John Calvin Commentary John 16:21

"A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world." — John 16:21 (ASV)

A woman, when she is in labor. He uses a comparison to confirm the statement which he had just made, or rather, he expresses his meaning more clearly that not only will their sorrow be turned into joy, but also that it contains in itself the ground and occasion of joy. It frequently happens that when adversity has been followed by prosperity, people forget their former grief and give themselves up unreservedly to joy; and yet the grief which came before it is not the cause of the joy. But Christ means that the sorrow which they will endure for the sake of the Gospel will be profitable.

Indeed, the result of all griefs can only be unfavorable, unless they are blessed in Christ. But as the cross of Christ always contains victory in itself, Christ justly compares the grief arising from it to the sorrow of a woman in labor, which receives its reward when the mother is cheered by the birth of the child.

The comparison would not apply if sorrow did not produce joy in the members of Christ when they become partakers of His sufferings, just as the labor in the woman is the cause of the birth. The comparison must also be applied in this respect: though the sorrow of the woman is very severe, it quickly passes away. It was, therefore, no small comfort to the apostles when they learned that their sorrow would not be of long duration.

We ought now to apply this doctrine to ourselves. Having been regenerated by the Spirit of Christ, we ought to feel such joy in ourselves that it would remove every feeling of our distresses. We ought, I say, to resemble women in labor, on whom the mere sight of the child born produces such an impression that they no longer feel their pain.

But as we have received only the first-fruits, and these in very small measure, we scarcely taste a few drops of that spiritual gladness to soothe our grief and alleviate its bitterness. And yet that small portion clearly shows that those who contemplate Christ by faith are so far from ever being overwhelmed by grief that, amidst their heaviest sufferings, they rejoice with exceedingly great joy.

But since it is an obligation laid on all creatures to labor until the last day of redemption (Romans 8:22–23), let us know that we too must groan until, having been delivered from the incessant afflictions of the present life, we obtain a full view of the fruit of our faith.

To sum up in a few words, believers are like women in labor because, having been born again in Christ, they have not yet entered into the heavenly kingdom of God and a blessed life; and they are like pregnant women who are in childbirth because, being still held captive in the prison of the flesh, they long for that blessed state which lies hidden under hope.