John 16:21. 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 longer the tribulation for her joy that a man is born into the world. An illustration of what had been said familiar to all, but drawn out of the very heart of Old Testament life and feeling (Isaiah 21:3; Isaiah 26:17; Isaiah 66:7; Psalms 128:3; Ezekiel 19:10). Yet there is more in the language than meets the eye at first sight, and its peculiarities form a valuable proof of the correctness of the interpretation given above by the twice repeated ‘little while.' For why (1) the expression her ‘hour' is come, but because the crucifixion was the ‘hour' of Jesus, that of His deepest sorrow and the sorrow of His disciples? And why (2) the use of the word ‘man' instead of child, when it is said ‘a man is born into the world,' but because that which is brought forth in tribulation is the new birth of regenerated humanity, and because that new life with which the Church springs into being is life in a risen Lord (Ephesians 2:5), and carries us back to the moment when Jesus Himself rose from the grave?

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Old Testament