Preface
This chapter concludes the last discourse from Christ, which had its beginning in what is known as the “upper room” at the “last supper.” The primary topic in chapter 15 was the production of spiritual fruit in the believer’s life and the mechanics of how this was to be achieved. The believer is able to produce this fruit as he “abides in” Christ, which is doctrine based on the analogy of the vine-branch relationship. The branch is in union with the vine, and this speaks of the believer’s eternal union with Jesus Christ. Yet the branch cannot bear fruit unless it draws its sustenance from the vine. This relates to the believer’s complete submission to Jesus Christ for the production of “divine good,” as apart from “human good” in his life. Human good is the production of all thoughts and activities (good works) that emanate from a human who is not subject to the control of the Holy Spirit no matter how noble or unselfish such works appear to be. Divine good is the production of all thoughts and activities that emanate from a believer who is under the control of the Holy Spirit; this is known also as the “filling of the Holy Spirit.”
In the last two verses of the previous chapter, just as He did in chapter 14:16-18; 26, Jesus informs His disciples that when He departs from them He will send the one Person that will enable them (the branches) to truly “abide in” Him (the Vine) and thereby produce the spiritual fruit of which He has been speaking. He speaks of the coming Holy Spirit--the Comforter, the Helper, the Counselor. This chapter continues this theme.
John 16:1-4
“These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”
Jesus has been speaking “these things,” those of chapters 14 and 15, to His disciples so that once He departs His comments will serve to strengthen and encourage them. They are meant for the purpose of keeping them from spiritually stumbling or going astray. He informs them that they will be subjected to extreme persecution once He leaves them. That is to be their lot as they endeavor to serve Him. They will be excommunicated from the Jewish faith and they will be murdered, all in the name of “service to God.” But as Jesus has so aptly explained before, the real reason for the persecution lies in the fact that the persecutors will have no personal relationship with God, which may only come through saving faith in Jesus Christ.
It is difficult for Christians who live in essentially a “religiously tolerant” society, such as the United States and a few other countries, to appreciate the severity of Jesus’ warning to His disciples, i.e., that to follow Him will result in dire discrimination and suffering, even death. This was indeed the case for the early Christians as they attempted to live and share their faith with the idolatrous world around them. It is also most definitely the case in many countries today. If Christians knew of the torture and ignominious deaths that so many faithful followers of Christ are experiencing in such countries as Africa, China and in the Middle East today, they would shrink in horror. Rejections and suffering of this nature would no doubt be even more the case in so-called religiously tolerant societies should Christians devotedly follow Christ and the doctrines clearly evident in God’s Word.
It would be prudent to mention at this point that Jesus was never popular. The religious leaders attempted to murder Him on several occasions. Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58) Of Christ it was written in Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” The shortest verse in the Bible (John 11:35) reflects the sorrow Jesus experienced while on earth. Again, Jesus was not popular.
In view of this, Jesus told His disciples that they too would be subject to severe hatred and persecution. In fact, listen to His words from Matthew 10:34-38:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”
These words are just as true today as they were then. If a Christian stands up for and proclaims Jesus Christ and all that He means to salvation and eternity, the world will oppose him. Often the believer will find some of the most brutal and most painful opposition within his own family. For this reason the believer must be able to “take up his cross” in order to follow Jesus. This is not the cross of Christ. It is the believer’s cross, which represents pain and suffering. He must be prepared to make the very painful decision to decide against his mother and father or son and daughter and for Christ in every situation. This is a very heavy cross to bear.
Certainly it is easier for the believer to back off from and tone down his stand for Jesus Christ in order to be acceptable by his loved ones and friends. For that matter, it is easier for local churches and other Christian groups to mute their testimony for Jesus in order to be popular. Unfortunately this is the path that so many Christian individuals and groups travel today. Society allows a certain amount of tolerance for the subject of God, although even this is presently waning, but there is usually no tolerance for the name of Jesus Christ. The acid test of any believer’s testimony is whether or not it uplifts and glorifies Jesus Christ. When this is done, the believer can be certain that he is taking the rocky road of disapproval, discrimination, harassment, maltreatment and maybe even death.
Jesus Christ had not previously clarified to His disciples the horrific treatment that they would face, because, as He said, “I was with you.” (vs. 4) While He was with them He could personally protect them. But now He was preparing to leave them, and He needed them to understand what they would soon face. But the very fact that now they would be able to recall His warning of future persecution would serve to strengthen them and enable them to withstand such onslaughts.
John 16:5, 6
“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.”
Jesus had previously mentioned His departure (John 13:33; 14:28) and now He stressed its imminency, that is, that His departure was about to happen. A cursory reading of this verse indicates that Jesus was mistaken when He said that none of His disciples had inquired as to where He was going, because it is recorded in John 13:36 that the Apostle Peter did ask Him about this. But an examination of the Greek verb translated “asks” (better translated “is asking”) reveals that Jesus was mentioning that none of them were at that particular moment concerned about where He was going.
They were much more concerned about their own welfare. They could only see that they were going to be left alone and had nothing to look forward to except persecution. Whereas they were always protected by the presence of Jesus, now they would only understand that they were going to be alone. Now only sorrow filled their hearts. They had “selectively” heard what they wanted to hear. They understood that Jesus was going and that hard times lay ahead, but they had failed to understand after His departure they would receive the Holy Spirit. Selective hearing is always a problem with Christians as they approach and listen to God’s Word.
John 16:7-15
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
Jesus finds it expedient to reiterate and amplify the benefits that His departure will add to His disciples. They could only see “one side of the coin,” that is, the temporal, secular side of being left alone to face the world. The eternal, spiritual side was vastly more important, so Jesus attempted again to drive the point home. The one cogent aspect and benefit resulting from His departure that directly applied to His disciples while they remained alive upon the earth was the fact that they would be recipients of the eternal union (indwelling, filling, baptism, sealing) by the Holy Spirit with Jesus Christ. A more detailed study of the work of the Holy Spirit may be obtained in the Topical Study Section of www.bibleone.net.
In this particular passage Jesus Christ outlines a number of significant ministries of the Holy Spirit upon His coming permanently to indwell believers, an event that is recorded in chapter 2 in the book of Acts on the day of Pentecost. It is well to remember that the Holy Spirit had always been on earth from its creation, but He had never permanently indwelt believers. He had come upon and had empowered believers throughout the Old Testament. But now, once Christ died and rose from the grave to the right hand of God the Father, the New Testament (Covenant) would be in effect and the power and plan of God would then be administered by His Holy Spirit in and through Christians. Several of these very crucial ministries of the Holy Spirit under the new covenant (Church Age) are listed.
- The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin because the world will not believe in Jesus Christ. The Greek word for “convict” is elegcho. It is a very strong word with both legal and moral implications. Essentially it means “to prove one in the wrong and thus to shame him.” The Holy Spirit’s sin-convicting ministry is not an effort to convince people that they are sinners. Everyone knows this fact. His ministry is to specifically convict the unsaved of the “only major sin during their lifetime,” which is that they will not believe in Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters when it comes to one’s eternal state. In the final analysis, at the Great White Throne Judgment, it will only really matter if a person by means of faith alone in Christ alone has his name recorded in the Book of Life.
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)
- The Holy Spirit will convict the world of righteousness because Jesus Christ arose from the dead and went to the Father. If Jesus would have remained dead there would have been no hope for anyone. But God certified His Son as “right,” that His vicarious (substitutional) sacrifice on the cross was fully sufficient and His righteousness was now available to all who would believe in Him. J. Vernon McGee in his Thru the Bible commentary has this to say on the subject.
Jesus Christ was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification (see Rom.4:25). Jesus Christ returned to the Father because He had completed His work here. When He died on the cross, He died a judgment death. He took my guilt and your guilt and he died in our place. He was delivered for our offenses. But He was raised for our justification. He was raised from the dead that you and I might not only have our sins subtracted, but so that we might have His righteousness added. That is very important because you and I need righteousness. It is not enough to have our sins forgiven. We cannot stand in God’s presence if we are nothing more than pardoned criminals. Christ has made over to us His righteousness. That is the righteousness Paul spoke of: “. . . that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil. 3:8-9). He not only subtracts our sin, but He adds his righteousness. If we are to have any standing before God, we must be in Christ and He is our righteousness. Either we have as much right in heaven as Christ Himself has, or we have no right there at all. He was delivered for our offenses, and He was raised again for our justification (righteousness).
It may only be added that whereas man could physically see and experience “righteousness in the flesh” when Christ was walking on earth, now the only way man is able to physically see and experience righteousness on earth is in the life of a Spirit-filled (controlled) Christian.
- The Holy Spirit will convict the world of judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged. The “ruler of this world” is another name for Satan, who has pretty well had his way on earth since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. But at the cross of Calvary, Satan met his final and permanent judgment. He now has a one-way ticket to the Lake of Fire where he will be tormented day and night forever (Revelation 20:10). The sad fact is that most of this world’s populace has chosen to follow Satan and turn their back on God and His Son Jesus Christ. By doing so they share in Satan’s eternal judgment (Romans 6:23). Their only escape from this judgment is by faith alone in Christ alone. If they exercise this option prior to their physical death, the judgment of Satan will be extracted from them and they will simultaneously accrue the complete forgiveness of God and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
- The Holy Spirit will guide the Apostles and believer into all truth. Jesus Christ is “The Truth” (John 14:6) and the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Truth” (John 16:12). This is exactly what the Holy Spirit did as He worked through the Apostles of Christ to pen God’s Word in what believers now have as the Bible--66 books by 40 different (Spirit guided human) authors, written over thousands of years, but which contains one integrated message of Jesus Christ. And what were the four steps that Christ said the Holy Spirit would follow in guiding the Apostles and believer’s today into all truth? They are as follow:
a. He will not speak of Himself.
b. He will speak only that which comes from the Father.
c. He will show what is to come.
d. He will glorify Jesus Christ.
The Christian is exposed to so much “religion” and “religious programming over the airways and on the streets of the world today that it is sometimes difficult to know what is from and what is not from God. When viewing such events and broadcasts, keep in mind that when the Spirit makes a presentation He does not speak of Himself and He does not glorify Himself. The Spirit of God will lift up and glorify Jesus Christ. He will emphasize the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the fact that the greatest miracle of all is the salvation of a soul--not the healing of a physical body. A Christian must understand the Spirit’s priorities as he continues to review the onslaught of “religion” (false and flamboyant spiritual claims) in this world today.
The primary way a Christian is guided into all truth in this age is by reading and understanding, under the Spirit’s tutelage, Bible doctrine. Nothing is as important for the spiritual growth of the child of God than regular, systematic and comprehensive Bible study. God primarily speaks to the believer today through His written (canonized) Word--the Holy Bible.
As the believer delves (digs and probes) into God’s Word, he will learn what “is to come.” Nothing is more stimulating and gratifying as an understanding of Bible prophecy. It is the one “certain proof” that the Bible is in fact the Word of God.
Prophecy makes up at least a third of the Bible, and it is the one subject that will truly inspire the believer to rising to new spiritual heights within his life here on earth. “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:9, 10)
The final item addressed in this passage is the Deity of Jesus Christ. He clearly lays claim to the fact that all things that the Father has are also His. He never misses an opportunity to verify to His disciples that He is God.
John 16:16-22
“A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me;’ and, ‘because I go to the Father?’” They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while?’ We do not know what He is saying.” Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me?’ Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”
Now the disciples were confused. In verse 10 Jesus had told them that He was going to the Father and that they would “see Him no more.” Here in this passage He says again that He is going to the Father and that for al little while they would not see Him “and again [in] a little while” they would see Him. What exactly does He mean?
This passage has been interpreted several ways. It has been understood that the Lord would be away from them for three days, and then He would reappear to them after His resurrection (John 20:19, 20). It has been understood that Jesus would ascend back to the Father in heaven, and then after “a little while” (Church Age), He would come back--meaning either the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) or the Second Coming of Christ (Revelation 19:11-20:3). But then the third interpretation may be more valid and consistent with the (1) context and (2) the literal translation of the Greek text of verse 16.
The context is about the Holy Spirit coming to His disciples after His departure. He has just told His disciples that the Holy Spirit, when He comes, will “. . . glorify Me [Jesus], for He will take of what is Mine [Jesus] and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine [Jesus]. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine [Jesus] and declare it to you.”
In essence He has told His disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes He will show them Jesus Christ more completely than they’ve ever been able to see Him in the flesh. This is true for the Christian today. Christians may clearly see Jesus Christ through the written Word of God as they read it under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit.
The literal translation of the Greek text in verse 16 may be seen in Kenneth S. Wuest’s The New Testament--An Expanded Translation, which follows:
A little while and no longer are you attentively contemplating me, and again a little while, and you shall look at me with a discerning sight.
Here the translation appears to suggest that after a little while they would not see Jesus with their physical eyes, but after the Holy Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost, they would see Jesus with much more discernment (understanding) through the eyes of faith and the revealing ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Still the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus meant. Jesus being God could see their thoughts and instead of further explaining what He meant, decided to address what appeared to more important to them at that present time--their fears and sadness, i.e., their emotional state. He informs them that in contrast to the rejoicing of the world upon His departure (death) they will experience great sadness.
But then He quickly adds that their sorrow will turn to great joy. He relays this with the analogy of a mother giving birth. Nothing is more remarkable than the speed with which a mother forgets the labor pains after her child is born.
No matter what interpretation one accepts regarding the Lord’s words about Him leaving and then returning in this passage, the fact is that eventually the disciple’s sorrow would turn into great joy and, more importantly, no one will ever be able to take their joy from them. The believer--the person who has accepted by faith alone Christ alone as his personal Savior--will live in a state of joy forever and ever and ever and ever!
John 16:23-28
“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”
The Believer’s Bible Commentary by William MacDonald has an excellent and insightful treatment regarding this passage. It follows:
16:23 Up to now, the disciples had come to the Lord with all their questions and requests. In that day (the age ushered in by the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost), He would no longer be with them bodily, so they would no longer be asking Him questions. But did that mean that they would have no one to whom to go? No, in that day it would be their privilege to ask the Father. He would grant their requests for Jesus’ sake. Requests will be granted, not because we are worthy, but because the Lord Jesus is worthy.
16:24 Prior to this, the disciples had never prayed to God the Father in the Lord’s name. Now they were invited to ask. Through answered prayer, their joy would be fulfilled.
16:25 The meaning of much of the Lord’s teaching was not always apparent on the surface. He used parables and figurative language. Even in this chapter we cannot always be sure of the precise meaning. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the teaching about the Father became more plain. In Acts and the Epistles the truth is no longer revealed through parables but through direct statements.
16:26 “That day” again is the Age of the Holy Spirit, in which we now live. Our privilege is to pray to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus. “I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you,” that is, the Father does not need to be urged to answer our prayers. The Lord will not have to entreat Him. But we should still remember that the Lord Jesus is the mediator between God and man, and He does intercede on behalf of His people before the throne of God.
16:27 The Father loved the disciples because they had received Christ and loved Him and believed in His deity. This is the reason why the Lord did not have to plead with Father. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, they would enjoy a new sense of intimacy with the Father. They would be able to approach Him with confidence and all because they loved His Son.
16:28 Here the Lord repeated His claim to equality with God the Father. He did not say “I came forth from God” as if He were just a Prophet sent by God, but “I came forth from the Father.” This means He is the eternal Son of the eternal Father, equal with God the Father. He came into the world as One who had lived elsewhere before His Coming. At His ascension, He left the world and returned to the Father. This is a brief biographical account of the Lord of glory.
John 16:29-33
His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Jesus’ disciples now thought they were able to understand Him. They finally felt He was not using figurative language. Yet by the question that Christ posed to them (“Do you now believe?), He implied that they still didn’t fully understand. They believed that He “came forth from God,” but Jesus had said in verse 28 that He “came forth from the Father.” They still didn’t quite understand His Deity. They certainly believed He was the Son of God and holy, but they still didn’t quite understand that He and God were actually One and the same, although, revealed in two separate Personalities.
Jesus also recognized that even though His disciples had come a long way in their acceptance of Him, their faith was still not strong enough to keep them anchored in their convictions against the coming persecution. He knew that they would soon be scattered. J. Vernon McGee in his Thu the Bible commentary has the following cogent remarks regarding this passage.
The hour was coming when these men would all scatter. They would leave Him alone; and yet he was not alone “because the Father is with me.” That is one of the great mysteries. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (see 2 Cor. 5:19). That is a great truth, and it is also equally true that on the cross Jesus cried out, “. . . My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”(Mark 15:34), which is a quotation from Psalm 22. The explanation is, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Ps. 22:3). Jesus Christ was made sin for us, friend. There was a rent in the Godhead as well as a rent in the veil. Yet at that very moment, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
This is a mystery that the human mind cannot understand. Friends, we do not have enough brains to comprehend the redemption that He wrought on the cross. No wonder God wrapped the mantle of night around that cross as if to say, “You will never be able to enter into what is happening here.” I believe that throughout the endless ages of eternity you and I will continually understand something new and wonderful about the death of the Lord Jesus for us. It will cause us to get down on our faces before Him afresh and anew.
Jesus closes this passage with the promise of peace for His children. In the world the Christian will only find contempt and tribulation. But for the Christian who is controlled by the Holy Spirit, there will be complete peace and joy--because the believer is united with Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ has indeed “overcome the world.”
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