"A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 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. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."
From today's quote we learn that Jesus' Apostles had not yet understood what He was telling them concerning His forthcoming sacrificial ordeal. They couldn't understand that He must first die a physical death and then be resurrected in order to create a means by which the spiritual 'rebirth' of lost believers could be achieved.
Jesus even compared the anguish His followers would be subjected to, at His dying, to the suffering a woman endures while giving birth to a baby.
Jesus explained that once they realized the purpose, and fruit, of that suffering, they would rejoice in the experience having been reborn in the spirit through His death, burial, and resurrection.
In reference to the rebirth His ordeal would provide, Jesus said; "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world."
Jesus was required to suffer so that a lost world could be "born again".
We, today, just as those early followers of Jesus, achieve our salvation through faith in the rebirth Jesus provided on the cross at Calvary.
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)
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