Note 87 at Jn. 16:23: Ever since sin entered the world, man has always had to go through some mediator to approach God. This was because of God's holiness and man's sinfulness. In the Old Testament, sacrifices and priests were symbolic mediators. In the New Testament, Jesus is our high priest mediator (Heb. 3:1; 9:15).

However, Jesus' mediation was greater than anything that had ever existed before in that He was not only pure, but He actually cleansed and purified the ones who He was representing so that we can now come directly to the Father in His name. This is what Jesus is referring to and it was a radical statement to the disciples.

It is awesome to think that we can commune directly with Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth, but that is exactly what Jesus provided for. In verses 26-27, Jesus revealed that He had reconciled man to God so completely that the disciples wouldn't have to pray to Him and then have Him relay the message to the Father, but they could go directly to the Father Himself.