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. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. "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. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father." (Jn 16:23-28)
In this passage the phrase ‘on that day’ appears a few times and the ‘the hour is coming’ is also used. The day and the hour seem to be the time in which Jesus is in union with the Father. Or it could also be the time when Jesus will return to the Father to be united with Him. It is the time of union when everything is made clear and it the time in which everything is complete and everything is granted to the believer.
In the kingdom there is no system of hierarchy. People have direct access to the centre (Father). Jesus’ people have instant, immediate, direct, and valued access into the very presence of the living God. But Jesus says that ‘pray to the father in his name’ and ‘ask in his name’ etc. This does not mean that his people can’t pray to God themselves, on their own account.
On the contrary, it means that those who belong to Jesus are granted the same access to the Father that Jesus himself has. When they pray in Jesus’ name (which means: when they pray, they are conscious of the fact that they belong to Jesus and that what they are doing is for his glory) then the Father welcomes them instantly and grants them whatever they are in need of. The passage is about how close the Father is to the disciples and it is about the love of the FATHER.
