John 16

the gospel according to john

John the Apostle · c. 85–90 AD

Chapter the Sixteenth

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

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

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

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

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

All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

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.

Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?

They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.

Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?

Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

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.

At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:

For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.

His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.

Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.

Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Questions answered from John 16

Short answers from Always Ready that cite this chapter

Chuck Smith on John 16

Verse by verse, the C2000 series. Permission granted by The Word For Today.

Verses 1-33

Shall we turn to John's gospel, chapter 16. Now, these words in the sixteenth chapter have to be understood with the background as Jesus has been in the upper room with His disciples. He has told them as He had the Lord's supper with them that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine until He drank it anew in the kingdom. After supper, He has washed their feet, giving to them an example of what the ministry is all about; it's that of a servant. And then there in the upper room He speaks to them of that beautiful relationship that they would have with the Father and with the Son, through the Holy Spirit; that He is going away, but He's going to come again. And He's going to the Father. And then they leave the upper room. Now, the cross is in front of Him. At this point He knows it. They're not sure. But He realizes that this will be His last chance to just really talk with them of the things that are in His heart. And so, in the fifteenth chapter, somewhere between the upper room and the Garden of Gethsemane, maybe while they're walking, Jesus is talking to His disciples, declaring that He is the vine, the true vine, the Father, the husbandman, and that God's purpose for their lives was that they might bring forth fruit. And that fruit that God is looking for is love. He wants us to love one another even as He loves us. And this emphasis upon bearing fruit, bringing forth that love one for another. Now in chapter 16 Jesus said,

I'm telling you these things, so that you'll not be offended ( John 16:1 ).

Telling them, actually, of the things that are going to happen to them. "When you go out into the world, they're going to persecute you. They're not going to receive you. If you are of the world, then they would receive you and accept you, but you're not of the world. Now, I'm telling you this," Jesus said, "so that you won't get wiped out when you are not received by the world." It is interesting how that somehow in our minds we are idealists and we're prone to think if a person lives an honest, righteous kind of a life, everybody will respect them and appreciate them. But if you ever read of the hassles that these people have to go through who find money and turn it in, and are honest enough to turn it in, how that they get all kinds of hate mails, threatening...a lot of them have just had to move from their neighborhoods. Their neighbors were so totally upset with them for being honest. Harassed them, called them fools and harassed them, because of their honesty. And so, Jesus said, "Look, I'm going to tell you this before it happens, telling you these things now, so that you won't be offended."

For they're going to put you out of their synagogues: yes, the time is coming, when whoever kills you will think that he is doing God's service ( John 16:2 ).

This was surely true with Paul the apostle when he was a zealous Pharisee. And as they were stoning Stephen, Paul said, "I consented unto his death." Paul was holding the coats of those that were throwing the stones, urging them on, no doubt, in the stoning to death of Stephen. Declaring in Philippians chapter 3 that it was a part of his zeal towards God was persecuting the church. He thought he was doing God's service.

And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me ( John 16:3 ).

Interesting that these people who were so steeped in traditions of the Hebrew religion. Jesus said of them, "They really don't know the Father." I believe that it is possible to become steeped in the traditions of Christianity so much so that you don't really know the Son. You know all of the traditions. You know all of the church traditions and you're bound up and caught up in the traditions. But it is possible to be very religious in a Christian sense as far as attendance in church and all, and be very religious, but not really know Jesus in a true and intimate way. And we've got to guard against that. That we don't get caught up in religion, but we get caught up in Jesus Christ, in the relationship, the personal relationship with Him. And many times, becoming religious is a real barrier to that relationship. God, keep us open! God, keep us flexible! Not rigid in a religious system and, God, prevent that we should ever devolve into a religious system and lose the real relationship with Jesus. Jesus said, "They're going to do this thinking they're doing God a service when they kill you, but it's because they really don't know the Father, nor His Son."

But these things I have told you, that when the time shall come, you will remember that I told you them. And these things I did not tell you in the beginning, because I was with you ( John 16:4 ).

"I was there to shield, I was there to take their buffeting and to answer their charges, and I didn't tell you this at the first because you had me with you. But I'm going away now. You're going to be on your own. And now they're going to be persecuting you for My sake, because of what you're going to be doing in My name." And truly, as we read the book of Acts, we find out that this did indeed happen. They were persecuted for the name of Jesus Christ, and for their ministry in His name.

But now I am going my way to him that sent me ( John 16:5 );

and none of you have asked me, Where are you going? ( John 16:5 )

Now, Jesus said to the disciples in the fourteenth chapter, "I'm going away, and if I go I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am there you may be also. And where I go you know and the way, you know." And Thomas said unto Him, "Lord, we don't know where You are going and how can we know the way?" He didn't say, "Where are You going?" He just said, "Lord, we don't know where You are going." None of them asked, "Well, Lord, where are You going?" He kept saying, "I am going away." But they didn't say, "Where are You going?" And He said,

But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow has filled your heart ( John 16:6 ).

"Now, I said, 'I'm going,' and you're all sorry, but you haven't asked, 'Where are you going?'" If they'd asked, "Where are you going?" and they knew that He was going to the Father and, of course, it's revealed here in the seventeenth chapter, then they would not be so sorry for Him. In fact, they would rejoice for Him, though they would still probably be sorry for themselves.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; [It is necessary,] it's expedient for you that I go away ( John 16:7 ):

for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you ( John 16:7 ).

Now, when Jesus took on a human body, of necessity He took on certain limitations of a human body. And one of the limitations of a human body is that of locality. Your body can only be in one place at one time. Now, that is frustrating at times. There are times when I wish my body could be two or three places at the same time, but as long as I am in this body I can't be. Now, there are sometimes my body is one place and my mind is another. And that happens to you sometimes when you're sitting here. I see your bodies, but sometimes I wonder, "Where are you?" But the body is limited to locality. Now, they are soon to be dispersed. They're to take the gospel into all the world. And it would be impossible for Jesus to be with them all if He were still in the body. When Paul was heading out for Cypress and for Ephesus and all, if the Lord went with Paul, He couldn't be with Peter and John back in Jerusalem. So, the fact that they were now to take the gospel and go out with it, it was necessary that Jesus leave them and go back to the Father, back to the spiritual state no longer limited by the body, in order that He might send the Holy Spirit who can be with them wherever they go, because He is not bound to locality. And Jesus now in the Spirit is not bound to locality. So He said to His disciples, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world . . . the end of this age. But it's necessary in order to be with you in this manner that I go away to be relieved from the limitations of this body." In order that again, as God, He might be omnipresent. And so, in order that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, might come. "When I depart," He said, "I will send Him unto you." He said, "I'm going to pray the Father and He will give you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth, that He may abide with you forever." And so here again, the promise of the Spirit.

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment ( John 16:8 ):

Now Jesus at that point, amplifies what He said the reproof of the Holy Spirit would be and, to me, the amplification is very interesting because it's not at all what I would think in just reading of the Spirit reproving the world of sin. When He reproves the world of sin, I think of all the horrible things that men are doing. I think of the murders, the cheating, the lying and all of these things. But Jesus said,

Interesting statement. Because you see, there is only one deadly sin, and that is the sin of not believing in Jesus Christ. I care not what you have done; it isn't necessary that I know what you have done, what your past may hide. I know this, that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses a man from all sin, no matter what's there. There is only one sin that really condemns a man when they stand before God, and that is the sin of not believing in Jesus Christ. "He will reprove the world of sin because they believed not in Me."

Jesus said to Nicodemus, "For I did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through might be saved. And he who believeth is not condemned, but he who believes not is condemned already" ( John 3:17-18 ). Not because he's a cheater, a thief, an adulterer, a murderer; he's condemned already seeing he hath not believed on the only begotten Son of God. This is the condemnation. Light came into the world, but men would not come to the light. So that thing for which God will bring you into judgment is your not believing in His provision for your salvation through Jesus Christ. He will testify of righteousness.

Now, it would seem to me that the testimony of righteousness to us would be saying, "Now, this is the way a person should walk. You should walk in love, you should walk in truth, you should walk in mercy, you should walk in honesty..." and all of these things, showing us the right path and the right relationship that we should have to each other, testifying or reproving the world of righteousness. But, Jesus said,

Of righteousness, because I go unto the Father, and you see me no more ( John 16:10 );

Interesting statement. What Jesus means by that is that we have many varying standards of righteousness that men have established today. And even within the church body, there are different standards of righteousness. In some church bodies, it is very unrighteous for a woman to wear any kind of makeup or try to make herself look halfway decent at all. I'm glad I don't belong to those churches. But, to them that constitutes unrighteousness. Oh, the guys dress flashy, to be sure. But they try to put the women in very dull and unattractive garb and hair pulled back in a bun and so forth. And that to them is righteousness. It is interesting to me that overall the church here in the United States is opposed to drinking any alcoholic beverage. I personally am. But in Sweden, the Christians there see nothing wrong with drinking beer, and when we were in Sweden and we were out to dinner with the ministers and all, they always said, "Do you want a beer?" And I always was shocked by that. But some of them were very shocked that my wife drank coffee. "Oh, my! Brother, we'll pray for you. What a poor witness, your wife drinking coffee!" While they were drinking their beer!

So, there are different standards of righteousness that quite often are cultural. The morals of a particular society and the standards of righteousness by which men set are usually standards of comparison. When I think of a righteous standard, I look around and I say, "Well, I'm better than he is. I wouldn't do that." And by looking at the faults of others, I can sometimes feel very smug and self-righteous. "Father, I thank you that I am not like other men, because I don't do the things they're doing and I do this, Lord." But Jesus said, "You do err when you compare yourself with men." Because I don't care how righteous you are, or how righteous I am, unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we're not going to enter the kingdom of heaven. And as far as outward righteousness and as far as a righteousness according to the law, they were so far beyond anything we ever dreamed of being, they practiced their whole lives trying to obey the finest points of the law, interpreting them and obeying the finest points of the law. And Paul the apostle was able to testify of his own experience as a Pharisee concerning the righteousness which is in the law. He said, "I was blameless." Jesus, though, said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you're not going to enter into the kingdom of heaven" ( Matthew 5:20 ). Don't you know that that blew the mind of the disciples? And caused them to say, "Well, pooph, what's the use? Let's go back fishing again. No way we're going to make that. I give up!" If you think that's tough, Jesus ended that message by saying, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect" ( Matthew 5:48 ). That does it, I'm through! Washed up! Hate to admit it, but I'm not perfect. And you don't have to take my word for it. My wife will be glad to confirm that.

Now, if my righteousness must exceed the scribes and the Pharisees, if I can't create a standard looking around at men, where is the standard of righteousness that God will accept? If He won't accept that rigid standard of the scribes and Pharisees, what standard will He accept? And Jesus said, "The Holy Spirit will reprove the world of righteousness because I go to the Father." Now, Jesus, ascending into heaven unto the Father, the Holy Spirit bears witness by that that this is the righteousness that God can accept. So, the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imparted to us by our faith in Him. And so, when Paul talked of the righteousness of the law being blameless, he then said, "Yet those things which were gain to me, this righteous standing I had as a Pharisee, blameless, those things which were gain to me I counted loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; for whom I suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may know Him and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of Christ through faith" ( Philippians 3:7-9 ). The righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, and the righteousness that the Father will accept. If I want the Father to accept me, if I want to enter the kingdom of heaven, I must enter in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Nothing less will do.

Now that, for the moralist, once and for all declares that no matter how moral, honest, good a person, benevolent, charitable you may be, you cannot make it on your own. We all need Jesus Christ. We all need to believe in Him. For believing in Him, my sins are forgiven. I'm no longer condemned. Believing in Him, I now have the righteousness of Christ imputed unto me. And,

Jesus said. Now, I read in Revelation that there is a great white throne judgment where God sits upon the throne to judge the world. "And the nations, small and great, will stand before Him. And death and hell will give up the dead which are in them; the sea will give up the dead which are in them, and all the small and great will stand there before God to be judged out of the things that are written in the books. Whosoever's name is not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake burning with fire, and this is the second death" ( Revelation 20:11-14 ). That's not the judgment that the Spirit is testifying about. Well, there's another judgment.

There's the judgment seat of Christ, before which all of the Christians have to appear to receive the things done in their bodies, whether good or evil. Where our works are to be judged by fire and whatever remains will be rewarded for, what sort of works we have done. There will the motives of the hearts be tested. Jesus said, "Take heed to yourself, that you do not your righteousness before men to be seen of men. For I say unto you, you have your reward."

If you're only doing it for a show so people can look at you and say, "Oh, my, isn't he sweet, isn't he wonderful? Isn't he good?" And if that's your motive in doing it, those plaudits and applause and all that you receive from men is all the reward you'll ever get. We are to do our righteousness before God in such a way as to not try to draw attention to ourselves. "Let your light so shine before men, that when they see your good works, they will glorify your Father which dwells in heaven" ( Matthew 5:16 ).

And so, we will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. And there we will be rewarded for the way that we have run the race. But that isn't the judgment that the Holy Spirit is speaking about. "Of judgment," Jesus said,

Interesting. He doesn't talk about our judgment, but He talks about the prince of the world being judged. And where was the prince of the world judged? He was judged upon the cross. Paul tells us in Colossians, chapter 2, that Jesus spoiled those principalities and powers, which are rankings of evil spirits. He spoiled them there on the cross, making an open display of His victory, triumphing over them through the cross. Therefore, let no man judge you. The prince of this world has been judged. There on the cross Christ defeated Satan. Satan has tremendous power. When God created the world and placed man upon it, God gave to man the dominion over the world. God said unto Adam, "You're to have dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, over every living and moving and creeping thing; for I have given it unto you." But man, in the Garden of Eden, gave it unto Satan. So that man was no longer the ruler of the world, but Satan became the ruler over the world. And we see today the disastrous consequences of Satan's rule, in the wars, the suffering. All of these things, disastrous consequences of Satan's rule. We pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven." But you do not see that yet. As in Hebrews, we read God has put all things into subjection unto Jesus, but we do not yet see all things in subjection unto Him. We still see a world in rebellion against God, and we still see the fruit of that rebellion in this world in which we live.

Commentary on John 16

Whosoever Will · the Seven Threads Commentary

John 16:1

The persecution ahead is framed before it arrives so that when it comes the disciples will not be destabilized. Jesus tells them now so they will remember when it happens. The preparation is an act of pastoral care. It is expedient: sumpherō, profitable, advantageous, that Jesus goes. The statement is startling: his physical departure is not loss but gain, because without it the Paraklētos cannot come. The Spirit's full-coming is conditional on Jesus's going. Thread 6 is the dispensational sequence: the era of the Son's physical presence gives way to the era of the Spirit's indwelling presence. The Spirit does not merely replace Jesus: he applies what Jesus accomplished. The Spirit will convict, elengxei, expose with evidence. The kosmos concerning three realities. Sin: because they do not believe on me. The primary sin the Spirit exposes is not moral failure in general but the specific failure of unbelief. Righteousness: because Jesus goes to the Father and they see him no more. The resurrection and ascension are the Spirit's proof of righteousness. Judgment: because the ruler of this world is judged. The cross is the judgment of the world's ruler, and the Spirit makes that verdict known. Thread 1 is in the convicting: the God who cannot stop reaching reaches through the Spirit's global work of exposure and persuasion. Thread 4 is in the conviction itself: the world is convicted, exposed, shown the evidence, and must still respond. Conviction is not regeneration. The Spirit provides the evidence; the person responds.

He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Spirit's work of conviction is Thread 1's reaching through the Third Person; and the sin he convicts of is not moral failure in general but the specific failure to believe.

ἐλέγξει τὸν κόσμον περὶ ἁμαρτίας καὶ περὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ περὶ κρίσεως (elengxei ton kosmon peri hamartias kai peri dikaiosunēs kai peri kriseōs): he will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment: elengxei (will convict, expose, prove guilty, from elenxō; not merely make feel bad but expose and demonstrate with evidence); ton kosmon (the world, the same kosmos; the Spirit's conviction reaches the whole world, not only the elect); peri hamartias (concerning sin, the specific sin is named in verse 9: because they do not believe on me; unbelief is the sin