Font Size
After teaching about the Counselor, Jesus returned to the theme of his imminent departure and unattainability (v.16; cf. 7:33-34; 13:33). This time he also referred to a return. As before, his words caused bewilderment (vv.17-18; cf. 7:35-36; 13:36-37), but his explanation did not do much to clear up the uncertainty (vv.19-22). As the suffering of a woman in childbirth gives way to joy when her child is born, he said, so the disciples' mourning when Jesus was taken from them would later turn to permanent joy. When that happened, the nature of prayer would be changed, and Jesus urged them to take advantage of the change (vv.23-24; cf. 14:13-14). One cannot be sure whether the return Jesus spoke of was his resurrection on Easter Sunday or his reappearance at the Last Day. Both would be appropriate in the context, and we may have here a case of deliberate ambiguity. Either way, the response of the disciple would be the reverse of that of the world: when the disciple sorrowed, the world would rejoice, and vice versa.
Jesus then restated two of the themes from 16:16-24. First, there would come a time when Jesus would no longer use figurative language but would speak plainly (v.25; cf. v.29; 10:6). Second, in that day those who had believed on Jesus would have direct access to the Father in his name (vv.26-27). The Father was both Jesus' point of origin and his destination (v.28).
At this the disciples felt that they finally understood Jesus because they felt he was at last speaking directly (v.29). On this basis they expressed confident faith in both his person and his origin (v.30). But Jesus knew that their confidence was misplaced and that they would soon desert him to face his fate without them (vv.31-32). He would not be alone, but it would be his Father, not the disciples, who would be with him. His words, You believe at last! were pregnant with irony.
Jesus' final words in these Discourses (v.33) contained a message of comfort. He had already warned the disciples of the animosity of the world (15:18-16:4), and it was inevitable that they would experience it. But peace was possible because of his triumph. He had overcome the world; in that thought lay the essence of the Gospel.