Commentary

The Comforter Sent from Heaven (Verses 1–7)

The sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of John continues the intimate discourse of the Lord Jesus with His disciples on the night before His crucifixion. Public ministry had closed. Israel, having rejected their Messiah, was morally judged already. Judas had gone out into the night. The Lord no longer addresses the multitude, nor does He occupy Himself with the hopes of an earthly kingdom in manifestation. Instead, He gathers His own around Himself and unfolds heavenly truth suited to the position into which His departure would bring them.

This portion of Scripture is especially precious because it reveals Christianity in its true character. Judaism connected man with God upon earth through ordinances, a visible temple, and a priesthood established in the world. Christianity, however, is founded upon the accomplished work of Christ, His rejection by the world, His ascension to the Father, and the presence of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. The disciples were about to lose the visible companionship of the Lord. Yet in reality they would gain infinitely more, for the Spirit of God would come to dwell in them and with them.

The Lord prepares the hearts of His disciples for suffering. He does not conceal from them the hatred of the world. Indeed, Christianity calls believers out of the world morally, even while they remain in it bodily. The world that rejected Christ cannot love those who bear His name faithfully. The disciples had walked with Jesus while He was bodily present, and His presence had sheltered them to a certain extent. But when He departed, the true character of the world’s hostility would be fully manifested.

At the same time, the Lord does not leave them occupied merely with persecution or sorrow. He directs their hearts upward. His departure was not defeat but divine necessity. Redemption had to be accomplished. The Son must return to the Father from whom He came. Upon that glorified Man in heaven rests the whole position and blessing of the Christian. The Holy Ghost would come because Jesus had gone on high. Thus the believer’s relationship with God is heavenly in character.

There is also a striking contrast in these chapters between the condition of the disciples before and after the coming of the Holy Ghost. Before Pentecost they were attached to Christ upon earth according to their affections, though true affections indeed. After the Spirit came, they would know union with a glorified Christ in heaven. The Holy Ghost would not merely aid them externally; He would dwell in them as the divine witness of accomplished redemption and heavenly relationship.

In John 16:1–7 the Lord speaks first of persecution, then of His departure, and finally of the coming of the Comforter. The passage is full of instruction concerning the character of the world, the ignorance of religious flesh, the weakness of the disciples, the tender consideration of Christ, and the immense blessing secured through His going away. It shows us Christianity as founded upon a rejected Christ glorified in heaven and the Holy Ghost present on earth.

The Warning Against Offence (John 16:1)

“These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.”

The Lord in His perfect love prepares His disciples beforehand for the path they must tread. He would not have them surprised by trial as though some strange thing had happened unto them. Flesh always expects ease and acceptance in the world, but Christ tells His own plainly what awaits them.

The word “offended” here carries the thought of stumbling. The disciples might have been tempted to conclude that since Jesus was the Messiah, those who followed Him would naturally receive honour among men. But the cross entirely overturned such expectations. Christ Himself had been rejected; therefore His followers must share His rejection.

There is divine tenderness in the Lord’s warning. He never deceives the soul. Grace does not hide difficulties. Rather, it strengthens the heart by placing it in communion with Himself before the trial arrives. A believer walking with Christ in the intelligence of God’s thoughts is preserved from being shaken when opposition arises.

Moreover, the Lord speaks of “these things.” He had already declared the hatred of the world in the previous chapter. The disciples belonged to One whom the world had cast out. Christianity therefore could never properly seek its home or portion in the present age. The attempt to make Christianity acceptable to the world always ends in unfaithfulness to Christ.

Religious Persecution and Ignorance of the Father and the Son (John 16:2–3)

“They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.”

The Lord does not merely speak of persecution from openly immoral men. The most bitter hostility would arise from religious flesh. The synagogue represented the established religious system of the Jews. To be cast out from it meant exclusion from recognised religious society.

This is deeply solemn. Man in the flesh can employ religion itself against God. Indeed, the greatest proof of human ruin is that the Son of God was rejected under the pretence of zeal for God. The same principle continues throughout the history of Christendom. Wherever religion exists without the knowledge of the Father and the Son, persecution soon follows faithful testimony.

The Lord says that some would kill the disciples thinking they rendered service unto God. Such is the blindness of the natural heart. Conscience, when not enlightened by divine truth, may become the instrument of Satan. Saul of Tarsus was himself an example of this before his conversion. He persecuted the church “ignorantly in unbelief.”

The root of all this evil lay in ignorance of the Father and the Son. The Jews possessed Scriptures, ordinances, priesthood, and temple worship, yet they did not know the Father revealed in the Son. Christianity is founded not upon outward religion but upon the revelation of God in Christ.

This remains true in every age. Mere religious profession cannot produce the knowledge of God. One may have orthodoxy, ceremony, learning, and ecclesiastical standing, and yet be entirely ignorant of the Father and the Son. Eternal life itself is connected with this knowledge.

The Lord’s Tender Consideration for His Disciples (John 16:4)

“But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.”

Again we see the gracious wisdom of the Lord. He prepares the disciples so that afterward they would recognise His perfect foreknowledge and care. When persecution came, they could remember that nothing had occurred outside His knowledge or government.

It is beautiful to observe that the Lord had not pressed these sorrows upon them earlier because He Himself had been with them. While present, He bore the brunt of the world’s hatred. The disciples were comparatively sheltered beneath His wings. But now the hour had come for Him to depart, and therefore they must understand the path before them.

This reveals the unselfish love of Christ. Though standing Himself in the shadow of the cross, He thinks not of His own sufferings but of the needs of His disciples. Divine love always forgets self in caring for others.

There is also instruction here regarding progressive revelation. The disciples were not capable at first of bearing all that would afterward be unfolded. The Lord communicated truth according to their condition. So too God leads His people step by step into the apprehension of His thoughts.

Sorrow Filling the Heart of the Disciples (John 16:5–6)

“But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.”

The Lord was returning to the Father. His mission on earth, as regards testimony to the world before the cross, was closing. He came from the Father into the world; now He leaves the world and goes to the Father.

Yet the disciples were occupied chiefly with their own loss rather than with the glory before Him. Earlier they had asked questions concerning His departure, but now sorrow so possessed their hearts that they no longer entered intelligently into what He was saying.

This is often true of believers. We may become so occupied with the pain of present circumstances that we fail to apprehend the larger purposes of God. The disciples loved Christ sincerely, but their thoughts remained connected largely with an earthly association with Him.

The Lord gently lifts them above this condition. Faith must rise beyond present feelings and enter into God’s counsels. Christ going to the Father was not merely the end of earthly companionship; it was the beginning of heavenly blessing founded upon accomplished redemption.

How much depended upon His departure! Had Christ remained upon earth before accomplishing redemption and entering into glory, the full Christian position could never have existed. The coming of the Holy Ghost awaited the glorification of Christ.

The Necessity and Blessing of Christ’s Departure (John 16:7)

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

This verse forms one of the great turning points in the Gospel of John. The disciples naturally regarded the bodily presence of Christ as the highest possible blessing. Yet the Lord declares that His departure was expedient for them.

Such words could only be understood in the light of God’s counsels. Christ upon earth, however blessed, did not yet place believers in the full Christian standing. Redemption was not accomplished. Sin had not yet been judicially dealt with. The veil had not yet been rent. The glorified Man had not yet entered heaven as Head of a new creation.

The coming of the Comforter depended upon all this. The Holy Ghost could not take His place as the indwelling witness of accomplished redemption until Christ had ascended in righteousness to the Father. Pentecost was the divine answer to the exaltation of Christ.

The term “Comforter” carries the thought of One called alongside to help, sustain, teach, and represent Christ to His own. The disciples would lose Christ bodily, but they would gain the abiding presence of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit would make Christ known to them in a far deeper way than even their earthly companionship had done.

Observe also the dignity of the Son. He says, “I will send him unto you.” The Holy Ghost comes from the Father indeed, but He is sent by the glorified Son. This demonstrates the divine glory of Christ after redemption was accomplished.

Christianity therefore is characterised by these immense truths: a rejected Christ glorified in heaven, the Holy Ghost sent down to dwell in believers, and the saints united to Christ in heavenly relationship. The world sees none of this and therefore remains in darkness. But faith enters into the blessedness of it even now.

Concluding Reflections (John 16:1–7)

John 16:1–7 presents Christianity in its true moral character. The believer belongs to a rejected Christ and therefore must not expect favour from the world. Religious flesh may become the fiercest enemy of divine truth because it does not know the Father and the Son. Yet the Lord in perfect love prepares His own beforehand, sustaining them through the knowledge of His purposes.

Above all, the passage directs our hearts to the immense blessing connected with the departure of Christ. His going away was not loss but gain. Through His death, resurrection, and ascension, redemption was accomplished and the Holy Ghost could come from heaven. The Christian therefore stands in a heavenly relationship with God through a glorified Christ and the indwelling Spirit.

The disciples sorrowed because they thought chiefly of losing Christ on earth. But God’s thoughts were infinitely higher. The Son would return to the Father, and the Spirit would come to reveal heavenly things to those redeemed by His blood.

Thus the believer walks through a hostile world sustained by divine companionship. Christ is in glory for us, and the Holy Ghost is here within us until the Lord comes again.

The Testimony of the Comforter (Verses 8–15)

There are few portions of Scripture more precious to the believer, or more searching to the conscience of man, than the closing words of our Lord in the upper room. In this chapter of the Gospel of John, we are admitted into the intimacy of the Son with His disciples before the cross. The world was about to cast Him out; Israel had rejected her Messiah; the hour of darkness was drawing on. Yet in the midst of these solemn circumstances, the blessed Lord unfolds the heavenly portion of His own, and reveals the coming of another Comforter, the Holy Ghost.

The passage before us especially presents the operations and testimony of the Spirit after the departure of Christ from this world. It is of all importance to understand that Christianity properly begins, not with Christ upon earth, but with Christ glorified in heaven and the Holy Ghost sent down. Until redemption was accomplished and the Son of man had taken His place at the right hand of God, the Spirit could not come in the manner spoken of here. The law had addressed man in the flesh and tested him. The ministry of Jesus upon earth presented grace and truth in the Person of the Son. But now another thing appears altogether: a glorified Christ in heaven becomes the object of faith, and the Holy Ghost on earth bears witness to Him.

This changes entirely the character of the believer’s position. The disciples had known Christ after the flesh. They had companied with Him upon earth, listened to His words, and witnessed His works. But the Lord tells them that it was expedient for them that He should go away. Flesh naturally clings to a visible Christ upon earth; faith enters into the blessing of a heavenly Christ known by the Spirit. Thus the departure of Jesus was not the loss of Christianity, but the necessary condition for its full revelation.

Moreover, the Spirit’s presence demonstrates the complete moral condition of the world. Man had been tested in every way. He had been tried without law, under law, by prophets, by promises, and finally by the presence of the Son of God Himself in grace. The cross closed the history of man in responsibility. It proved not merely that man was weak, but that he was lost and alienated from God. The rejection and crucifixion of Christ became the decisive evidence of the world’s guilt.

But if the world rejected Christ, God glorified Him. The resurrection and exaltation of Jesus to the Father’s right hand are God’s answer to man’s hatred. The Holy Ghost therefore comes down from heaven as the witness both of the glory of Christ and of the ruin of the world that cast Him out.

In this section the Lord speaks of three great subjects concerning which the Spirit would convict the world: sin, righteousness, and judgment. He then turns to the disciples and unfolds the gracious ministry of the Spirit toward them, guiding them into all truth, revealing the things of Christ, and glorifying the Son. Thus the passage divides itself naturally into two parts: the Spirit’s testimony toward the world, and His ministry toward the saints.

The whole scene is heavenly in character. Christ is no longer presented as reigning in Zion, nor as establishing the kingdom in manifested power. He is viewed as rejected here and received above. The Holy Ghost descends to form the saints into association with a glorified Christ. Christianity therefore is not the improvement of the first man, but the revelation of the Second Man in glory and the bringing of believers into living relationship with Him there.

How blessed and solemn is such truth. The believer learns where his portion is, what the world truly is before God, and what the present ministry of the Holy Ghost accomplishes in the saints. The Spirit does not occupy men with Himself; He glorifies Christ. He takes of the things of Christ and reveals them to the soul. Wherever the Spirit acts freely and according to God, Christ becomes more precious, more necessary, and more glorious to the heart.

The Conviction of the World (John 16:8)

The Lord says, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

The presence of the Holy Ghost upon earth is itself the divine demonstration of the condition of the world. It is not here a question of the conversion of the world, but of its conviction before God. The Spirit acts in testimony. He brings to light the true moral state of man in the sight of heaven.

Of Sin (John 16:9)

“Of sin, because they believe not on me.”

The Lord does not merely say because they had broken the law, grievous as that was. The world’s crowning sin was the rejection of the Son of God. Christ had come in perfect grace. He had manifested the Father, healed the sick, cleansed the leper, raised the dead, and spoken words such as never man spake. Yet man would not have Him.

Unbelief in Christ is the definitive proof of the heart’s alienation from God. Men may excuse themselves under many pleas, but the rejection of Christ reveals the true condition of man. The cross exposed what the flesh is when God is fully manifested in goodness.

It is important to observe that this conviction continues wherever the gospel is preached. The Holy Ghost bears witness that the world crucified the Lord of glory. Every sinner who refuses Christ identifies himself morally with the world that rejected Him.

Of Righteousness (John 16:10)

“Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.”

The world had condemned Christ as unrighteous and worthy of death. God reversed the judgment of man by raising Him from the dead and receiving Him into glory. The ascension of Christ to the Father is the divine proof of His righteousness.

Man’s righteousness had been tested under the law and found wanting. But now God reveals a righteousness entirely apart from man, a righteousness displayed in setting Christ at His own right hand. The world saw Christ no more because He had been rejected from the earth; faith sees Him crowned with glory and honour above.

This is exceedingly precious for the believer. Our righteousness is not found in ourselves, nor in the improvement of the flesh, but in a glorified Christ before God. The One rejected here is accepted there, and the believer stands before God in Him.

The Holy Ghost therefore directs the eye upward. Christianity is characterised by a heavenly Christ. The heart instructed by the Spirit learns to detach itself from the world that cast Christ out and to belong to the heaven that received Him.

Of Judgment (John 16:11)

“Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”

The cross appeared outwardly to be Satan’s triumph. In reality it was his defeat. The prince of this world brought all his power against Christ and succeeded only in accomplishing the redemption by which his own judgment was sealed.

The judgment spoken of here is not yet the execution of final judgment, but the decisive sentence already pronounced. Satan is morally judged by the very death through which Christ glorified God and destroyed him that had the power of death.

This gives immense solemnity to the present condition of the world. The system over which Satan rules already lies under judgment before God. The believer therefore cannot seek his portion in a judged world. Christianity does not improve the world; it gathers souls out of it to Christ in heaven.

The Spirit Guiding into All Truth (John 16:12–13)

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”

The disciples, though truly attached to Christ, were not yet in a condition to receive the full revelation of Christian truth. Redemption had not yet been accomplished, nor had the Holy Ghost been given. Until Christ had died, risen, and ascended, the heavenly counsels of God could not be fully unfolded.

Thus the Lord says, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.”

The Spirit does not merely communicate isolated truths; He guides into all truth. Christianity is not a collection of detached doctrines, but a complete revelation centred in a glorified Christ.

It is deeply important to notice that the Spirit speaks in communion with the Father and the Son.

“For he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.” This does not diminish the glory of the Spirit, but reveals the perfect unity of the Godhead. The Holy Ghost comes as the divine witness of the counsels of God. He occupies the saints with Christ, not with Himself.

Moreover, “And he will shew you things to come.” The Spirit opens before the saints the future purposes of God. This includes not merely prophecy in a narrow sense, but the unfolding of the heavenly calling, the destiny of the Church, the judgment of the world, and the coming glory of Christ.

The apostles became the inspired vessels of these communications. Through them the Spirit has given the Church the full written revelation of Christianity in the Scriptures of the New Testament.

The Glory of Christ Revealed (John 16:14–15)

“He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

This is the great characteristic of the Spirit’s ministry. He glorifies Christ. Wherever the Holy Ghost acts according to the mind of God, Christ becomes the supreme object before the soul.

The flesh may seek experiences, signs, or human exaltation; the Spirit delights to reveal the excellency of Christ. He unfolds His Person, His work, His offices, His grace, and His glory. The believer thus grows by occupation with Christ Himself.

The Lord adds, “All things that the Father hath are mine.” What a testimony to the divine glory of the Son. The Father’s things belong to Christ. The Spirit therefore reveals no secondary or partial glory, but the fullness that belongs to the Son in communion with the Father.

Then follows the blessed conclusion, “Therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” The Christian position is thus one of heavenly intimacy. The Spirit dwelling in the saints brings them into the knowledge and enjoyment of the things of Christ. He forms the affections according to heaven. He separates the heart from the world and attaches it to the glorified Son of God.

This remains the abiding need of the Church. Decline enters when Christ ceases to be the absorbing object of the soul. Power, blessing, holiness, and true worship are inseparable from occupation with Him whom the Spirit delights to glorify.

May the hearts of believers be kept in simplicity toward Christ, walking in the power of the Holy Ghost while waiting for the return of the Lord from heaven.

Your Sorrow Shall Be Turned into Joy (Verses 16–24)

The closing discourses of our Lord in the Gospel of John possess a character entirely their own. In the synoptic Gospels we often see the Lord presented dispensationally, dealing with Israel, announcing the kingdom, and unfolding prophetic events connected with the earth. In John, however, we are admitted into deeper and more intimate communications. The Son is presented as come from the Father, revealing the Father, and leading His own into heavenly relationships which could only be established through His death, resurrection, and ascension.

John 13–17 forms, in a certain sense, a holy sanctuary into which the believer is permitted to enter. Judas has gone out. The world is outside. The Lord speaks alone with His own. He prepares them for His departure and unfolds the new position into which they would be brought when He had accomplished redemption and taken His place above. The disciples, though attached to Christ, were still connected in thought with an earthly Messiah. They loved Him sincerely, yet they understood neither the necessity of His death nor the heavenly character of His mission. The cross, which appeared to them the ruin of all their hopes, was in truth the foundation of all blessing.

In this passage the Lord addresses the sorrow which would shortly overtake the disciples at His death, and the joy that would follow His resurrection. Yet the subject reaches beyond the mere historical circumstances of those few days. The Lord speaks according to the full moral bearing of His departure and return. The disciples would pass from seeing Christ after the flesh into knowing Him in resurrection power through the Spirit. Christianity would no longer be association with a living Messiah upon earth, but union with a glorified Christ in heaven.

There is also a marked contrast throughout these verses between the world and the disciples. The world would rejoice when Christ was rejected and crucified; the disciples would weep. But the world’s joy was brief and empty, while the sorrow of the disciples would issue in divine and abiding joy. This is constantly true in the ways of God. That which appears victory for man becomes his judgment, while what seems defeat to faith becomes the very occasion of triumph.

Moreover, the Lord introduces an entirely new ground of approach to God. Until then the disciples had asked the Father nothing in Christ’s name. They had followed the Messiah upon earth; but after redemption they would stand before the Father in the value of the Son Himself. Christian prayer flows from accomplished redemption and conscious relationship with the Father.

The whole passage therefore is full of instruction. It reveals the transition from Judaism to Christianity, from earthly expectations to heavenly relationships, from the sorrow of Christ’s absence to the joy of resurrection communion, and from ignorance of the Father to liberty in approaching Him through the Son.

“A Little While” – The Lord’s Departure and Return (John 16:16–18)

The Lord begins, “A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.”

The expression “a little while” is deeply significant. To the disciples the interval would seem dark and incomprehensible. The Lord was about to leave them by death. They would no longer behold Him as they had known Him in daily companionship. Yet this absence would not be final.

The Lord speaks in a manner purposely beyond the understanding of nature. The disciples reason among themselves, “What is this that he saith unto us, A little while?”

They were occupied with the outward fact, not with the divine necessity. The flesh cannot understand the ways of God, even where affection for Christ exists. The disciples loved the Lord, but they still thought according to Jewish hopes and earthly expectations.

The words, “because I go to the Father,” are especially important. Christ was not merely disappearing from the world; He was returning to the Father from whom He came. His departure was heavenly in character. Christianity begins with a rejected Christ glorified above. Had Christ remained on earth, even in blessing, the full heavenly place of the saints could not have been brought out.

The disciples would “see” Him again, not merely with natural sight after resurrection, though that was true, but in a deeper spiritual manner. The resurrection of Christ changed entirely the character of their relationship with Him. He was no longer Messiah connected with the earth, but the risen Son bringing His brethren into association with Himself before the Father.

Sorrow Turned into Joy (John 16:19–20)

The Lord, knowing the thoughts of their hearts, answers them with perfect grace, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice.”

Nothing could appear more complete than the triumph of the world when Christ was crucified. Religious leaders succeeded in condemning Him. The Roman power executed Him. The crowd mocked Him. Satan seemingly gained his end. The world rejoiced because the testimony of God in grace had been rejected.

The disciples, on the contrary, were overwhelmed with grief. Their hopes appeared extinguished. The One whom they believed to be the Christ was crucified in weakness and shame.

Yet the Lord immediately adds, “Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” It is not merely that joy would succeed sorrow, but that the sorrow itself would become the occasion and material of joy. The cross, which appeared the end of all hope, became the foundation of eternal blessing. The resurrection proved the complete victory of God over Satan, death, sin, and the world.

This principle characterises Christianity. The very thing by which the world sought to rid itself of Christ became the means by which redemption was accomplished. Faith sees glory where unbelief sees only shame.

The Woman in Travail (John 16:21–22)

The Lord illustrates this truth by the figure of a woman in childbirth, “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come.”

The comparison is full of beauty. Travail is painful, yet it introduces joy through the birth of a child. The sorrow is real, but temporary; the joy is lasting.

Thus it was with the disciples. The death of Christ plunged them into anguish. Yet that very death was necessary in order that a new condition of blessing might be brought in. Resurrection introduced an entirely new order of relationship between Christ and His own.

The Lord continues, “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.” The source of the joy is Christ Himself. It is not merely doctrine, blessing, or circumstance, but the personal presence of the risen Lord known by faith.

Furthermore, “And your joy no man taketh from you.” Earthly joy depends upon circumstances and may vanish in a moment. Christian joy rests upon accomplished redemption and the place of Christ before the Father. Because Christ can never again die or come under the power of the world, the joy connected with Him is permanent.

The disciples afterward passed through persecution, suffering, and martyrdom, yet this joy remained. The presence of the Holy Ghost maintained in their hearts the consciousness of their union with a glorified Christ.

A New Position Before the Father (John 16:23–24)

The Lord now introduces another immense truth, “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing.”

This does not mean the disciples would cease to depend upon Christ, but that their position would be entirely changed. While the Lord was with them on earth, they continually questioned Him as pupils around a master. But after the coming of the Holy Ghost they would possess divine intelligence concerning their relationship with the Father.

Then the Lord says, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” This is the proper Christian place. The believer approaches the Father in the name of the Son. He stands accepted in all the value of Christ Himself. Prayer is founded upon redemption accomplished and access opened into the Father’s presence.

The Lord adds, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name.” The disciples had prayed as godly Jews; they had not yet prayed as Christians standing consciously in relationship with the Father through a risen Christ.

Finally, “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” The Father delights to answer prayer because He delights in the Son. Christian communion is thus sustained in dependence. Joy is made full, not through earthly prosperity, but through communion with the Father and the Son in the power of the Holy Ghost.

Concluding Reflections (John 16:16–24)

This passage presents the great transition from the condition of the disciples before the cross into their proper Christian standing after the resurrection of Christ. The Lord was leaving the world and returning to the Father. His absence would produce sorrow, yet His resurrection would introduce a joy founded upon eternal realities.

The world rejoiced in rejecting Christ, but its triumph was brief. The sorrow of the disciples issued in imperishable blessing. Christianity rests entirely upon this immense fact: Christ rejected on earth is glorified in heaven.

Moreover, believers are brought into an entirely new relationship with the Father. They know God, not merely as Jehovah dealing with a nation, but as the Father revealed in the Son. They draw near in the Son’s name, enjoying liberty of access and the privilege of communion.

The passage therefore carries the soul beyond earth to heaven itself. It detaches the heart from the world that cast out Christ and links it with the glorified Son before the Father. The believer may indeed pass through sorrow in a world that still rejects Christ, but resurrection joy belongs to him already, and no man can take it away.

The Lord’s Final Words of Peace Before the Cross (Verses 25–33)

In this closing portion of the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, we read some of the most beautiful and encouraging words of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus is about to leave His disciples. The shadow of the cross rests upon the scene, though the disciples themselves scarcely apprehend it. The Lord, in wondrous grace and divine calmness, prepares their hearts for the great transition that was at hand. Judaism was passing away in responsibility; Christ was about to die, rise again, and return to the Father; the Holy Ghost would descend; and the disciples would be left in the world to bear testimony to a rejected Christ in heavenly glory.

The character of this Gospel is especially important here. In the synoptic Gospels, we often see Christ presented in connection with the kingdom and His earthly relations with Israel. In John, however, the Spirit of God presents Him as the Son come from the Father and returning to the Father. Eternal life, the revelation of the Father, heavenly relationships, and the gift of the Holy Ghost are the great subjects. Thus, in this chapter, the disciples are being conducted beyond earthly hopes into the knowledge of their association with Christ in a wholly new position.

The Lord had spoken in dark sayings because the disciples were not yet able to bear the full light of these heavenly truths. The cross had not yet accomplished redemption, nor had the Spirit been given. But now the Lord approaches the moment when these things would be made plain. The disciples, still occupied too much with present impressions and human thoughts, imagined they understood more than they truly did. Nevertheless, the grace of Christ never failed them. He knew their weakness perfectly, yet He sustained them according to the purposes of God.

What is especially precious in this passage is the contrast between the failure of man and the perfect peace of Christ. The disciples would be scattered; the world would triumph outwardly; the Lord Himself would be left alone in His path of suffering. Yet He speaks of peace. Not peace for the world, nor ease for the flesh, but peace in Himself. The believer is brought into a scene where Christ has overcome. The world remains hostile, Satan remains active, and tribulation remains certain; nevertheless, Christ has gained the victory, and faith rests in Him.

These verses therefore form a fitting conclusion to the Lord’s ministry to His disciples before His intercessory prayer in chapter seventeen. The Lord gathers up the great truths of His departure, the Father’s love, the disciples’ weakness, the world’s hatred, and His own complete triumph. The result for the believer is not confidence in self, but peace in Christ.

Plain Speaking and Access to the Father (John 16:25–28)

The Lord says, “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.”

The Lord had necessarily veiled many truths. The disciples were still connected in thought with an earthly Messiah and an earthly kingdom. They had not yet understood the necessity of the cross nor the heavenly character of Christianity. The Lord therefore spoke in figures and proverbs. But after His death and resurrection, and especially through the coming of the Holy Ghost, all would become plain.

It is deeply instructive that the Lord says He would show them “plainly of the Father.” Christianity is founded upon the revelation of the Father in the Son. The law revealed what man ought to be for God; the Son revealed what the Father is for His children. This was something entirely beyond Jewish promise and prophecy.

The Lord continues, “At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:” This is exceedingly blessed. The Lord does not mean that He ceases to intercede for His saints, for Scripture plainly teaches His present priesthood. Rather, He shows the nearness into which the disciples would be brought. They would have direct access to the Father in the name of Christ. The Father Himself loved them.

“For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” What grace shines here! The disciples were weak and ignorant, soon to forsake their Master, yet the Lord speaks of the Father’s love toward them. Their affection for Christ and their faith in His mission from the Father marked them as objects of divine favour.

Then the Lord sums up His entire mission in one majestic sentence, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”

No statement could more completely express the glory of Christ’s Person and pathway. He came from the Father, not merely sent as a prophet, but proceeding from the Father Himself. He entered this world in incarnation. Having accomplished His work, He leaves the world and returns to the Father. The whole heavenly character of Christianity rests upon this immense truth.

The Ignorance and Weakness of the Disciples (John 16:29–32)

The disciples answer, “Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.”

They imagined themselves now fully instructed. Flesh is always ready to assume competency. Yet the Lord immediately exposes the instability of their confidence.

“Now are we sure that thou knowest all things… by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.” There was sincerity in their confession, yet little knowledge of themselves. The cross would soon test everything.

The Lord replies with solemn tenderness, “Do ye now believe?” It is not so much a denial as a searching question. Faith untested often appears stronger than it truly is. The disciples believed genuinely, but they did not yet know the weakness of the flesh.

Then comes the warning, “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone.” Nothing more completely proves the incapacity of man than the abandonment of Christ by His own disciples. After all their protestations, they would flee in fear. Man cannot stand in the presence of Satan’s power, death, and the hatred of the world.

Yet the Lord adds, “And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” What perfection is found in Christ! In the deepest trial, His communion with the Father remained uninterrupted. The disciples failed because they trusted themselves; Christ stood because His dependence upon the Father was absolute and perfect.

There is profound comfort here for the believer. All human support may fail, but the resources of divine communion never fail. Christ walked this path perfectly, and His own are called to follow Him in dependence.

Peace in a World of Tribulation (John 16:33)

The chapter closes with one of the most precious declarations in all Scripture, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.”

The believer’s peace is not found in circumstances. The world remains unchanged in its opposition to God. Nor is peace found in self, for the disciples themselves had just demonstrated their weakness. Peace is found “in me.” Christ Himself is the believer’s peace, rejected by the world indeed, but victorious over it.

The Lord does not deceive His disciples with promises of earthly ease, “In the world ye shall have tribulation:” Christianity does not improve the world. It calls believers out of it morally while they remain in it as witnesses to Christ. Tribulation is therefore normal for the Christian path in a world that rejected the Son of God.

But the Lord immediately adds, “But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” This is not merely future victory, but a victory already secured in principle by Christ Himself. He had passed through every form of the enemy’s power, Satan’s temptations, man’s hatred, religious enmity, sorrow, suffering, and rejection, yet none had diverted Him from obedience to the Father.

The world had done its utmost and failed completely. Christ had overcome it morally and spiritually before even going to the cross. Soon the cross itself would become the fullest proof of that victory, for there Satan appeared strongest precisely when he was utterly defeated.

The believer therefore fights no uncertain battle. Christ has already overcome. Faith rests not in human strength, but in a triumphant Christ seated at the right hand of God.

Concluding Reflections (John 16:25–33)

This passage places before us the blessedness of Christianity in its true character. The believer is brought to the Father through the Son, enjoys direct access in the name of Christ, and possesses peace in Him while passing through a hostile world.

At the same time, the chapter exposes the complete weakness of man. The disciples, sincere though they were, could not stand in their own strength for a single hour. Only Christ remained steadfast. Thus all confidence in the flesh is judged, while confidence in Christ is fully encouraged.

Above all, the heart rests upon the final word of the Lord, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” The victory belongs to Christ. The believer walks through a world already conquered by his Lord.