16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” 17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.” 19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. 21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. 23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. 28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.” 29 His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! 30 Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Vs. 16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”
Having declared to the disciples the Holy Spirits coming and Ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ once again reiterates His own soon departure from them. First with His death and burial, then after His Resurrection, His Ascension back to the Father. And so, there was going to be an interlude that is taking place between the Lord Jesus’ departure and their/our seeing Him again. For the disciples then both their and our seeing the Lord Jesus Christ again will be when we meet Him forever in heaven!
Vs. 17-18 17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.”
The disciples though did not yet understand these things, that Jesus must depart from them for them to meet Him in heaven! For as He already told them He must go and prepare a place for them and us all! And so, Jesus use of the phrase “a little while” ultimately pictures the brief time that we are away from Him while we are sojourners here on earth!
Vs. 19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
Now when Jesus knew the disciples were confused by this saying, He gave them an analogy to encourage and keep them for what was to come (vs. 20-22).
Vs. 20 “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.”
And so here Jesus foretells of the disciples own sorrow when they would see Him Crucified, which itself is hard enough to bear, and yet having to bear one’s own grief and sorrow while having to observe the world rejoice at the cause of your sorrow is very difficult to bear in that moment. Nonetheless though the disciples would be sorrowful at the Lord’s Crucifixion and death and the world would then rejoice, nonetheless as the Lord Jesus Christ says the disciples sorrow would only be temporary, (just as ours is only temporary being confined to this life), for Jesus would again turn their sorrow to joy when they saw Him Resurrected and Later Ascended and finally for us all when we see Him victoriously Reigning in heaven and we are united with Him and our redeemed and saved loved ones!
Vs. 21-22 21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
Therefore, to make them understand Jesus now uses the analogy of a woman in labor who when going through the birthing process has sorrow because her hour (i.e. labor pains) have come. Nonetheless as Jesus notes, as soon as she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish that she went through for the joy that a human being has been brought into the world (vs. 22). Therefore, Jesus speaking to the disciples and be default us all now says that we too now have sorrow in this life, nonetheless we will see Him again and our hearts will greatly rejoice when we do, and from that point on no will ever again take our joy away from us!
Vs. 23-24 23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Such then will be our joy that on the Day that we go home and meet Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior that we will ask Him nothing! For all that once was will no longer matter or come to mind! Having then foretold us of that great day to look forward too, and so Jesus returning the disciples focus to the here and now once again reiterates His Promise that whatever we ask the Father in His Name He will give us (vs. 23). For as Jesus says in verse 24, up until then the disciples had asked nothing in His Name, for Jesus was still with them, and so they had not yet even prayed in His Name. However, when Jesus departed from them, they were then to ask (i.e. pray) in His Name as we all now do today. Therefore, Jesus Promises them and us all that we are to ask in His Name and we shall receive that our joy maybe full. Obviously our asking here then is our asking Him for things needed to do His Work that we are to do here on earth, thus we are to ask Jesus in faith for what we need, to open doors and create opportunities, or to give us the resources that we need to accomplish whatever He as set out for us to do etc. Though again He has not limited His Promise so neither should I. Therefore, when our prayers are answered and we see Him working in and through our lives and efforts our joy will become full as He is glorified through us and what we do!
Vs. 25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.”
During His earthly Ministry the Lord Jesus often taught the disciples by way of parables and other metaphoric devices. However here Jesus now Promises that He will no longer use figurative language but will speak with them plainly about the Father. Now that Day is often taken to be indicating the era after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit when the disciples, (and now all who believe in Him), are endowed with the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things. However, we must not overlook that after Jesus’ Resurrection he taught the disciples (i.e. opened up the Scriptures to them), before Ascending back to the Father in heaven, and so on that Day in this sense is not when they (we) meet Him in heaven, but rather when they met Him after His Resurrection! And so with the Holy Spirit’s outpouring upon them and upon us all who believe in Him His Ministry of His Word continues on now to us all in every generation!
Vs. 26-27 26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.
In that day, i.e., when they are sealed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit they will pray directly to the Father. For such is the privilege of us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (who are likewise sealed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit) to have direct access to God the Father because of Christ’s His Finished work for us. Therefore, our prayers do not need to be first sent to the Lord Jesus Christ (or anyone else) and then onto the Father. For as Jesus says here, “for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.” Thus, as children of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we all have direct access to God the Father in heaven!
Vs. 28 “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”
The Lord Jesus Christ in the plainest of language now tells the disciples that just as He came forth from God the Father into the world, (as the Son of God/Son of Man) so He is going to leave the world and return to God the Father, (as the Son of God/Son of Man). Having then lost nothing but gained everything for us the Lord Jesus Christ now tells the disciples that He will soon be departing from this world back to God the Father in heaven.
Vs. 29-30 29 His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! 30 Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”
With the Lord Jesus’ use of plain language, the disciple’s faith seemingly grows “expedientially”, or so they think! However, Jesus’ use of plain language here should not have been what moved them to such an exuberant declaration, rather a complete understand of His Person, Work and Speech which they would not have until His Spirit was poured out on them. Thus, their declaration here was then only shallow (for they had not yet been tempered by the trails that were to come upon Him and them) and so the Lord Jesus Christ saw right past their declaration and onto what was to come.
Vs. 31-32 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
Jesus then is unmoved by the disciple’s declaration of faith. For He knows what is coming and how it going to initially affect them all. Therefore, He first calls them to account, by saying, “Do you now believe? 32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. Therefore Jesus in pulling no punches now foretells of the disciples own scattering when He would be arrested, and yet as He says their departure from Him would not leave Him alone, for the Father is always with Him (and now with us all who believe in Him regardless of who stays with us or goes away from us during our own trials as well). And so the depth of our own faith is never truly known to us until we must face our own trials and tribulations, and yet as we will see it is through these that our faith is forged, for having passed through the fire, and then been quenched in healing mercies of our God and Savior we are being transformed into a much more resilient and all around better disciples.
Vs. 33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
The Lord Jesus then in speaking all of these things wants only that we remain with Him, for in Him we have peace, peace when we seek Him and peace when we abide in Him, resting then in the shade of His lovingkindness and mercies, we sit down by the still waters, and need not be overwhelmed by the world and the tribulations that come to us from it. For as Jesus says here, He has overcome the world! The world then can never overcome us! Our souls and our destines our secure in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Therefore, brethren be of good cheer, Jesus Christ has overcome the world!
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
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