John 16:21 (LSB)

Passage

Whenever a woman is in labor she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.

Nearby Context

John 16:19 Jesus knew that they were wishing to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?

John 16:20 Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will cry and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

John 16:21 Whenever a woman is in labor she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.

John 16:22 Therefore you too have sorrow now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

John 16:23 And on that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "world", "whenever", "woman", "labor", "sorrow", "hour", "come", and "gives". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "world" and "whenever", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "Truly truly I say to you that..." into verse 22's "Therefore you too have sorrow now but...", so "world" and "whenever" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "world" and "whenever" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.