For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.
Jesus has been preparing his apostles for the persecution to come (15:18 into chapter 16).
- Persecuting Christians will come to be seen as service to God (v.2). John's gospel was penned in a time when Jewish-Christian relations were suffering significant deterioration. Eviction from the synagogues is probably happening to many readers of this gospel.
- Saul of Tarsus is another obvious example of this turn of events.
- After the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD, Christians no longer enjoyed imperial protection under the umbrella of Judaism. Whereas earlier they were welcome to visit and even speak in the synagogues -- as in the book of Acts -- things would change for the worse.
16:1 “I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. 3 And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. 4 But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.
- Note: Stumbling (v.1) -- from skándalon, stumbling block. Not the same word as falling away, as it is often mistranslated in some Bible versions.
- Note: A Jewish writing, NuR 21 (191a, based on Numbers 25:13), may be the basis for the notion that killing heretics is an act of worship.
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocatewill not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong aboutsin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
- Jesus is surprised that none of them are asking him about his imminent departure (v.5). True, they had asked him earlier where he was going, but one would have thought they would be following up on this.
- They are greatly saddened that he will soon leave them. And yet this is to their advantage, as it means the Spirit will come.
- We all need the Holy Spirit if we are going to be effective in our outreach.
- The Spirit, through the apostolic testimony, will convict the world (v.8ff).
- Note how Felix reacts in the face of Paul's testimony (Acts 24:25) for an illustration of how the Spirit convicts.
- Many fancy they are led by the Spirit, yet the Spirit does not work through them to convict others. Click here for more.
- The ruler of this world (v.11) is Satan. Not that he has ultimate sovereignty, or that he enjoys parity with God in any way. He is merely permitted a modicum of control.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
- The Spirit will lead them into the truth (v.12ff). They are not able to retain everything Jesus told them, or would like to have told them.
- Jesus is sensitive; he will not allow us to become supersaturated. In the same way, we need to be careful in our counseling, outreach to friends and family, teaching and so forth not to teach more than people are able to absorb.
- About verse 13, the Spirit was to ensure that the apostles led the church in the right direction, especially during its infancy (the foundational period -- Eph 2:20).
- The promise of being led into all all truth is not a promise for the church in all generations (the Catholic view).
- Nor is it a promise for individual Christians (the neo-Pentecostal view).
- It was a promise made to the apostles.
16 “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’?
- Amazingly, some are still nonplussed about Jesus' departure (v.17ff).
- The "little while" of verse 17 is fraught with significance. The phrase is common in O.T. judgment/salvation oracles. See, e.g., Haggai 2:6 and Isaiah 26:20.
- The implication is that judgment is falling on the world, on the ruler of the world, and on the people of God.
- Jesus addresses this confusion. Notice how Jesus draws them out (v.19). He doesn't just continue talking; he makes sure they are on board.
20 Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. 22 So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
- Times will be very difficult, as convulsive as childbirth (v.21), but as the kingdom of God breaks into human history the resulting Messianic age will be more than worth the pain. Isaiah 26:16-21 -- suggesting the appearance of Jesus as Son of Man at the end of the age -- may be in the background of verse 21.
- Verse 24 seems to mean that should not pray directly to Jesus. But before we forbid this outright, see 14:14, as well as the prayer of Stephen in Acts 7:59. Jesus adds that soon they will address their requests directly to the Father, in his (Jesus') name -- by his authority.
25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”
- Note: The Father loves (v.27): This is philía, not agápe.
29 His disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. 33 I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”
- The disciples are excited that Jesus is now using plain speech (vv.29-30). The "figure of speech" (paroimia) of verse 29 is a "parable, figure of speech, proverb."
- But Jesus casts a shadow over their positive thoughts (vv.31-32); soon things for the apostles will become much more challenging.
- Once again Jesus promises his followers peace (see 14:1,27).
- This peace isn't the serenity that sometimes come from passivity, but calmness in the face of the storm. "Most assuredly," he says, in effect, "that storm will come." 2 Tim 3:12; Luke 6:22-23, 26.
- He predicts that they will stumble, and yet his love and firm acceptance remain.
- And yet it doesn't look like Jesus has "conquered the world" -- not where things stand now...
- The "persecution" of verse 33 is thlipsis, which means "trouble, distress, hard circumstances, suffering" -- or, in the older translations, "tribulation."
Conclusion
- Opposition is part and parcel of genuine Christian experience.
- Christ helps us to overcome not the opposition, but the anxiety and faithlessness that can so easily result.
- To receive weekly updates about persecuted believers worldwide, click here.
- In the next chapter Jesus will pray.
To ponder:
- You are one of the apostles. You have been following the Lord for three years. You have shared the Last Supper with him, following which he shocked you by washing your feet. And now (for three chapters) he has been discoursing at length on what is it to come. He speaks a lot about his death and your persecution. How do you feel? What are your dominant emotion(s)?
- You are Jesus. You have taught your disciples thoroughly, though much of it they have forgotten. Everything is going according to schedule, according to God's timing, and yet this means there are only hours left before your death. You turn to the Father with a heavy heart, full of sadness, hope, joy, and urgency. What do you say?