_3 The house is, in our view, that of Mary, the mother of John, surnamed Mark. Acts 12.12.
_4 The Passover meal begins on Thursday evening, after 6 p.m. It is already Friday for the Jews (Mark 14.17, Matthew 26.20, Luke 22.14-18). It is therefore not the official Seder, which will take place on Friday evening John 18.28.
_5 The meal ends on Friday morning before dawn, between midnight and 2:30 a.m.
_6 Judas Iscariot left before the end of this meal. John 13.30.
You can consult the complete chronology in the study ANN026 : The hour of the crucifixion.
Commentary:
In this passage, Jesus the Messiah announces to his disciples an imminent separation, declaring:
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This saying bewilders them, for they do not understand what it means, their vision remaining limited to what they are living in the moment (John 16.17-18). Jesus the Messiah then explains to them that their sadness will turn into joy, like a woman who goes through the pain of childbirth but then rejoices in the birth of her child, an image already present among the prophets to announce a coming deliverance (Isaiah 66.7-9, John 16.20-22).
He tells them that after his departure they will have direct access to the Father through prayer, in the name of the Son, which marks a new stage in the relationship between God and believers, made possible by the work of the Messiah (Hebrews 4.16, John 16.23-24).
Jesus the Messiah affirms that the Father himself loves them because they have believed that he came from God, stressing that faith opens a personal and genuine relationship with the Father (John 16.27). The disciples then express their conviction that they have finally understood, but Jesus the Messiah reveals to them that they will soon be scattered, each returning to his own home and leaving him alone, which will be fulfilled at his arrest (Mark 14.50, John 16.31-32).
Yet he affirms that he is never alone, for the Father is with him, recalling that even in trial the divine presence remains. He concludes by giving them a word of peace and victory: they will have tribulation in the world, but they can take courage, for the world, a victory already won that guarantees that evil will not have the last word (John 16.33, Romans 8.37).
Thus, this discourse prepares the disciples to go through the crisis of the crucifixion by giving them the certainty that suffering is only temporary and that the joy of the resurrection will transform their understanding and their mission (John 20.20).