CHAPTER 16
All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. John 16:1
For the first four verses John continues with his section on warnings from the previous chapter. He wanted his disciples to be fully informed about what was to happen. The word for “fall away” here is the Greek skandalisthēte. It originally had reference to a baited trap used for catching animals.1 To fall away to Satan was in one sense to be trapped and caught by the devil. Jesus was intent upon giving the disciples prior warning.
“They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God” (16:2). We have spoken before of the difficulties brought about when Jewish people were put out of the synagogue. There was both a temporary and a permanent dis-fellowshipping from the synagogue. The permanent dis-fellowshipping or excommunication was a dreadful thing for the Jew. Some years after AD 70 the Jewish council at Jamnia devised a curse upon all Jewish Christians and essentially made it impossible for them to fellowship with the Jews.2 Up until that time there was some mixing and mingling of Jewish and Christian groups.3
The Jewish community was tight-knit and it was unthinkable for a Jewish person to be cut off from other Jews. Coffman says, “… This was a penalty dreaded by every Hebrew, meaning loss of social acceptability, employment, and all access to the religious life of the community. Excommunicated persons were held to be worse than pagans and were the object of total rejection and hatred.” 4
We should mention that even in the era of Jesus, some Jews had very extreme opinions concerning the Christians. Certain of the militant Zealots felt that killing apostates was a true and acceptable service to God.5 Dummelow recalls a Jewish saying: “Every one that sheddeth the blood of the wicked, is as he that offereth a sacrifice.” 6 We have only to remember Saul of Tarsus who inflicted many ravages upon the early church (Gal. 1:13; Phil. 3:6). He seemed to have held a similar idea. At the time of this gospel’s writing many Jewish Christians were being betrayed to Roman authorities by the Jews.7
Christian history has not been free of this deluded kind of religion. Many great saints have been martyred in the church and by the church. In Christian Spain and Portugal during the 15th through the 18th centuries the church burned somewhat over 30,000 “heretics.” Many of these were Jewish Christians. In addition somewhere between 300,000 and 3,000,000 “heretics” were expelled from these two countries.8 In England when Archbishop Cranmer was burned as a martyr a sermon was actually preached.9 William Tyndale (c. 1494–1536) gave the English Bible to the church, but it was the church that put him to death by strangulation. He said calmly, “I never expected anything else.” 10
“They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me” (16:3). As we have said already, real religion is based upon a personal relationship with God. In the Old Testament “to know” was centered upon an intimate personal relationship not unlike that of husband and wife (Gen. 4:1; Jer. 1:5).11 Obviously, many religious folks through the ages have not had such a relationship and therefore they were able to do the most outlandish things in the name of their religion. It is of utmost importance that we have that personal relationship with God the Father and that can only come through Jesus his Son.
“I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,” (16:4). We cannot help but note that there are many parallels between this chapter and chapter 14. Jesus will focus much of this chapter upon the work of the Holy Spirit or the Paraclete as well as his own anticipated return.12 As long as he was with them he could help and protect them but shortly he would be taken away. He wanted them to be assured that he would not leave them alone. While he was with them the venom of the enemy would be directed at him. But now that he was going away that venom would be directed toward them.13
THE HOLY SPIRIT’S COMING
“…but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’” John 16:5
Guthrie says of the disciples that they had not, “…as yet attained sufficient spiritual insight to ask this question or even to understand the true mission of Jesus.” 14 The great Passover celebration was at hand and they had not yet realized that he was about to die with the Passover lambs. They should have asked, “Master, please tell us plainly where you are going?” When we look back at 13:36, it seems that Peter did actually ask this question. However, neither he nor the other disciples pressed the question at that time.15
“Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things” (16:6). There had been a flood of sorrow already in the lives of the disciples. The Upper Room experience was one of sorrow over the betrayal. Now they were facing more sorrow as Jesus spoke of his going away. It is amazing that even as the Lord was facing an immediate trial and crucifixion he was still deeply sensitive to the needs of his disciples.16
“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (16:7). The Lord has already mentioned the Holy Spirit (14:6-7, 26; 15:26) but now he begins to develop the doctrine for his anxious followers. It would certainly be better for Jesus to go away because he was greatly limited by the flesh. He could only be in one place at a time and only a few people at a time would be able to partake of his ministry.17 He was about to change all that. With the Spirit’s coming, the ministry of Jesus could reach millions at once and he could disciple millions at the same time. The Christian faith could reach the whole world.
Several commentators have pointed out that the Holy Spirit is given for the sake of believers only and not for the world in general. Actually, the world cannot see him or know him (14:17). There is a real sense that the world can only see him in the lives of believers.18 It is his action in believer’s lives that convinces and convicts the world. This understanding should help us take our spiritual position in the world a lot more seriously.
We should mention, however, that the Holy Spirit is God and we should be careful not to try and restrict God. Since the Holy Spirit is God he can do what he pleases. In 1857, a prayer revival led by Jeremiah Lanphier began in at the North Dutch Church in New York. The movement became generalized and spread to other states. Eventually it became a widespread revival movement. Authors Peter Marshall and David Manuel give these accounts of the revival: “a ship arrived in New York Harbor whose captain and entire crew of 29 had been converted in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, ‘without any obvious special instrumentality!’ Soon after that, five other ships arrived, all of whose captains had been brought to Christ in the open sea.” 19
Later, in 1885, a revivalist by the name of Maria Woodworth-Etter held a meeting in Tipton Indiana. She reported on that meeting saying:
The fear of the Lord fell upon all the people. For twenty miles around men and women were struck down in their homes, in business places, and on the roads and streets. Some lay for hours and had wonderful visions. Many went into the ministry or became evangelists.” 20
In order to realize the advantage of the Spirit’s coming we only have to contrast the state of Jesus’ followers before his death with that of their state after the resurrection and at Pentecost. Guzik comments: “… Look at the disciples before Jesus left, confused, thick headed, afraid, selfish and self-centered. Look at them after Jesus left, and after the Helper had come. They are wise, surrendered, bold, and giving.” 21 It was truly to their advantage that Jesus left them. They were suddenly people of power, who went out and turned the world upside down for Christ (Acts 17:6).
“When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned” (16:8-11). As we have mentioned, the Holy Spirit is our advocate (1 Jn. 2:1) or legal helper. He serves as our defense counsel against the wild and false charges of the devil. However, he also serves as heaven’s prosecuting attorney concerning the wicked. As Keener says, “The believers’ Advocate becomes a ‘prosecutor’ of the world…” 22
The prosecutor, the Holy Spirit, will come and prove the world wrong. The Greek word for prove or convict is elegchō. It means to expose, to refute, to convince or to convict.23 Barclay feels the word has a strong sense of “cross-examination” attached to it. By this cross-examination a sinner is forced to admit his or her guilt.24
We live in a very unusual time. Many people in our postmodern world do not seem to understand what sin is. The theologian John Hannah says that many folks would likely define sin as a Peanut Butter Binge or as Chocolate Decadence, while they would at the same time not define lying as sin. Sin is often merely caloric in our society.25 Because of our increasing biblical ignorance, there are many people walking around today who would never consider themselves sinners. They feel they are far removed from the inherited sinful nature of Adam and they do not believe the many wicked things they do and say would be classified as sin. Tenney says, “Many believe in a general law of retribution; but it is almost impossible to convince them that they already stand condemned.” 26
People in our day have believed the lie that whatever a person does is his or her own business and only affects that person. Historian Paul Johnson says, “Implicit in the Bible is the holistic notion that one man’s sin however small, affects the entire world, however imperceptibly, and vice versa.” 27 The painful truth is that our sin affects everybody to some degree. It affects children, parents, friends, the church and the community.
There is another thing about sin that people tend to overlook. Pastor James Kennedy describes this: “One of the tragic things about all sin is that it is addictive. Whether it’s sex, drugs, alcohol, overeating, or gambling – it doesn’t matter what sin you fall prey to, it is addictive. And the more you do it, the stronger the addiction becomes.” 28
It is only the Holy Spirit, God’s prosecuting attorney, who can convict the world of sin. It seems that he often does this through the words and actions of committed Christians. While a court may convict a person of murder, the Holy Spirit has the ability to convict a person of unbelief.29 After all, unbelief is the basic sin of humanity.
We note here that the Holy Spirit convicts of righteousness. Tenney comments, “The return of Jesus to the Father was the ultimate proof that he was the perfect pattern for righteousness, accepted by the Father…” 30 The word for righteousness is the Greek dikaiosunēs and it means “conformity to the Divine will in purpose, thought and action.” 31 Jesus lived a perfect life in this regard and was accepted by the Father. The prevailing concept today is that each person must determine what is right or wrong for himself or herself. This reminds us of the early days of Israel: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg. 17:6 NKJ). We are beginning to see that this concept makes for a very crazy world. “In its insanity, the world regarded Jesus as a sinner, itself as righteous, and it ended up pronouncing false judgment on Jesus himself…” 32
There was something about Calvary that brought judgment upon Satan. We are not privy to the whole episode of Satan’s rebellion in heaven. We can speculate and say that God may have wanted to produce a fool-proof conviction of the devil and his angels. He could have just blasted the whole lot to smithereens, but there would no doubt have remained questions in the minds of some angels and principalities in the heavenly realms. God evidently chose the long and tortuous process of letting Satan prove who he actually was, though much blood, sweat and tears of the human race, through the fallen world, and at last through the redemption of Christ. When Satan convicted Jesus he convicted a perfect man and somehow this brought God’s final judgment upon him. Meyer says, “There the prince of this world was condemned and cast out. His power is broken, though he still does his utmost to intimidate and hinder the followers of Jesus.” 33 He always had plenty of cause to condemn sinful humankind, but he had no cause to condemn Jesus.
What wonderful news this is for the saints of God! We must take in this news and understand it. Satan is cast out. His usurped reign is over (Heb. 2:14; 1 Jn. 3:8; Col. 2:15). It may take a few centuries for the mopping up operation to be complete but Heaven sees this battle as won, and we should see it the same way. His continued activity is no more than a strategy of make believe, threats, bluff and intimidation.
THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:12-13
The disciples were just humans with their heads stuffed full of traditions concerning their faith. Jesus had a lot of new wine to share and these old wineskins could not hold it. At this point we can let our imaginations work a little regarding some things that Jesus would like to have shared with them. The temple and current priesthood would be destroyed, along with the city of Jerusalem. Moses’ sacrificial system would be ended. God would pour out his Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit would lead all believers into truth and the New Testament would be written. The Jews would be dispersed once more and this time to the ends of the earth. Because of Jewish rejection and stubbornness, the Gentiles would be given the kingdom. In the end, they would make the Jews jealous. The church and its message would reach to the far limits of the world. At last, Jew and Gentile would come together to create one new and redeemed humanity.
Guzik comments: “Jesus frankly admitted that his own teaching was incomplete, and anticipated the further instruction of the church by the Holy Spirit. This statement of Jesus leads us to anticipate the formation of the New Testament… Today, the Holy Spirit continues to personally lead us into truth, but never in opposition to the scripture, because God’s supremely authoritative revelation is closed with the New Testament.” 34
The Holy Spirit will lead believers into all truth. Barclay says, “God’s revelation to men is a revelation of all truth. It is quite wrong to think of it as confined to what we might call theological truth.” 35 God’s truth is deep and wide just like his love. There are things about Jesus and his gospel that our minds cannot grasp even twenty centuries after he came to earth. At the end of his gospel John will says, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (21:25).
A part of the mystery Jesus desired to reveal concerned things to come. These probably revolved around eschatological things and no doubt concerned his second coming and the final development of his kingdom. The disciples could not have stood such a mind stretching, and even in the 21st century our minds cannot cope with the depth and glory of such things. For this reason, the Book of Revelation remains essentially a closed book to most Christians.
“He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you” (16:14-15). The Holy Spirit has one great purpose and that purpose is to glorify Jesus. Morris says, “The work of the Spirit is Christocentric.” 36 When we see people being glorified in the spiritual movements we can know for certain that the movements are off course. Only Jesus can be in the spiritual spotlight. If the focus is upon the phenomena the movement is off course.37 While the Charismatic Movement had many good blessings, too often the emphasis was upon prophecy, healing or speaking in tongues rather than upon Jesus.
There is a sense in which the Holy Spirit by means of the word and biblical meditation will reveal the deepest mysteries to us. As it is written, “…the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” (1 Cor. 2:10). The Spirit then reveals these deep things to the listening heart.
Once again we see the closeness of operation between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Utley remarks of Jesus, “‘all things that the Father has are Mine,’ What an astonishing claim (cf. John 3:35; 5:20; 13:3; 17:10; Matt. 11:27)…There is a functional order, not an inequality, within the Trinity. As Jesus reflected the Father, the Spirit reflects Jesus.” 38 Morris adds, “There is no division in the Godhead.” 39
THE MEANING OF “A LITTLE WHILE”
Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” John 16:16
The disciples were mystified about Jesus’ expression “a little while.” In a little while they would see him no more. It seems obvious that Jesus was speaking of his sojourn in the flesh. It was coming to a quick and abrupt end, even within hours. A little while after that they would see him again (3 days later) but he would not be in the flesh. He would be in his newly resurrected spiritual body. Jesus always made clear that the world would not see him (14:19) but only his followers.40 Some have tried to explain these words as the Second Coming (cf. Heb. 10:37) but this seems far-fetched.
“At this, some of his disciples said to one another, What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” (16:17). Jesus could not go to the Father in his flesh, for flesh and blood could not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). He could only ascend to God in his resurrected spiritual body. He would do that after forty days. It is almost unthinkable to us but Jesus is the only person in heaven today with a fully resurrected body. Think of it, Jesus is the only part of the Trinity with a fully resurrected body. How the Master continues to identify with us! Of course, all this was a complete puzzle and enigma to the disciples.
“They kept asking, What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying” (16:18). We sense a deep reverence and almost a fear of Jesus in their hearts. They were really afraid to ask him what he meant. We might compare this with the “good old buddy” approach that some have to the Lord today.41 While we have a very close connection with the Lord we are nevertheless still told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that he is working in us (Phil. 2:12-13).
“Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’?” (16:19). It is clear in the New Testament that Jesus often knew people’s thoughts (cf. 2:25; 6:61, 64; 13:11). We cannot tell if this was due to his complete and sinless human nature or an outworking of his divine nature.42
JOY THROUGH SORROW
Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. John 16:20
The world system would rejoice when Christ died. No doubt people would send gifts to each other and give celebration parties because truth was on the scaffold. However, the disciples would remain in deep mourning. The Bible says, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart” (Eccl. 7:2).
As the poem by Robert Browning Hamilton has it:
I walked a mile with Pleasure, she chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser for all she had to say.I walked a mile with Sorrow, and ne’er a word said she;
But oh, the things I learned from her, When Sorrow walked with me!
“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (16:21-22). Not only the death and resurrection of Christ is linked to birth pains, but the age to come is also thus linked (cf. Isa. 26:17-18; 66:7-14; Mk. 13:8). 43 In early times women could die in childbirth so the pains were a very serious thing. Wiersbe comments: “God brings joy to our lives, not by substitution, but by transformation…Jesus did not say that the mother’s sorrow (pain) was replaced by joy, but that the sorrow was transformed into joy.” 44 Stedman asks and answers, “…What caused the mother’s anguish? The baby. What causes her joy? The baby.” 45 Clearly, the world would not give this joy and the world could not take it away.
“In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (16:23-24). Pett says, “Up to this point they have not needed to ask. The Great Provider has been with them and they could look to him…” 46 Now that Jesus was going away they would need to pray to the Father in Jesus’ name. How this teaching corresponds with that in Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
PLAIN LANGUAGE
“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.” John 16:25
The Lord still had to speak in proverbs and figurative language because of their spiritual immaturity. No doubt their minds were still blocked with the faulty ideas of an earthly kingdom. After his resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples and breathed the Holy Spirit into them (20:22). From that point on they began to have a spiritual understanding. There would no longer be a need to speak in parables (Gk. paroimiai) but he would be able to speak plainly (Gk. parrēsiāi). We see the importance of parables in Isaiah 6:9-10.
“In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (16:26-27). Believers would soon be able to make their own requests to the Father. Soon after, Christ would ascend to heaven itself and would ever live to make intercession for the saints (Heb. 7:25). Hebrews says, “For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence” (Heb. 9:24).
We simply have to stop a moment and realize the great advantages we believers now have in Christ. We can pray to the Father in Jesus’ name and he will hear us. Jesus is now in heaven interceding for us as we have seen. Even the Holy Spirit is interceding for believers (Rom. 8:26-27). In this last passage we learn that the Spirit is making intercession with groans that cannot be uttered.
“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father” (16:28). Pett says, “He who was the Lord of glory had divested himself of his glory and humbled himself for a time, entering servitude and becoming man (Philippians 2:6-7). He had taken the lower place, made lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9).” 47 This reminds us of the refrain of that old hymn written in 1915 by Henry Barraclough.
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only his great eternal love
Made my Savior go.48
St. Simeon once said: “I know that the Immovable comes down; I know that the Invisible appears to me; I know that he who is outside the whole creation takes me within himself and hides me in his arms, and then I find myself outside the whole world.” 49
“Then Jesus’ disciples said, ‘Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God’” (16:29-30). Suddenly the disciples seem to display great confidence. They now understand, or do they? Jesus knew what Zechariah said in 13:7, “…smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered…” (cf. Matt. 26:31; Mk. 14:27).
BELIEF AT LAST!
“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. John 16:31
The words of the Lord had engendered faith in the disciples but now he must warn them of overconfidence. Barclay puts these words in the Master’s mouth, “I know that in your weakness you will desert me; nevertheless I know that you will still be conquerors.” Barclay adds, “Never in all the world were forgiveness and trust so combined.” 50
“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me” (16:32). Utley remarks, “Apparently only John was present at the trials and crucifixion (cf. Jn. 19:34-35). John 21:1-3 suggests that several of the apostles had gone back to fishing as a vocation.” 51 Barnes even thinks that the two disciples on the Emmaus road were actually going back to their dwellings (cf. Lk. 24:13-55).52
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (16:33). In Jesus we have peace –sweet peace – perfect peace. This peace will last through the storms of life, and there will be storms. They are promised and guaranteed. In the world we will have tribulation but our peace will last. At the end of the age God’s people will face the Great Tribulation brought on by Antichrist himself. Still our peace will last. In the end there will be only two classes of people on earth, the overcomers and the overcome. The overcomers will have the Lord’s perfect peace. Yet, he alone is the overcomer and he will help us become overcomers.