John 16:22-24

16:22 So also you have sorrow ¹  now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. ²  16:23 At that time ³  you will ask me nothing. I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴  whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. ⁵  16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, ⁶  so that your joy may be complete.

[16:22]  ¹ tn Or “distress.”

[16:22]  ² sn An allusion to Isa 66:14 LXX, which reads: “Then you will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but he will be indignant toward his enemies.” The change from “you will see [me]” to I will see you places more emphasis on Jesus as the one who reinitiates the relationship with the disciples after his resurrection, but v. 16 (you will see me) is more like Isa 66:14. Further support for seeing this allusion as intentional is found in Isa 66:7, which uses the same imagery of the woman giving birth found in John 16:21. In the context of Isa 66 the passages refer to the institution of the messianic kingdom, and in fact the last clause of 66:14 along with the following verses (15-17) have yet to be fulfilled. This is part of the tension of present and future eschatological fulfillment that runs throughout the NT, by virtue of the fact that there are two advents. Some prophecies are fulfilled or partially fulfilled at the first advent, while other prophecies or parts of prophecies await fulfillment at the second.

[16:23]  ³ tn Grk “And in that day.”

[16:23]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[16:23]  ⁵ sn This statement is also found in John 15:16.

[16:24]  ⁵ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.