²¹ “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. ²² Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

Being the Master teacher that He was, Jesus likens the problem of grief over His soon departure to the pangs of childbirth experienced by an expectant mother. Yes, the teaching itself is amazing … and true. But the way Jesus taught them was equally amazing. He shows deep spiritual truths from everyday life situations that His audience (the disciples in the Upper Room and we ourselves today) can more readily understand. The analogy is meant to show us spiritual, abstract truths from earthly, tangible things. This method is quite effective, as anyone who reads Jesus’ words will readily admit.

But the reason it is effective is because of the great truth that, “the whole earth is full of your glory” (Isaiah 6:3). The Master Teacher is simply uncovering the glory of God in the normal things of life. Marriage, as another example, a quite normal part of life, is unveiled as a reflection of God’s glory in the relationship of Christ and the Church (Eph 5:22-27). The Spirit of God is telling us in that elucidation of the spiritual from the physical, something deeply profound about not only Christ and the church, but also about marriage between one man and one woman.

Marriage thus has been identified particularly as a glimpse of God’s glory. In this, many have concluded that marriage is therefore “sacred.” However, all of life reveals the glory of God, so therefore all of life is likewise sacred, albeit we don’t always recognize it as such. Child-birth is sacred in that sense, in that Jesus used that as a reflection on the spiritual reality that is common to followers of Christ who long for His return. Why is there so much pain in child birth? To be sure, the curse on Eve (Gen 3:16) explains this initially. But could it be that God intended the painful labor of child-bearing to be a reminder to us Image-bearers that the pain of disconnectedness will someday be transformed into life and joy?

Yes, Jesus as the great Teacher brings together the physical experience of a woman’s labor in giving birth and the disciples “pain” of facing Jesus’ physical withdrawal from them. The unity of spiritual truth with the physical realities all reflect the glory of God and His truth in this fallen world.

Lord, help me today to see Your glory in everything around me.