Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. 21 When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. 23 On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. 24 Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. 25 “I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. 27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” 29 His disciples said, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. 30 Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now? 32 Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”
The disciples did not ask Jesus where he was going. They focused on what Jesus meant by a “little while (vv. 18-19).” Jesus told them what they would experience and used a parable about a woman in labor to help them to understand (vv. 20-21). In the OT a woman in labor has been used to describe the Messianic age (Is. 26:17, Is. 66:7-10). When they see the glorified risen Christ, they will understand and no one or nothing will be able to take their complete joy away (v. 22), not even the coming tribulations (Mk. 13:19, 24-26). They will have a new relationship with the Father based on love and they can confidently pray to the Father in his name (Mt. 7:7). God loves the Son and those who love the Son and believe in him will be loved by God (v. 27). The disciples believed that Jesus came from the Father (v. 30) but they still did not understand how he was going to return to the Father (v. 28) although they believed that they understood what Jesus was saying (vv. 29-30). Jesus challenged their claim of understanding by telling them that they will desert him (help us to see ) and Jesus reminded them that he was never alone (v. 32). Jesus told them that he has conquered the world. They would not understand what he meant until after his glorification. His crucifixion was not a victory for those who hated him, and the coming persecution would not be a victory for their persecutors.
Almighty God, strengthen us as we meditate on the suffering and sacrifice your Son accepted to earn our freedom from sin, and help us to embrace such a gift with joy like a mother embracing her newborn child. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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