John 16

CHAPTER XVI

8. The Disciples facing the World, 15:18–16:4 (Continued)

John 16:1

1 These things have I spoken to you in order that you may not be entrapped. Jesus does not say that he has “foretold” these things, he has as yet spoken no special prophecy but has only “told” about the world’s hatred, helping the disciples to understand its nature and its guilt and thus fortifying them for the future. And this he has done “in order that you may not be entrapped.” The figure in σκανδαλίζω is that of a trap in which a crooked stick (σκάνδαλον) holds the bait and springs the trap when touched. The figure is not that of a stumblingblock over which one trips, although many so translate. The passive may be rendered, “that you may not be caught unawares,” i.e., going in for discipleship and then suddenly discovering that it means the vicious hatred of the world, something wholly unexpected. The disciples are fully informed as to what discipleship really means; all of its hard and painful features are fully disclosed—no trap is laid for them.

John 16:2

2 Jesus now names two of the worst forms of persecution which the world’s hatred will produce. They shall make you persons banned from the synagogue; yea, the hour is coming that everyone who kills you shall think he is making an offering of service to God. On ἀποσυνάγωγος see 9:22, and 12:42. To be excommunicated or banned from the synagogue in a land where all were Jews meant to be treated as religious outcasts and renegades to the nation. When this was done because of fanatic hatred, it became a vicious infliction, indeed. Here ἀλλά is plainly copulative (R. 1186) as in 15:25: “yea,” ushering in something that is still worse; and ἵνα after ὥρα is non-final, simply stating what the contents of that hour will be.

R. 998 calls it almost temporal: “the hour when,” etc. The aorist participle πᾶςὁἀποκτείνας is punctiliar to express the one act of murder, and with R. 1114 we may call it timeless, referring to any act of such murder, yet it denotes the act as completed. The article substantivizes the participle and characterizes the person thus described: “everyone who kills you.” The emphasis is on the predicate so that the fact of the disciples being killed becomes merely incidental, something that occurs as a matter of course. The astounding thing is not that the disciples shall be killed but that their killers shall think that such murder is actually the act of offering service to God, bringing a sacrifice to him, λατρεία, worship by sacrifice. Perversion of worship can go no farther. It seems almost incredible that people who have the Scriptures with their revelation of God can so reverse what these Scriptures teach: murder God’s children and think that murder an act of high worship.

Yet Jewish fanaticism maintained: Omnis effundeus sanguinem improborum, aequalis est illi, qui sacrificium facit. Bammidbar Rabba, fol. 329, 1; and pagan fanaticism followed the same principle.

John 16:3

3 Because this perversion is so monstrous Jesus adds an explanation. And these things they will do because they did not recognize my Father nor me. Their failure to obtain the true knowledge of the Father and of his Son Jesus left the Jews with an outrageous conception of God. This is not said to excuse but to reveal their guilt. They had the fullest revelation of God and were not left to think of God according to their own sin-darkened minds. Jesus does not say, “they did not realize God”; he is not thinking only of the Old Testament revelation—although this reveals enough to make all fanaticism impossible.

He says, “They did not realize the Father nor me”; he is thinking of the complete and final revelation of God brought to the Jews by himself. This revealed the Father in all his redemptive and saving love and showed that love engaged in the work of redeeming and saving through his Son Jesus. It revealed Jesus as the Son of the Father, come actually to redeem and to save. “This is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send,” 17:3. Thus the two are here placed side by side and on the same level: “not the Father nor me.” The one is known in the other; to know the one is to know both.

In οὑκἔγνωσαν (R. 834) we have the complete past failure from which, Jesus says, will result these future monstrous acts. The English might prefer the perfect, “have not known or realized” (R. 845). The Jews made their own God from the thoughts of their own minds like the pagan world around them, like the world of unbelief today. This fictitious God was one that they thought would delight in the persecution and in the destruction of the followers of Jesus. And so they will offer their God such human sacrifices, a λατρεία that the true God abominates. When the disciples realize this they will not be surprised by what they will be called upon to undergo in the time to come.

John 16:4

4 But these things I have told you in order that, when the hour for them conies, you may remember them, that I myself spoke to you. With ἀλλά Jesus breaks off and returns to the thought of v. 1. All three: ταῦτα and the two αὑτῶν refer to what Jesus has said in 15:18–16:3, in particular, like ταῦτα in v. 1, to the preceding exposition of the hatred of the world. Verse 2 is only an incidental specification, added to the main exposition for the sake of completeness. Once more, then, Jesus speaks of his purpose in making known to his disciples the full inwardness of the world’s hatred. It is to fortify the disciples in advance so that, when the time comes, they may remember all that Jesus told them on this subject and may find their faith strengthened by his prophetic revelation and thus joyfully endure what comes to them.

Note ἡὤρααὑτῶν, “the hour for them,” i.e., the things referred to by ταῦτα in v. 1, and not merely the acts mentioned in v. 2. Also the emphatic ἑγώ, “I myself,” who knew everything in advance and who told you when the time arrived, that you might believe with full conviction when the world’s hatred shall strike you.

The telling of these things Jesus has put off until this time. Why until this time? And these things I did not tell you from the beginning because I was with you. This means that no need existed for telling these things either at the very start or prior to the present hour. Jesus fortifies us when we need to be fortified; he hands us the armor just before the battle begins. “Because I was with you” cannot mean: because I was at hand to protect you; for he will ever be at hand and will ever help and protect his own. “Because I was with you” means visibly with you so that hatred was directed toward him. Hitherto the disciples were considered a negligible quantity; the Jews never troubled about the disciples.

All the clashes, all the stones that were ready to be thrown, centered on Jesus and left the disciples out of consideration. They had needed no special protection, because they were never attacked. This situation shall soon change. The disciples will stand alone, without the visible presence of Jesus. They will speak and act as Jesus once did. Then they will feel the brunt of the hatred that Jesus had to feel when he was with them.

This is why Jesus now on taking his leave tells the disciples what he does.

The statement of Jesus that up to this time he had not told the disciples “these things” is challenged. This challenge, however, assumes that “these things” refer to v. 2, excommunication and martyrdom; whereas “these things,” from v. 1 onward and down through v. 4, deal with the world’s hatred as such and thus refer to 15:18–27. The moment this is recognized, we see how vain it is to point to Matt. 5:10, etc.; 10:16–28 as proof that Jesus contradicts himself when he now says that he has hitherto not spoken of “these things.” Where has Jesus spoken before of the world’s hatred as he does in 15:18–27? Only the incidental comparison of the slave and his master in 15:20 has been used before in Matt. 10:24. We remove this challenge without resorting to any of the various explanations that are offered, as that Jesus now mentions only the more terrible persecutions, or has heretofore spoken only in part, or in a more general way without stating the cause, or that the disciples hitherto took no note of what Jesus said, so that to them it was as though he had not spoken at all. Nor need we think that the synoptists took some of the final statements of Jesus and inserted them into his earlier discourses. But Jesus does not contradict himself, and men might well hesitate before they bring such a charge against him.

9. The Work of the Paraclete in the World and in the Disciples, 16:5–15

John 16:5

5 Jesus connects with what he has just said but now passes on to a new subject, the advantage of his leaving and sending the Paraclete who will do what is now described in detail. But now I go away to him that did send me; and none of you inquires of me, Where art thou going? The connection is adversative: in v. 5, “I was with you,” and now, “but I go away,” hence δέ. Already in 14:28 Jesus had told the disciples that he was going to his Father. When he now calls the Father “him that did send me,” the sense is the same save that now the mission of Jesus is specifically mentioned: Jesus returning to his Sender, having completed his mission and the visible stay on earth which it required. He goes to his Sender in order to make report to him of his successful task. When saying that he is returning to his Sender, Jesus makes a basic statement, one that governs all that follows in this chapter.

The addition: “and none of you inquires of me, Where art thou going?” while it is joined with “and,” is adversative, “and yet.” Strange to say—and Jesus says it with a touch of gentle reproof and of pain in his own heart—not one of the eleven makes a request of him as to where he is going. “Where,” ποῦ, is used, as in common English, for “whither,” R. 298. The disciples seem to have no interest in this return of Jesus to his Sender. They make no request (ἐρωτᾶν, the more respectful verb) to learn more about the destination of Jesus and about what it means to him to return to his Sender. Jesus is, indeed, not thinking of what his return means for himself personally, his glorification and the blessedness that awaits him with the Father. He has in mind the significance of his return for the disciples whom he is leaving behind. They are making no request to learn something about that from him.

Peter’s question in 13:36 was of a different kind; it was only a selfish exclamation which would not hear of Jesus’ going away alone. And the assertion of Thomas in 14:5 was nothing but an expression of discouragement and dullness of mind at the thought of Jesus’ going away while leaving the disciples to follow later on a way that Thomas felt he did not know. So here Jesus is leaving, his going to his Sender means so much to the disciples, and yet none of them requests one word of this precious information.

John 16:6

6 On the contrary, because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. Instead of asking as they should, instead of obtaining comfort and joy for their heart by such asking, they have done the opposite. Just because Jesus spoke “these things” about leaving them—ταῦτα here referring to what Jesus said about going away—sorrow has filled your heart so completely that no room is found for any other thought or feeling. The Greek has ἡλύπη, “the sorrow,” meaning the particular sorrow resulting from his talk about leaving. This is a discouraging situation for Jesus who has so much of joy and uplift to impart in these final moments. Note his complaint in 14:28. But this, too, Jesus had to bear, that his own disciples had so little appreciation of what his leaving them really meant.

John 16:7

7 In spite of this downheartedness and this grief which dominate the hearts of his disciples so completely, Jesus persists with his efforts to make them feel something of the great blessedness that his going away secures for them. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is an advantage for you that I depart; for if I do not depart, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you. “Nevertheless,” ἀλλά, means: although you are so filled with sorrow. The strong formula, “I tell you the truth,” ἡἀλήθεια, “the fact,” intends to drive out some of this sorrow and to make room for what Jesus wants to put in its place. Note ἐγώ, “I on my part,” whatever you in your sorrow may think. And this is the truth: “It is an advantage for you that I depart,” now using ἀπέλθω (aorist, a single act). Non-final ἵνα introduces the predicate clause after the impersonal συμφέρει.

Jesus uses an understatement when he says that it is expedient or advantageous for him to depart. Often, to say less than one could say penetrates farther than at once to say as much as one might.

With γάρ Jesus at once explains, and for greater effect he employs first a negative and then a positive. If Jesus should not depart but continue his stay indefinitely, as the disciples desire, then the Paraclete will not come to them; then all that his coming means for the crowning of Jesus’ work, for the greater blessing of the disciples, for their own great work for which Jesus has trained them so long, cannot possibly follow. Jesus’ own work would be abortive, an attempt that crumbled into nothing—just because the disciples want to keep on indefinitely enjoying his visible presence here on earth. Over against this empty negative Jesus sets the rich positive, “but if I go,” here using only the terse πορευθῶ, “I will send him to you,” compare on this as an act of Jesus the same statement in 14:26. With the coming of the Paraclete the great plan of salvation will be gloriously carried to its consummation to the everlasting joy and glory also of the disciples. On the Paraclete see 14:16, also 15:26, including the question as to why the Spirit cannot come until Jesus departs to his Sender. The thought, of course, is not that, if Jesus does not go to heaven, he would not be there to send the Spirit; but that Jesus must complete his redemptive work by his death, resurrection, and ascension, so that the Spirit may take all his work and by means of the gospel spread its saving power to the ends of the earth; see 7:39.

John 16:8

8 The work of the Paraclete will be twofold. He will direct his activity toward the world (v. 8–11), and toward the disciples (v. 12–15). Yet he will do this work as the Paraclete sent to the disciples by Jesus. He abides permanently in them; and this means that he works through them upon the world, that they are his instruments. Jesus does not say this in so many words, it is understood. The best commentary on the work of the Paraclete with the world is Peter’s sermon on Pentecost.

The Paraclete worked through Peter, won 3, 000 through his preaching, and convicted the scoffers of their folly. The same working appears in connection with the trials of the apostles before the Sanhedrin. None were brought to faith, but the conviction of all by the Spirit, speaking through the apostles, is evident, Acts 4:8, etc.; 5:29, etc. All this shows that the Spirit will be a true Paraclete for the disciples, one who will aid the disciples mightily in the work Jesus had assigned to them in the world. It is thus that Jesus says: And when he is come he will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment. The aorist participle refers to the Spirit’s coming at the time of Pentecost; then this work of his will begin, thereafter to continue for all time.

The verb ἐλέγχειν may mean “to convict” so that the conviction is fully admitted by those convicted, or “to convict” so that, whether the conviction is admitted or not, its reality is beyond question. Here the latter sense prevails. For “the world,” upon which the Paraclete of the disciples works his conviction, will in part be won by that conviction and in part remain obdurate under that conviction. Yet all who do not bow in repentance will, nevertheless, stand convicted like guilty criminals who may still deny the guilt which has been fully proved against them.

This conviction will deal with three subjects: sin, righteousness, and judgment. Neither in connection with the announcing of these subjects, nor in the following exposition of each of them, are articles added. This, however, does not intend to leave the three subjects indefinite as though anything and everything concerning sin, etc., is to be treated by the Spirit in dealing with the world. The exposition in v. 9–11 is decidedly specific, dealing only with the essential feature of each subject, the one Jesus has in mind from the start. The formal repetition of the preposition περί, together with καί, is made for rhetorical reasons (R. 566), lifting each noun into due prominence. Why the Paraclete selects these three subjects, no others, and no more than these, will appear in the following.

John 16:9

9 Concerning sin, inasmuch as they do not believe in me. The particles μέν, δέ, δέ simply place the three subjects side by side and do not intend to make the first the chief one and the other two subordinate. The three ὅτι in v. 9–11 have the same force. They offer more than an instruction of the world in regard to what sin, righteousness, and judgment are; hence we cannot translate “that,” or “this that.” They offer more than a proof to the world that sin, righteousness, and judgment exist; hence we should not translate “because” (our versions). What these three ὅτι introduce convicts the world, lays the finger on the three points in sin, in righteousness, and in judgment that strike the conscience of the world either to make it bow in repentance or to harden it in unbelief. Hence we translate “inasmuch as,” or use an equivalent like “seeing that.” It is similar to the conjunctions used in 2:18; 8:22; 9:17; etc.

The thought is not that the world knows nothing about sin. Its daily crime list contradicts that, as well as its moralists with their repressive and reformatory measures. What the world lacks and the Spirit supplies is something that goes far deeper, something that actually convicts in regard to sin. This is not the fact that sin is sin, or that the real essence of sin is unbelief. The Spirit is not to repeat the work of Moses in preaching the law. The conviction in regard to sin lies in one direction: “inasmuch as they do not believe in me.” Yet note that this is the capital sin.

For to believe in Jesus is to be saved from sin, to have sin forgiven; and thus not to believe in Jesus is to remain in sin, to perish forever in sin. The Spirit’s work in regard to sin is to confront the world with the terrible fact of its unbelief in Jesus, which means, with the fact that this unbelief leaves it in its damnable sin, doomed and damned forever, in other words, that only he who believes escapes from his sin. This conviction in regard to sin naturally operates in two ways. It will crush some hearts so that they will be frightened at their unbelief and cry out like the 3, 000 at Pentecost, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Acts 2:37, and thus be led to repent and to believe. Or it will further harden those who resist this conviction; they will go on, convicted though they are, more obdurate than before, fighting against this conviction until they perish. In this the Spirit will do exactly what Jesus did in 7:33, etc., and again in 8:22–24: “I said, therefore, unto you that ye shall die in your sins; for except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”

Some fix their attention on the phrase “concerning sin” and thus fail to see the significance of the word “believe” in the elucidating clause, “inasmuch as they do not believe in me,” with its implication that this unbelief leaves them in their sin, and that faith, and faith alone, relieves them of their sin. Thus we get those interpretations which turn only on the word “sin,” unbelief as the greatest sin, the real nature of sin, and the like. But the Spirit uses “me,” Jesus; believing and not believing in Jesus apply to Jesus, unbelief in him and faith in him to the world’s sin—if possible, to save the world from sin, otherwise to brand the world with the conviction of its damning unbelief.

John 16:10

10 This conception of v. 9 helps us in interpreting v. 10, 11. Concerning righteousness, inasmuch as I go away to the Father, and you behold me no more. Here ὅτι has the same force as in v. 9; it lays bare that feature of righteousness which the Spirit brings to the world with convicting power, either to effect repentance and faith or to harden unbelief the more. It is vital to note that all three: sin, righteousness, and judgment are the world’s for the obvious reason that the world is to be convicted either in a salutary or in a damning way. Since sin is something negative (ἁμαρτία, missing the mark; ἀνομία, contrary to the law; ἀδικία, ἀσέβεια, all negatives), the elucidating ὅτι clause is also negative: “inasmuch as they do not believe in me”; but δικαιοσύνη is a positive concept, and its elucidation is thus properly put into positive form: “inasmuch as I go to the Father,” the negative side of this is added only for the sake of emphasis: “and you see me no more.” The world is far from freely and frankly admitting its sin. It, indeed, feels and knows its sin, especially the gross forms which are too evident to be denied.

But always it seeks to cover up its sin, to excuse it in some way, to make it something less than real sin. The world everlastingly seeks “righteousness” in some form, either making itself the judge of its own case, or, when it thinks of God as the judge, conceiving him as a God who deals gently with sin. Thus men evolve their own schemes for appearing righteous. They may think that their good deeds outweigh or atone for their evil deeds; or they accept religions which teach work-righteousness as the true way to heaven. Always the world seeks to find and to secure righteousness for itself by efforts of its own. Often, in doing so, it makes the way hard for men (Matt. 23:4; Luke 11:46), whereas the divine way to righteousness for the sinner is light and easy (Matt. 11:30).

Thus one great feature of the Spirit’s work in the world is to convict the world in regard to righteousness.

“Concerning righteousness, inasmuch as I go away to the Father, and you behold me no more,” means that all true righteousness for the world of sinners is connected with Jesus, with his return to the Father from his redemptive mission, with the completion of his earthly work and the withdrawal of his visible presence from his disciples. Righteousness is the state of the sinner whom God acquits; all other acquittals by men or by human organizations are useless, they do not stand in the court of heaven. The fact that the term is completely forensic is shown in extenso and beyond the shadow of a doubt by C.-K., 311, etc., also that in this soteriological righteousness God alone is the judge. Righteousness comes to the world only by the judicial pronouncement of God which changes our status with God. “I go away to the Father,” as well as the negative counterpart, “and you see me no more,” refer to the death and to the heavenly exaltation of Jesus. In these, and in these alone, is righteousness for the world. Throughout these final discourses of Jesus he speaks of his death and of his exaltation in this manner. If it be asked why he uses the second person in the last clause, “you behold,” and not the third, “the world beholds me no more,” the answer is easy. “The world” embraces all men in all ages, also those who never saw or could see Jesus while he was on earth; hence it would be incongruous to speak of the world no longer beholding Jesus.

The Spirit’s work is to convict the sinners in this world of the fact that true righteousness is available for them only in him who has passed from the cross to his Father’s side, in him who once came from the Father and is now gone from our sight. “Let all the house of Israel (and the whole world as well) know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified,” Acts 2:36. “And in none other is there salvation; for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein ye must be saved,” Acts 4:12. After showing at length the death and the resurrection of Jesus in his sermon at Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:27–37) Paul adds v. 38, 39: “Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins, and by him everyone that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” The verb δικαιωθῆναι, “to be declared righteous,” brings about δικαιοσύνη, the “righteousness” of which Jesus speaks. The passages in Acts show how the world is convicted in regard to this righteousness and its connection with the departure and the exaltation of Jesus. It is shown how here alone righteousness for sinners is found. Some accept that righteousness, they believe, are justified, and saved; others rebel under the conviction, but they never escape, having been confronted with the true facts about righteousness.

The divergence among the commentators is due, in the first place, to connecting “righteousness” wrongly with God, with Jesus, or with believers, and not, as it should be, with “the world” which is convicted by the Spirit. Thus we are told that “concerning righteousness” means: God vindicated his righteousness as a just God by exalting the Christ whom the world rejected; this is what the Spirit brings home to the world. It is true that this thought appears in the preaching of the apostles when the Spirit through them convicted the world, but only as a subsidiary thought, and only in convicting the world of sin, i.e., of the deadliness of unbelief. One view makes God’s righteousness his retributive justice: he removes Jesus from the sight of the world. To arrive at this view the sequence of thought in v. 8–11 is: sin—retribution—judgment; and in the ὅτι clause the chief point is, “and you behold me no more,” with the explanation that this is equal to the passive, “I am no longer seen.” This view is out of line. The favorite view is to connect “righteousness” with Jesus.

We are pointed to Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14; 1 John 2:1, where Jesus is called “the Just One.” The world crucified him as a sinner, God exalted and vindicated him as a righteous person. As true as this is, it again belongs in v. 9, for it evidences the world’s unbelief and contradiction of God and can be only an auxiliary thought in v. 10. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and many others connect “concerning righteousness” with the disciples and believers in general. This is closest to the truth. Yet this leaves out the obdurate unbelievers who also are convicted by the Spirit “concerning righteousness.” We must connect the phrase with “the world.” A part of it is convicted in a salutary manner so as to receive “righteousness” through the exalted Redeemer; the rest are convicted in a judicial manner because they spurn the only righteousness that exists for sinners.

John 16:11

11 Concerning judgment, inasmuch as the ruler of this world has been judged. Here again it is the world that is convicted “concerning judgment.” As in v. 10 “concerning righteousness” is not to be connected with Jesus, so here “concerning judgment” is not to be connected with Satan. As in v. 10 the world’s conscience is to be impressed concerning its own righteousness by what Jesus does in going to the Father, so here the world’s conscience is to be impressed concerning its own judgment by what has already happened to its own ruler. The world is not yet judged, but it is to be convicted in regard to judgment. And that feature of the divine judgment will be brought to bear upon the conscience of the world, which will effect this conviction. The Spirit will effectively point the world to its own ruler whose fate is already sealed. “He has been judged,” and that judgment, once rendered, stands fixed and irrevocable forever.

Jesus speaks of the devil’s judgment as having already been effected because his own death and resurrection, which pronounced the final judgment on the devil, are already at hand, are as certain as though they had already been completed. Even now Satan moves toward his final defeat, 13:2 and 27; 14:30. See also 12:31, and compare Rev. 20:1–3. In the devil’s judgment the world may see something concerning judgment for itself. He is the world’s own ruler, to whose control the children of this world have submitted. Those who continue in this submission after the example of Judas in 13:2 and 27, will most certainly share the judgment that has already come upon the devil.

They stand convicted, guilty, and damned forever. Those who accept the Spirit’s conviction when he points them to the devil’s judgment, who let the Spirit turn them from the devil, escape his judgment. Again, in the one case the conviction proves salutary, in the other, judicial.

It confuses the thought of Jesus to bring in the ideas of defeat and of victory: Jesus, apparently defeated but really victorious; Satan, apparently victorious but really defeated. The terms here used are juridical: “judgment—has been judged.” The passive verb implies God as the judge. Both the noun and the verb, κρίσις and κρίνειν, are neutral and state nothing in regard to the verdict. This is due to the fact that the verdict on those who compose the world may be pronounced either way: acquittal for those saved, condemnation for those lost. Since the verdict on Satan is spoken of as having already been rendered, this, of course, is the verdict of condemnation. He is condemned as “the ruler of this world.” The verdict of impeachment has been passed upon him as regards the domain he had hitherto usurped.

His throne has toppled over, Rev. 20:1–3. Only as an outcast does he prowl about and work his depredations, James 4:7. Jesus rules; his kingdom spreads far and wide right in the midst of this world; his Spirit is busy gathering in the great harvest. And Jesus tells all this to the disciples in order to fill their hearts with joy now that the Paraclete is so near to his coming for this great work in all the world. Why does sorrow fill their hearts? v. 6.

John 16:12

12 Jesus now turns to the work of the Paraclete in the hearts of the disciples themselves. He thus continues to show them the advantage of his return to the Father, the reason for joy on their part instead of sorrow. First a preamble: Yet many things have I to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. While the Greek has the neuter plural πολλά, this may be translated “much” as well as “many things,” “much” as “composed of a number of items,” or, indicating these items, “many things.” “I have” means that these things are on Jesus’ heart, and that he would like to speak to the disciples about them. But he takes their condition into consideration, not merely the fact that “now” they are struggling against sorrow, but that “now” they are still at a stage when they are able to carry only a certain load and should not be weighted down with too much. The observation is correct that πολλά refers to no new revelations but to the details of the revelations already made.

Jesus had instructed the disciples on all essential and important points. Yet these were so great that much was yet left to be added in elaborating them. This elaboration the Paraclete would add.

John 16:13

13 But when he is come, the Spirit of the truth, he shall guide you into all the truth; for he shall not speak from himself, but whatever he shall hear shall he speak, and things to come shall he report to you. The clause beginning with ὅταν is only a variation from the participle used in v. 8, both pointing to the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost. Although the grammatical gender of Πνεῦμα is neuter, we have the masculine ἐκεῖνος immediately before it, because the Spirit is a person. On the apposition “the Spirit of the truth” see 14:17. (16:26). The appropriateness of this designation becomes evident in the description of the Spirit’s office: “he shall guide you into all the truth,” εἰςτὴνἀλήθειανπᾶσαν, or the still better reading ἐντῇἀληθείᾳπάσῃ, “in all truth.” “Into” would mean entrance, while “in” assumes that the entrance has already been made and that all that is needed is to explore what lies within the circle of the truth. Thus “in” would apply specifically to the disciples whom Jesus had already so fully instructed. “All the truth” signifies all the saving realities connected with Jesus and his Father.

The term is concrete and decidedly definite. As the Spirit of the truth this guide is absolutely perfect, like Jesus himself who is the Truth. No part of this blessed domain of truth is foreign to this guide, and he will withhold no part from the disciples. From v. 12 we may infer that, when this guide takes charge of the disciples, they will be able to bear all that he has to communicate to them.

With γάρ Jesus adds an exposition. This deals, first of all, with the source of the truth which the Spirit will communicate: “he will not speak from himself,” and then with the substance of what he draws from the source he uses: “whatever he shall hear,” including also “the things to come.” As regards the source the Spirit will be exactly like Jesus, 12:49; 14:10; compare 7:16; 8:28; 14:24. “Not from himself” is, of course, an impossibility for the Spirit as it is for Jesus. It merely wards off a human notion that anything coming from the Spirit could be an invention of his own. A spirit who would speak “from himself” could not be “the Spirit of the truth” but would be the spirit of falsehood, like him who spoke to Eve through the serpent, 8:44.

“Whatever he shall hear” combines the divine source with the divine substance, for from this source only one substance of truth flows forth. “He shall hear” is, as in the case of Jesus, a human term for a divine act, picturing the divine Persons as communicating with each other after the manner of human persons. Being one in essence, each is in the other, and nothing known to the one is ever hidden from the other. This hearing, then, is the inner divine perception, 1 Cor. 2:11. We see no reason for restricting the hearing of the Spirit to communications from the Father only, excluding those from the Son. For both Jesus (15:26; 16:7) and the Father (14:16) send and give the Spirit. How the hearing from both can be shut out by the verb ἀκούσει (some read ἀκούει) assertion fails to prove. In v. 14 Jesus even says, “he shall take of mine.” The revelation given to the disciples is one, to which Luther adds, “that we may have a certain criterion and touchstone by which to judge the false spirits.”

From all that the Spirit reveals to the disciples Jesus singles out for special mention τὰἐρχόμενα, “the things that are coming.” The synoptists report the revelation which Jesus himself made on these things; so here, too, the Spirit will only amplify and deepen. Many think of John’s Apocalypse, although the epistles also contain a mass of revelation regarding developments and events, for instance Second Thessalonians 2, and parts of First Corinthians 15.

John 16:14

14 Me he shall glorify; for he shall take of mine and shall report it to you. Here we have the one purpose of the Spirit. Note the emphasis on “me.” The Spirit’s work is to place Jesus before the eyes and into the hearts of men, to make his Person and his work shine before them in all the excellencies of both. It need not be said that this will glorify also the Father and the Spirit. Why the Spirit’s work will thus glorify Jesus is explained: “for he shall take of mine and shall report it unto you.” “Me” and “of mine” correspond. “Of mine” in this connection (v. 13) must mean “the truth,” all the saving realities embodied in Jesus. Taking of these and reporting these to the disciples will certainly be glorifying Jesus before men.

By “mine” Jesus means all that is his; the Spirit will take of all this and will convey it unto the disciples. The entire New Testament is the pertinent commentary, the evidence of all that he has conveyed “of mine” to the disciples. We decline to place a limitation here just because the verb ἀναγγελεῖ is repeated from v. 13, where it is used with “the things to come.” In our verse the verb has the wider object.

John 16:15

15 All things whatever the Father has are mine. For this reason I said that he takes of mine and will report it to you. This is added in order to shut out the possible wrong thought that what Jesus so emphatically calls “mine” and by which the Spirit will glorify “me” could be something belonging to him exclusively apart from the Father. All the things of Jesus are “whatever the Father has.” They are identical, they belong to both the Father and to Jesus. Jesus administers them through the Spirit. “Whatever the Spirit shall hear” (v. 13), whatever he shall take “of mine” (v. 14), and “whatever the Father has” is one substance of truth; the Father has it, the Son owns it, the Spirit takes it. All three combine in making this blessed treasure our own.

It is for this reason that Jesus spoke as he did regarding the work of the Spirit in the disciples. When restating what he said Jesus uses the timeless present λαμβάνει, the Spirit “takes,” thus speaking more generally than in v. 14 which has the future “shall take.”

10. The Little While of Sorrow, 16:16–24

John 16:16

16 The return of Jesus to his Sender brings such an advantage to the disciples (v. 7) in the coming and the work of the Paraclete that joy instead of great sorrow should fill their hearts. Now Jesus adds the further comfort that the separation shall be for “a little while” only. We have the same connection in 14:16, 17, the promise of the Paraclete, and v. 18, 19, the promise of Jesus’ coming and of the disciples’ beholding him. A little while, and you no longer behold me; and again a little while, and you shall see me. The separation is to be short. The first “little while” embraces only a few hours, the afternoon of this very day (Friday); the second “little while” shall be equally short.

The change in verbs, first “to behold” and then “to see,” is of no special import. However painful a separation may be, if its duration is short, that is great comfort indeed.

John 16:17

17 The disciples, who have listened silently since Judas spoke in 14:22, are now stirred by this promise of “a little while.” Some of his disciples, therefore, said to each other, What is this that he says to us, A little while, and you do not behold me; and again a little while, and you shall see me: and, that I am going to the Father? They were saying, therefore, What is this that he says, The little while? We do not know what he utters. Some of the disciples put their heads together and spoke in low tones, not venturing to ask Jesus openly. Here the partitive ἐκ is used as a subject, R. 599. They repeat the words of Jesus exactly.

What strikes them is the fact that they are again to see Jesus in “a little while.” Knowing that the little while until his departure is short indeed, the words sound as though the second little while until they shall again see him is likewise short, a matter of hours or, at most, of a very few days. Can Jesus actually mean this? Then, however, how about what he has said repeatedly, “that he is going to the Father,” that this going away is to remove him from their sight (14:12 and 28; 16:10, together with all the statements of what he will do when he has gone to the Father)? Will he come back from the Father so soon?

John 16:18

18 So they go on asking (ἔλεγον, imperfect) about this strange word to τὸμικρόν, now using the article with it: “the little while.” But they are unable to solve the puzzle: “We do not know what he utters.” The little while sounds so hopeful, but the hope cannot rise as it might because of that other word about going to the Father which sounds like a long, indefinite stay.

John 16:19

19 Jesus knew that they were desiring to inquire of him and said to them, Concerning this are you searching with each other, that I said, A little while, and you do not behold me; and again a little while, and you shall see me? Jesus had no difficulty in knowing what passed between the disciples who whispered to each other (3:24, 25; 6:64; 16:30). The imperfect ἤθελον appears in indirect discourse after the English fashion, whereas the Greek would commonly use the original present tense of the direct discourse; the change to a past tense after a verb in the past tense is occasionally made, R. 1029, Before the disciples muster up courage to inquire (ἐρωτᾶν, respectful inquiry), Jesus himself states their question. Yet he leaves out the part about going to the Father. He does not intend to solve what seemed like a contradiction or at least a puzzle to the disciples. This can rest for the time being, for this will soon become clear in a way far better than words can now instruct the disciples, depressed as they are with sorrow. But this about the little while, with all the sweet comfort it contains, he can make plain so that they will, indeed, feel relieved.

John 16:20

20 Amen, amen, I say to you, that you shall sob and wail, but the world shall rejoice. You shall be filled with sorrow, but your sorrow shall become joy. The special seal of verity (the twofold amen) and of authority (“I say to you”) marks the importance of the statement (see 1:51). And this is spoken with a clarity that sees the coming hours and days as though they were already past. In a little while the disciples shall sob, with loud, unrestrained weeping, κλαύσετε, yea, they shall wail, utter wailing cries and moans for the dead, θρηνήσετε. Their beloved Lord and Master will have died a malefactor’s terrible death.

The two verbs emphasize the dire reality in all its poignancy. Note that ὑμεῖς is placed at the end so as to bring it into sharp contrast with ὁκόσμος: “you—the world.” “But the world shall rejoice” states more than a fact, for this fact shall intensify the sobbing and the wailing of the disciples. Jesus, their beloved Lord, lies dead, a bloody corpse. The world has wreaked its murderous will upon him and jubilates in unholy glee. This shall cut the poor disciples to the heart. Jesus softens not one word.

This is what the first little while means.

And now the second little while. “You shall be filled with sorrow,” the passive, like the German sich betrueben, but suddenly “your sorrow shall become joy,” εἰςχαρὰνγενήσεται, the phrase with εἰς instead of a predicate nominative, R. 458, 595. This does not mean that eventually the sorrow of the disciples shall subside and that in spite of their former grief they shall again become joyful; but that their very grief, i.e., the very thing that plunged them into such excessive grief, shall turn into joy, i.e., into a glorious cause of joy. The identical event shall plunge them into grief and then lift them into joy. A little while, and then the downward plunge; and again a little, and then the upward rise.

John 16:21

21 But can one and the same thing produce such entirely opposite effects with only a brief interval between them? Here is a telling illustration. The woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow because her hour has come; but when she has given birth to the child she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a man has been born into the world. Here one and the same event first produces the most painful anguish and then the most abounding joy. The interval between them is short. Moreover, the ensuing joy is so great that the brief anguish is altogether forgotten.

Jesus applies his illustration, pointing out the tertium comparationis, sorrow made joy. Why, then, should anybody allegorize? In this illustration the death of Jesus is not the birth of a new humanity. The theocracy of the Jews is not the woman, and the glorified Christ or the Christian Church the child. Nor does this illustration picture the parousia, the change from a state of suffering in this world to a state of glory in the world to come. All allegorical vagaries are to be avoided.

The article with γυνή is generic, “the woman” concerned, i.e., any woman when she is giving birth, τίκτῃ, in the act of so doing, present subjunctive. The article with παιδίον is also generic. Hence also the present ἔχει to indicate any such case; R. 865, etc., calls this the specific or aoristic present. The aorist ἤλθεν, “did come,” as well as the aorist subjunctive γεννήσῃ and the aorist indicative ἐγεννήθη are idiomatic, using this tense where the English uses the perfect to refer to events that have just now occurred; see R. 844, etc.

John 16:22

22 You, too, now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one takes away from you. This is the simple interpretation of the illustration. The little while of sorrow has begun with the fact that Jesus is saying farewell and will presently be removed by death: “you now have sorrow.” This is like the woman in travail. “But I will see you again”—the painful little while will soon pass away; “and your heart shall rejoice,” etc.—this is like the woman after the birth of the child. Yet we must note that, as in the illustration so in the reality illustrated, it is one and the same thing that by producing great sorrow presently produces the greatest joy: the birth of the child—Jesus’ going to the Father. His entering death and dying causes the sorrow; seeing Jesus again brings the joy.

The question is debated as to just what Jesus means in v. 16 by “you shall see me.” We have reserved this question until now when Jesus himself furnishes the answer. Nothing decisive is gained by turning back to 14:19: “but you behold me,” in conjunction with 16:10: “you shall behold me no more.” All preliminary statements are naturally made clearer by the final statement which Jesus now utters. The question is whether “you shall see me” in v. 16 and the following means seeing him at the parousia or seeing him spiritually after Pentecost, or the latter combined with the appearances during the forty days after the resurrection. Those who contend for the parousia must make the second little while cover the entire New Testament era, which is certainly more than a little while. This view also conflicts with Rev. 1:7: “and every eye shall see him, and they which pierced him.” This limits the question to the latter alternatives, the seeing after Pentecost and the seeing which began at Easter. Are the appearances during the forty days excluded or are they included? “I will see you again” includes them.

The joy of the disciples began when the risen Savior appeared to the disciples on Easter Day. Then the promise was fulfilled, “and your heart shall rejoice” with the addition that no man would ever after take this joy from them. Nor can one say that the final word, “I will see you again,” is the equivalent of the earlier word, “you shall see me” (v. 16, etc.), and then to say that the seeing of the disciples did not begin until Pentecost. This might pass if Jesus had not interpreted, “you shall see me” by adding, “I shall see you again.” This means mutual seeing. Just as the disciples see Jesus, so he sees them. And they saw each other during the forty days.

If only the spiritual sight after Pentecost is referred to, then either Jesus, too, had only such spiritual sight of the disciples and had it only after Pentecost (and who would assert this?) or we must in some way get rid of the plain statement, “I will see you again.” We arrive at the same result when we consider the joy. This began at Easter and was not delayed until Pentecost.

John 16:23

23 And in that day you shall not inquire of me on anything. Here Jesus uses ἐρωτάω, which takes up the same verb from v. 19. Inquiries for information the disciples will no longer make of Jesus on anything when the promised day fully arrives. Not that they will then inquire of the Father; we have no reason to press ἐμέ to produce such a contrast. Trench interprets correctly: “In that day, he would say, the day of my seeing you again, I will by the Spirit so teach you all things that you shall be no longer perplexed, no longer wishing to ask me questions, which yet you dare not put.” “In that day” refers to no special day but to the time in general when Jesus will again be with his disciples through the Spirit. Hence no argument can be drawn from this phrase against allowing the joy of the disciples to begin with his again seeing them during the forty days.

But while they will know they will still need. And so Jesus once more tells how all their needs will be met. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you shall ask the Father he will give to you in my name. Compare 14:13, 14; 15:7 and 16; and on “amen,” etc., 1:51. Here the verb used is αἰτεῖν, “to ask,” “to beg.” As regards the knowledge of the truth, neither asking nor inquiring will be necessary for the disciples, for the Spirit of the truth will attend to that of his own accord, 14:26; 16:13, 14. Jesus equipped his apostles completely in this respect, Acts 1:8.

They will not inquire as Peter and John did in 13:24, etc.; as Peter alone did in 13:36, etc.; as Thomas did in 14:5, or Philip in 14:8, or Judas in 14:22; or as several would like to have done in 16:17, etc. The one inquiry just before his ascension in Acts 1:6 belongs with the others just listed, for the Spirit had not yet come. But as regards petitions of all kinds in all the exigencies of life, Jesus most definitely invites them.

“Whatever (ἄντι = ἐάντι) you shall ask” with its natural restriction is explained in 14:13; also what these petitions cover. We have the same constative aorist αἰτήσητε. That the disciples are to petition Jesus as well as the Father, Jesus himself tells them in 14:14 (see the exposition). So also the fulfillment comes both from Jesus and from the Father, 14:13, 14 (Jesus), 15:16 (the Father). Here it is again the Father’s answer to prayer that is promised, yet now Jesus says, “he will give it to you in my name.” On ὄνομα see 1:12, and on the phrase 14:13. Here we learn that, even as the petitions are made in Jesus’ name, so also the giving of what is asked is done in his name, i.e., in connection with the revelation of Jesus as this is embraced by faith.

John 16:24

24 Up till now you did not ask anything in my name. Keep asking, and you shall receive in order that your joy may be fulfilled. In 14:13, 14 the matter of asking in Jesus’ name is stressed as something that is altogether natural for disciples of Jesus. So in 15:16 “in my name” again appears as a matter of course. Now, however, we learn that “in my name” pertains to the Giver as well as to the petitioner; as we pray, so the Father (or Jesus, 14:13, 14) gives “in my name.” Hence the disciples must use this name. They must in all their needs come not merely with the name “Jesus” on their lips or attached to their prayers but with the revelation (ὄνομα) of Jesus in their hearts by faith.

Up to this time, Jesus says, the disciples have not prayed in this manner. Some think that Jesus points to a shortcoming, a weakness, a fatal deficiency in the praying of the disciples. If this were the case, the blame would fall on Jesus himself, since he delayed until this time to impress upon the disciples the necessity of using his name in prayer. Until this time Jesus himself had allowed the disciples to pray as all true Jews prayed in connection with the name of God as it was known to them from the old covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In their prayers hitherto they used the Old Testament promises and prayed in connection (ἐν) with them. But now the fulfillment of these promises had arrived in Jesus; in a few hours the new covenant would be sealed with the blood of Jesus.

Thus faith had to advance and to embrace this new covenant, the fulfillment of the old promises in Jesus. It thus had to use Jesus’ name and revelation when praying. The reason for the advance to Jesus’ name is objective. The Spirit will take “of mine” and will report this to the disciples (16:14, 15). Thus subjectively, too, the disciples will now turn to Jesus’ name. Refusal so to do would mean the rejection of the revelation (name) of Jesus.

“Keep asking,” the present durative imperative αἰτεῖτε, means: from now on keep asking for all you need “in my name.” They had been asking before this, so that it is not necessary to tell them to keep on; but now they must use Jesus’ name in all their asking. To say that this imperative is not an injunction but merely a substitute for the future tense, “you will ask,” to match the following future, “and you shall receive,” is to advance an untenable claim. Jesus tells the disciples to ask; he gives them the gospel precept (ἐντολή) to do so, namely to ask “in my name.” This injunction he seals with the promise, “and you shall receive” what you ask in my name. This unqualified promise simply repeats the previous ones given in 14:13, 14; 15:7 and 16. But now this promise is amplified by the divine purpose back of it, “in order that your joy may be fulfilled.” This is the joy described in v. 22. The Greek has the periphrastic perfect (R. 3, 75), which R. 907 calls the extensive perfect, here durative-punctiliar, emphasizing the consummation: the joy filling up more and more until it is completely full. The passive implies that he who answers our prayers in Jesus’ name will by these answers fill our joy to the full.

With this true picture of what the second little while means before them the disciples could only wish that the hour of joy were already at hand.

11. In Anticipation of the Day of Victory, 16:25–33

John 16:25

25 In paroimias have I spoken these things to you. The hour is coming when I no longer shall speak to you in paroimias but will report to you with openness concerning the Father. The note of anticipation runs through this closing section of the final discourses. Jesus contrasts now and the day when his victory has been achieved. Only briefly he touches what lies between these two points (v. 32). In a manner this section continues the exposition of the little while when the ordeal will be over.

Jesus would like to speak with complete openness, but this is impossible before the events take place. Their nature is such that this cannot be done. An attempt to do so nonetheless would fail of understanding on the part of the disciples. The events must first take place. They will bring their own light. When this is available, it will be easy to speak of them with full openness; and then the disciples will understand in a way that is impossible at the present moment.

On παροιμία see 10:1. Here the plural is used and this in contrast with παρρησία, which means “freedom to say anything,” “utter frankness.” Thus paroimias are veiled utterances or forms of speech over against complete plainness and direct language. The term cannot here be restricted to the figures and illustrations (15:1–8; 16:21) which Jesus used, although these are by no means excluded. All that Jesus said, even when he spoke as literally as possible, was veiled, compare v. 28, which the disciples thought so clear. This explains ταῦτα which puzzles so many. Yet Jesus himself defines “these things” in the phrase “concerning the Father,” and more fully in v. 28.

He has in mind all that pertains to the Father, his entire mission, his return to the Father, all that Jesus and the Father will then do. This embraces the last discourses and takes in all else of a similar nature spoken in earlier days.

When Jesus says that “the hour is coming” when he will be able to lay aside such veiled language and instead use utter plainness of speech, this hour is identical with “that day” in v. 23 and 26. Often, too, the word ὥρα is wider than ἡμέρα, meaning “time” over against “day” (a specific day); here, however, the terms are quite synonymous. The best commentary on how Jesus will make report (ἀπαγγελῶ) to the disciples concerning the Father is found in the apostolic preaching (Acts) and in the letters. Here we see the “openness” of speech and the full understanding that could not be effected until the day of Pentecost was fully come. We need not debate about including or excluding the forty-day period; for all are agreed that this was an intermediate period, an advance on the three years that preceded, aided greatly by the death and the resurrection as accomplished facts, and yet not the complete advance to the final openness after the ascension and the coming of the Spirit. After Pentecost, as v. 23a shows, the disciples will have no questions to ask such as they asked at various times during the final discourses.

John 16:26

26 In that day you shall ask in my name, bringing your petitions to the Father, as enjoined in v. 24, “in my name” (see 14:13); and I do not say to you that I myself shall make request of the Father pertaining to you; for the Father himself has affection for you because you on your part have had affection for me and have believed that I on my part came forth from the Father. Here Jesus amplifies v. 23, 24. “In that day,” after Pentecost, the petitions directed to the Father by the disciples in Jesus’ name will not need the support and the intercession of Jesus in order to be granted by the Father. Hence Jesus does not say to them that he will second their petitions by himself (emphatic ἐγώ) making request of the Father as pertaining to them (περὶὑμῶν, “concerning you” and what you may ask, R. 618). This will not be needed for the happy reason that is added. Not that Jesus will not need to intercede for the disciples with the Father in other respects 1 John 2:1, 2. When speaking of Jesus and the Father, the verb ἐρωτᾶν and not αἰτεῖν is in place, since the Father and Jesus are equals; see on v. 23 and consult C.-K. 91.

John 16:27

27 The reason why Jesus does not need to second the prayers of the disciples is the Father’s own affection for them. Here Jesus uses φιλεῖν not ἀγαπᾶν for he wishes to express the intimate love of a father to his children; see 3:16. The Father is so attached to the disciples that his affection constantly goes out to them, φιλεῖ, durative present, ready to supply their every need. This, of course, is the subsequent love of the Father, bestowed on us after his antecedent love (which is always expressed by ἀγαπᾶν and ἀγάπη) has made us his children.

This appears in the ὅτι clause. The Father loves the disciples in the way indicated “because you on your part (emphatic ὑμεῖς in distinction from the hostile world) have had affection for me and have believed (two perfect tenses to express actions that still continue) that I on my part (ἐγώ) came forth from God.” Our affection toward Jesus calls forth the Father’s affection toward us. Love is rewarded with love. All the answers to our prayers prove this reward. Our relation to Jesus is here first expressed by φιλεῖν and then by πιστεύειν. Because love always springs from faith, the order: faith—love is in some way found also in this passage which has affection first and faith last.

We are told, the two are here reversed in order to bring the disciples’ affection next to the Father’s affection—a mere formal reason; or the two are melted together in a hendiadys; or faith is here made a kind of advanced faith because of the object here mentioned with it. We leave the order as it stands. As Jesus speaks of the subsequent love of the Father, indicating that he has this in mind by using φιλεῖν, so he speaks of the subsequent love of the disciples, therefore again using φιλεῖν. After becoming disciples (by first believing), daily contact with Jesus developed close attachment and tender affection for him which nothing ever disturbed. For this affection the Father in turn has affection. Following this affection came faith, also subsequent, as disciples show it after being affectionately attached to Jesus, their daily love for him stimulating their increased confidence in him.

For this, too, the Father on his part returns affection. It is not a matter of dogmatics but one of ordinary Christian psychology.

Therefore also we do not make the object clause, “that I on my part (emphatic ἐγώ) came forth from the Father,” denote the advanced content of faith. A glance at 1:34 and 1:49 should satisfy on this point. All true faith has this content from the start; without it faith would not be faith in the Biblical sense of the term. The disciples began with this content; but here Jesus speaks of the afterdays, of their abiding in this faith. The more their affection for Jesus grew through their intimate contact with him, the more they believed in his divine origin. And thus for this enduring affection, which opened their eyes in enduring confidence in his origin, the Father treated them with affection as being his children.

On παρά with the ablative (genitive), used only regarding persons as here, see R. 614: “from the side of”; also R. 579. It “implies the coming of Christ from the Father” (R.) but, as ἐκ in the compound verb shows, something more, namely oneness with the Father, the full deity of Jesus. This coming forth involves the entire mission on which Jesus came. The longer the disciples were with Jesus, the more they were certain of his divine origin (person) and of his saving mission (work).

John 16:28

28 Apart from the faith of the disciples Jesus now states in an objective way the essential facts concerning himself. In a brief, clear, and lucid summary he once more places them before his disciples in order to make them understand what is now about to take place. I came out from the Father and have come into the world; again I am leaving the world and am going to the Father. These, indeed, are the four vital points, nor can language word them more simply. The first is simply historical, one past act (as in the last clause of v. 27), hence the aorist ἐξῆλθον and again ἐξῆλθον. But now ἐκτοῦπατρός, “out from the Father” (origin, R. 598) defining “from the side of the Father.” One in essence (ἐκ) yet two in Person (παρά).

Very God of very God left heaven to come to us on his mission. “And have come into the world,” ἐλήλυθα, now a perfect tense to designate the arrival in the incarnation plus the stay in the world since that time. This arrival and this stay cover his mission in the world. It is now almost finished. The disciples have witnessed it all, and now only the finish is left.

Now the other side introduced by “again.” “I am leaving the world,” my work is almost done. “And am going to the Father” from whom I came forth, who sent me on my mission, to whom I return at the close of my mission. These two are present tenses: Jesus is now in the act of leaving and of going. The two are really one act: by leaving he goes, by going he leaves; one act but with different relations: ἀπό (in ἀφίημι), “from the world,” and πρός, “to the Father.” Note well, this is wholly an act of Jesus, done by his will alone. No hostile power forces him to leave, the Father does not call him home. He has come and has done what he came to do, and so with the work finished he now leaves. By his own will and act he accepted the mission of his Sender, by his own will and act he completed that mission, and so by his own will and act he returns whence he came.

Twice he mentions the Father—he is the Son; twice he mentions the world—his mission comprised no less. As simple as the words are, so mighty is their import. They reach from heaven to earth and back again; they span both God and the whole world. So speaks the Son—a divine and infinite word filled with fathomless love and heavenly farewell. Only eleven man had their eyes on him and heard the words come from his lips; but these words stand forever; millions bow as they read them in the Word of inspiration, and the universe shall know them, for they concern even the angels of God and the devils in hell.

John 16:29

29 Both the clarity and the content of what Jesus has just said prove so effective that voices are raised among the eleven that express the sentiment of all. Hitherto individual disciples felt moved to speak, and in v. 17 some of them whispered to each other; now, however, his disciples say, Lo, now thou speakest with openness and speakest no paroimia. Now we know that thou knowest all things and dost not have need that one inquire of thee. By this we believe that thou didst come forth from God. On three things the eleven are unanimous: the way in which Jesus now speaks, the wonder of his knowledge, the support this gives their faith on the vital point regarding Jesus. They feel that already now he is using the openness of speech he has promised for the future day, and that he has left the use of veiled language behind.

They are justified in this declaration, taking their present standpoint into consideration. They feel that the language of Jesus could hardly be more lucid and direct. And yet they do not realize the full measure of what Jesus had in mind in v. 25; they could not until they had had actual experience of the way in which Jesus would communicate with them after Pentecost through the Spirit. Jesus does not attempt to correct them; he is content to wait until that day comes, when they will correct themselves.

John 16:30

30 Impressed as the disciples are by the clarity and the directness of Jesus’ words, they are equally impressed by the contents of his words. They are again convinced that he knows “all things,” namely by the evidence he has just given them, that he has no need, like other men, to wait until someone asks him about a matter, for without their asking him he has completely and in detail answered all the things that were in their minds and that they had communicated to each other only in whispers. He reads the unspoken thoughts of their minds, the secret communications they have with each other. He who is able to do this, as Jesus has just now done (v. 19, etc.), must know all things. The evidence they adduce includes one more point that is not expressed directly but is implied in their words. Jesus had answered their questioning hearts regarding a matter that still lies in the future, he had elucidated the two “little while” that seemed so puzzling to them.

They now knew what the future would bring. Only he who knew all things could give an answer like this in a way like this (unasked).

From this fact the disciples draw the right conclusion in regard to the person of Jesus. They express this conclusion in a formal confession of their faith: “By this we believe that thou didst come forth from God.” This is the last confession of faith the disciples made before the death of Jesus. It is couched in the terms used by Jesus himself in v. 28. While it repeats only the first of the four statements used by Jesus, this first statement is of such a nature that of necessity its acceptance involves equal acceptance of the other three. It is impossible to assume that the disciples believe that Jesus came forth from God and yet hesitate about believing that he came into the world and is now leaving the world and going back to the Father. Thus, by using only the first statement, the eleven intend only to abbreviate their form of confession; they confess faith in all that Jesus says in v. 28.

They retain ἀπό as at the end of v. 27, “from,” but certainly including ἐκ as in v. 28, “out from.” “From God” is only a formal variation for “from the Father” used by Jesus. In this solemn hour the disciples confess the deity of Jesus and with this deity the divine, saving mission of Jesus. Through the dimness caused by their sorrow in these moments of farewell the clear ray of this great confession breaks like brilliant sunshine. The clouds of dimness are still about them, but the sun is above them and here it breaks through the clouds. Soon the clouds will again close over them, but this moment of clear shining will not have been in vain.

When R. 589 explains ἐντοῦτῳ as denoting the “occasion” he is not making the preposition clear; we abide by its usual force, “in connection with this (what the disciples have just stated) we believe,” etc. Nor do we combine ἐντούτῳὅτι as R. 699 does, “by this that thou art come forth from God we believe.” The ὅτι clause is the object of πιστεύομεν, “we believe.” These disciples had this faith all along; what they now say is that they have received “in this,” in the fact that Jesus answered their unspoken question as he did, new and still more evidence for their faith and convictions that he, indeed, came forth from God and that all he says in connection with this is true. The ἵνα in the first sentence is, of course, subfinal, appositional to χρείαν.

John 16:31

31 This confession of the disciples undoubtedly gave Jesus great satisfaction. Jesus answered them, Now you do believe. We do not follow our versions and others who translate the verb as a question: “Do you now believe?” How can Jesus here express doubt about their believing? This is settled by the positive declaration of Jesus in 17:8: “They knew of a truth that I came forth from thee, and they believed that thou didst send me.” Jesus fully acknowledges the faith of the disciples. While he says only πιστεύετε, we see from 17:8 that he includes the object expressed by the disciples: “you believe that I did come forth from God.” Nor does the appended adverb “now” lessen this acceptance, as though Jesus intends to say: “Now, indeed, you believe, but will it be shortly?” This now points backward not forward. It declares that what Jesus had so long labored for has now, indeed, been attained: the disciples believe, yea, they believe no less than this that Jesus came forth from God with all that this involved.

John 16:32

32 But even as the disciples had said that Jesus knows all things so he now adds the severe trial that already awaits their faith. Behold, the hour comes, yea, has come, that you shall be scattered, each for himself, and me you shall leave alone; and (yet) I am not alone because the Father is with me. Both ἴδε (active, v. 29) and ἰδού (middle) are used as interjections. With ὥρα the following ἵνα is non-final and states the contents of the hour. “Behold” points to the astonishing thing that shall happen. The time for this is not only coming but in a manner has already come; for Judas and his band of captors are ready to proceed. What will happen is that the eleven will be scattered in all directions; each will run εἰςτὰἴδια, “for himself.” Some take this phrase to mean “to his own house” or lodging; but this hardly fits the situation, nor does the phrase always refer to the house or home.

Here it evidently means that each will flee to cover where he thinks he can best find it for himself, each will look out for his own interest. The verb is passive, “shall be scattered,” namely by a vicious, hostile power. The fraternal fellowship in which the disciples have lived shall suddenly be shattered. We may recall 10:12, the wolf scattering the sheep; also Matt. 26:31; Mark 14:27, the prophecy cited from Zech. 13:7 on the way to Gethsemane. While the passive expresses no guilt on the part of the disciples but only that they shall suffer this scatterment, the addition, “and me you shall leave alone” with its emphasis on “me” adds the guilt.

They shall all flee (Matt. 26:56), but not so Jesus. He shall remain behind. They shall flee from him and thus shall leave him alone, him whom they have just now so ardently confessed. We must not fail to feel the strong emotion in this word, “me you shall leave alone.” Where would be their love, their faith, their courage, their gratitude? “Alone,” μόνος, Jesus left alone in the hands of his enemies, yea, deliberately remaining alone—what pathos, what divine purpose, 10:17, 18! Jesus does not chide the eleven for what they will do. They will do it, and he will bear it, that is enough.

As far as the disciples are concerned Jesus will, indeed, be alone but not as far as his Father is concerned: alone and yet not alone because, although invisibly, the Father of whom he had told the disciples so much would be with him. Where the disciples fail—and Jesus pities them—the Father cannot fail. The emotions that intermingle in these few words of Jesus can be better imagined than described.

John 16:33

33 Why does Jesus say these things to his disciples? These things I have spoken to you in order that in me you may have peace. In the world you have anguish; but be courageous—I have conquered the world. “These things” embrace all the final discourses. The reference is general because Jesus is now at the end, and because the purpose now predicated of his speaking these things is also general, attaching to all he has said. This purpose (ἵνα) is “peace” with its manifestation of courage. The full commentary on this εἰρήνη we have given in 14:27.

The same “peace” is had in mind here. In the former passage Jesus says that he leaves and gives this peace to the disciples, and thus he marks its objective character: peace as the objective condition and situation when all is well between us and God. Now Jesus indicates that he gives this gift to the disciples, leaving it as his blessed legacy when departing from them. And he does this by means of his Word, “these things I have spoken,” etc. By saying all these things to the disciples he places them into a condition that is truly designated as “peace,” “my peace,” something of which the world has no conception. Of course, this involves faith in the Word. “In order that you may have peace,” ἔχητε, pictures the disciples with peace now and ever as a personal possession.

In this safe condition they now are, and in it they are to remain.

Of course, the disciples are also to enjoy this peace. This subjective feeling of peace, resulting from the objective possession of peace, Jesus touches upon negatively in 14:27, when after telling them that he gives them peace he bids them not to be troubled and afraid. He now does the same thing by a positive admonition to be courageous. We are courageous when we are not troubled and afraid. On this night these poor disciples could not rise to the enjoyment of the peace they had. They were filled with sorrow (v. 6) and, worse than this, fear would soon scatter them in Gethsemane.

Jesus refers to this when he says, “in the world you have anguish,” θλῖψις, the same word used in v. 21, “anxiety,” the feeling of trouble and of fear (14:27), which is due to the world’s hatred and persecution (15:18, etc.). At times this feeling will prevent the feeling of peace though, of course, without destroying the disciples’ condition of peace. Hence Jesus bids them fight against the feeling of depression, “be courageous,” untroubled and unafraid (14:27). No matter what the world does to them, they have peace with God through Jesus. Hence they can face the world’s hatred with a heart that is cheerful and strong (θαρσεῖν), enjoying their peace in spite of opposition from the world. This the disciples achieved fully after Pentecost, Acts 5:41, “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.”

Without a connective Jesus adds the great reason why the disciples should go on with peace and courage filling their hearts: “I have conquered the world,” ἐγώ, the divine Lord to whom you belong. “Have conquered” once for all means that despite all its rage the world cannot prevail. Jesus’ victory appears in the fact that the ruler of this world has already been judged, 16:11, and is now to be cast out, 12:31. Jesus’ victory is that of the disciples, for they are in him, and he in them, 13:20 (6:56); and so faith in Jesus is victory over the world, 1 John 5:4, 5. How foolish to be afraid of a crushed and conquered foe!

Serene and majestic is this final word of the last discourses. Jesus has conquered all the powers of evil as they are centered in the hostile world. All his last words pulsate with this victory and triumph. Its fact stands. The disciples believe that fact. All they need is to get the power, courage, and joy of it into their hearts. In trying to achieve this for them Jesus is not working merely for immediate results. He knows all things (v. 30), also the limitations of the present hour for the disciples, which, however, shall soon pass. Then full peace and joy shall fill their hearts when they realize, indeed, that Jesus has conquered the world.

R. A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, by A. T. Robertson, fourth edition.

C.-K. Biblisch-theologisches Woerterbuch der Neutestamentlichen Graezitaet von D. D. Hermann Cremer, zehnte, etc., Auflage, herausgegeben von D. Dr. Julius Koegel.