THE PAIN THAT WAS FORGOTTEN
A message on the love of Christ
TEXT:
“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.” — Gospel of John 16:21
“Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame…” — Epistle to the Hebrews 12:2
PROLOGUE
There was a time in human history when childbirth was one of the most dangerous moments in a woman’s life.
There were no spinal blocks.
No epidurals.
No sterile operating rooms.
No emergency surgeries waiting just down the hallway.
A mother entered labor knowing two things were possible:
a cradle… or a coffin.
The pain was not mild discomfort.
It was wrenching agony.
Hours—sometimes days—of suffering that pushed the human body to its very limit.
Many women died bringing life into the world.
And yet Jesus chose that moment—that terrible, painful, courageous moment—to explain what His own death would mean.
The night before the cross, He said:
“A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come…”
Notice the phrase.
“Her hour is come.”
Just hours later Jesus Himself would say:
“The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”
— Gospel of John 12:23
The same language.
The same moment.
The same idea.
Christ was describing the cross as a birth.
I.) IMAGINE THE SCENE.
A young mother grips the bed rails.
Her body trembles.
Her breathing is ragged.
Sweat pours down her face.
Every contraction feels like it will break her.
She cries out.
Minutes feel like hours.
The pain seems unbearable.
But then something happens.
A cry fills the room.
The tiny voice of a newborn child.
Suddenly the agony fades into the background.
Someone places the baby in her arms.
Tears roll down her cheeks.
She laughs through exhaustion.
The suffering that seemed unbearable just moments ago fades before the overwhelming joy of new life.
Jesus said:
“She remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world.”
II.) NOW LIFT YOUR EYES TO CALVARY.
The cross was not a clean execution.
It was designed to be the most brutal form of death the Roman world could invent.
Hands torn open by iron spikes.
Back shredded by whips.
A crown of thorns pressed into His skull.
Nails through His feet.
Every breath was agony.
To inhale, He had to push against the nails in His hands and feet.
To exhale, He collapsed back down in pain.
The crowds mocked.
The soldiers gambled for His clothing.
Friends stood helpless at a distance.
And yet Scripture tells us something astonishing.
“For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.”
Think about that.
Joy.
Not joy in the nails.
Not joy in the suffering.
But joy in what the suffering would produce.
Just as a mother endures labor for the joy of the child…
Jesus endured the cross for the joy of you.
III.) WHILE THE NAILS WERE DRIVEN THROUGH HIS HANDS…
He could see you.
While the soldiers lifted the cross into the sky…
He could see you.
While darkness covered the land…
He could see the countless souls who would one day find forgiveness, mercy, and eternal life because of that moment.
Every repentant sinner.
Every forgiven soul.
Every prodigal who would come home.
Every weary heart that would one day whisper His name in prayer.
You were the joy set before Him.
You were the child He was bringing into the world.
The cross was labor pains for a new creation.
IV.) AND WHEN THE MOMENT FINALLY CAME…
When He cried,
“It is finished.”
— Gospel of John 19:30
It was not the cry of defeat.
It was the cry of a mother who hears the first cry of her newborn child.
The work was done.
New life had been born.
A way back to God had opened.
The gates of mercy swung wide.
EPILOGUE
So when we look at the cross, we are not merely seeing suffering.
We are seeing love in labor.
A Savior who endured unimaginable pain…
because He could already hear the cry of new life.
The cry of redeemed souls.
The cry of forgiven sinners.
The cry of children coming home to their Father.
And somewhere beyond the darkness of Calvary, the Son of God looked past the cross…
and saw you.
And the joy of that moment
was worth
every nail.
INVITATION
