Matthew Henry Commentary John 16:16-22

"A little while, and ye behold me no more; and again a little while, and ye shall see me. [Some] of his disciples therefore said one to another, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye behold me not; 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 know not what he saith. Jesus perceived that they were desirous to ask him, and he said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, A little while, and ye behold me not, 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: 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 when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world. And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you." — John 16:16-22 (ASV)

It is good to consider how near our seasons of grace are to an end, that we may be stirred to make the most of them. But the sorrows of the disciples would soon be turned into joy, like those of a mother upon seeing her infant. The Holy Spirit would be their Comforter, and neither humans nor devils, neither sufferings in life nor in death, would ever deprive them of their joy.

Believers have joy or sorrow according to their sight of Christ and the signs of his presence. Sorrow is coming on the ungodly, which nothing can lessen; the believer is an heir to joy which no one can take away. Where now is the joy of the murderers of our Lord, and the sorrow of his friends?