16 “It won’t be much longer and you won’t be able to see me any more, and then a little while after that, and you’ll see me again.”

17 This got his followers asking each other, “What’s all this about seeing him for not much longer, and then seeing him again after a while? And why does he say he’s going to the father?” 18 So they were saying, “What’s this about ‘not much longer’? We don’t know what he means.”

19 However Yeshua knew what they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “You are trying to find out from each other what I meant when I said that you won’t be able to see me after a little while, and then a little while after that you’ll see me again. 20 I can assure you that you’ll be weeping and mourning but the world will be elated. You’ll be upset but then your upset will turn into happiness. 21 A woman giving birth has pains when the delivery begins, but when she hears that the baby is born, she doesn’t remember those pains any more because she’s so happy that her child was born. 22 So too with all of you: you’ll be upset for a while but then I’ll be with you again and you’ll be so happy and no one will be able to take that happiness away from you.

23 “When that happens, you won’t be asking me for anything. I can assure you that whatever you request from the father in my name and my authority will be given to you. 24 Up until now you haven’t asked him for anything using my authority, but after that time, you’ll be able to make requests and they’ll be answered so that your happiness will be complete.