” ye will see Me again, in the day of judgment, and the general resurrection, when I shall take you both in body and soul into heaven with Myself, I will bless and glorify you. For I go to My Father, to reign with Him in glory until that time. And this whole period, though one of many thousand years, is but like a small point compared with the eternity of God

    Hear S. Augustine (in loc.): “The whole space which the present age of the world passes through is but a little while. As the same Evangelist says (1 John ii.18), ‘It is the last hour.’ ” And further on, “This ‘little while’ seems long to us, because it is yet going on. But when it is ended, we shall feel how short it has been. Let not then our joy be like that of the world, of which it is said ‘the world shall rejoice.’ Nor let us be sorrowful, and without joy, in our travailing with this longing desire, but as the Apostle says, ‘Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,’ because she who is in travail (to whom we are compared) rejoices more at the child which will be born of her, than she sorrows for her present suffering.” Hence the Psalmist, and after him 2 Peter iii. 8, one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

    17. Then some of the disciples said one to another: What is this that he saith to us: A little while, and you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me, and, because I go to the Father?  … We cannot tell what He saith. Christ’s words seemed to be obscure, a very enigma, and no wonder, for it is just the same to many Christians even now. Christ did this intentionally, to rouse the minds of the sorrowing Apostles to ask the meaning of this strange expression: so that He, in His answer, might remove, or anyhow mitigate, their sorrow. S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius give two reasons for their asking: because His words were obscure in themselves; and secondly, because they were weighed down with sorrow. Rupertus adds that they did not yet certainly believe that He would rise again on the third day. S. Augustine and Bede give a further reason for their being troubled at the twice repeated expression “a little while;” namely, that the brief pleasure of this life is changed, in the next life, into eternal and unbounded joy. See 2 Cor. iv. 17. Take which view you prefer.

    19. And Jesus knew that they had a mind to ask him; and he said to them: Of this do you inquire among yourselves, because I said: A little while, and you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me?   But dared not through fear and dread. Christ knew this by the Power of His Godhead, looking into their secret thoughts and inward desires. He therefore anticipated their reply, to show that He knew all hearts, and was therefore God (so Cyril); and He adds,

    20. Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Understand by this that the joy of the world will be changed into sorrow, says Rupertus. But (1.) S. Chrysostom, Cyril, Leontius, Theophylact, and others, explain this of our Lord’s sufferings and death, which will cause just sorrow to you, and rejoicing to the Jews, and of His Resurrection on the third day, at which the Jews will be sorrowful, and full of indignation at My victory over them. But in a secondary sense He intended to signify the like sufferings they would have to endure for His sake. Whence (2.) S. Augustine, Bede, and Maldonatus explain of the sufferings which the Apostles would have to undergo in preaching the faith (at which the world will rejoice), and of the eternal blessedness they would afterwards enjoy with Him.

    Morally. Holy Scripture frequently teaches that the righteous suffer adversities in this life, and that the ungodly exult in their prosperity. (See Job xxi.9; Ps. lxxxii. 2; Jer. xii.; Hab. iii.) Daily experience teaches us the same. But Scripture teaches us also that the godly are happy and the wicked are sorrowful at their death; see Luke vi.25; S. James v. 2, 3; and Rom. viii. 18. “It is difficult (says S. Jerome, Epist. xxxiv), nay, impossible, for any one to enjoy his good things both here and hereafter, to fill his belly here, and his soul there, to pass from delight to delight, to be the first in both worlds, to appear high in glory both in heaven and earth.”

Accordingly, Tertullian (de Spect. cap. 28), commenting with elegance and tenderness on these words, thus writes: “This is ordered in turns. Now they rejoice, we are in conflict. ‘The world will rejoice; but ye will be sorrowful.’ Let us mourn while the heathen rejoice, that we may rejoice when they begin to mourn; lest if we now rejoice with them, we shall then also mourn with them. Thou art over-nice, O Christian, if thou desirest pleasure in this world; also most foolish, if thou considerest it pleasure.” And again, “Pray tell me, cannot we live without pleasure, since we must die without it? For what else is our wish than that of the Apostles, to depart out of the world, and to be received with the Lord? This is our pleasure, as it is also our desire.” He goes on, “What greater pleasure than the loathing of pleasure, than contempt of the world, than true liberty, than a pure conscience, than sufficiency of life, than no dread of death, than trampling down the gods of the heathen, than casting out devils, than working cures, than living to God? These are the pleasures of Christians, holy, ever abiding, free, &c. Bestir thyself at the signal of God, awake at the trump of the angel, glory in the palms of martyrdom. Behold uncleanness cast down by chastity, unbelief slain by faith, cruelty beaten by mercy, wantonness overshadowed by modesty. Such are the contests in which we are crowned.” And again, “What is that exultation of angels, what the glory of the rising saints, what hereafter the kingdom of righteousness, what the city of the New Jerusalem?” Isaiah graphically describes this (65:14).

    Hence S Cecilia, who ever bare the Gospel of Christ in her bosom, and also preached it, converted Tiburtius and others. And she inculcated this first of all: Seek not the fleeting joy of this life, in order that ye may obtain the eternal joy of that life which follows after. In this ye will live but a short time, in that ye will live for ever. And when the Prefect Almachius said that she was foolish in despising the joys of this world and embracing the hard and austere life of Christians, her husband Valerian replied, “The time will come when we shall receive a thousand-fold the fruits of our affliction, and they who are now elated with joy will weep when we are rejoicing.” This is the time of sowing. They therefore who sow tears in this life will in that blessed and eternal life reap everlasting joy.

    Lastly, S. Cyprian in his treatise De Mortalitate (the Pestilence), chap. 3, says:—“If to see Christ is to rejoice, and our joy cannot be, unless we see Him, what blindness is it, what madness, to love the sufferings, the pains and tears of the world, and not rather to hasten to that joy which cannot be taken from us?”

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.