CHAPTER XVI.

Ch. 16:1-33. CLOSE OF CHRIST’S DISCOURSE.--THE PRESENCE, OFFICE, AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MORE FULLY DESCRIBED.

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

2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever[603] killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

[603] Acts 26:9-11.

=1, 2. These things have I spoken unto you that ye should not be offended.= Scandalized; caused to fall into sin. See Matt. 5:29, note; 15:12; 17:27; John 6:61; 1 Cor. 8:13. The object of Christ’s teaching in these chapters is not merely to impart consolation to the apostles in their impending sorrow in his death, but to impart strength to his disciples throughout all time in their experience of temptation.--=They shall put you out of the synagogues.= Excommunicate you. This was not in that age a mere ecclesiastical censure; it involved the most serious consequences, in exclusion from all business and secular relations with men. See ch. 9:22, note.--=Yea, the hour cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he is offering a sacrifice to God.= Illustrated by Saul of Tarsus (see Acts 25:9), and by the proverb found in the Rabbinical books, “Whoever sheds the blood of the impious does the same as if he had offered a sacrifice;” not less illustrated by the history of religious persecutions, in which the persecutor has very generally believed that by slaying the heretic he was appeasing God’s wrath against the community and the church. Such an experience, if it came without forewarning, would endanger their faith. “It would be a strange result; fellowship with their brethren destroyed because they proclaimed the ground of fellowship; death inflicted upon them because they preached that death was overcome. Might not poor Galileans, conscious of folly and sin, often say to themselves: ‘We must be wrong; the rulers of the land must be wiser than we are. Ought we to turn the world upside down for an opinion of ours?’”--(_Maurice._) This is always a temptation in times when Christian principle seems counter to public sentiment, a temptation not merely to abandon Christian principle in order to conform to public sentiment, but to think the principle which commends itself to so few and arouses the hostility of so many cannot be sound. [The Greek student will find in Alford’s and Meyer’s interpretation of ἵνα, _that_, a curious illustration of the straits to which the commentator is put who insists on giving it always its accurate (_telic_), never its more popular (_ecbatic_) signification. They are compelled, in order to be consistent, to read this declaration, _The hour cometh in order that whosoever_, etc., that is, that which shall happen in the hour is regarded as the object of its coming; it is ordained for that purpose.]

3 And these[604] things will they do unto you, because they[605] have not known the Father, nor me.

[604] ch. 15:21.

[605] 1 Cor. 2:8; 1 Tim. 1:13.

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.

=3, 4. And these things will they do unto you because they have not known the Father nor me.= The root of all religious intolerance is a narrow, false, pagan conception of God. Intolerance is impossible in a heart which rightly appreciates God as manifested in Christ Jesus, and sincerely seeks to please him by imbibing his Spirit and imitating his example and method. On the other hand, a conscience uninstructed by a measurably correct conception of God becomes itself an instigator of the most remorseless cruelty. The cause of the wrong is in not receiving as a little child the teaching of Christ, and even of nature (Matt. 5:45), respecting the comprehensiveness of the Divine love. All intolerance is rooted in self-worship, making a god of our own self-will.--=But these things have I told you that when the hour has come ye may call to mind these things, that I have told you them. But these things I have not told you from the beginning, because I was with you.= What are _these things_? Most commentators understand Christ to refer to his prophecies in verses 2 and 3, and they understand his meaning to be, _I have forewarned you of those persecutions, that when they come upon you you may remember that I did forewarn you of them_. But this interpretation is not consistent with the added words, _These things I have not told you from the beginning_; for the prophecies of future perils which threatened them are quite as clear in Matt. 10:17-22, 28; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-17, as they are here. Meyer and Godet even suppose that Matthew has inserted the warnings in his Gospel (ch. 10) out of their place, taking them from Christ’s discourse here; and the explanations given by other commentators, if they violate the text less, violate its meaning more. Luthardt gives them all briefly. _These things_, I think, are not merely the prophecy of the persecutions which are to fall upon the disciples; they are the whole comforting and inspiring instructions of this discourse respecting the person, advent, presence, and indwelling grace and power of the Spirit of Truth and Holiness. The phrase is used here as in ch. 14:25; 15:11, 17; 16:1, 6. Combining these verses, we get Christ’s object in this whole instruction in the truth of the Divine Immanence, namely, that the disciples may be prepared for the progressive teaching of the Spirit of Truth; that their Master’s joy in the Holy Spirit may be theirs, and so their joy may be full; that their lives may abound in the fruits of a love that is nourished only by the indwelling of the Spirit; that in trial and persecution they may not be offended and induced to abandon faith in him as their Master; and he urges them when this trial hour comes upon them to recall to mind this teaching respecting the indwelling and ever-abiding Comforter, teaching not given before except in hints and suggestions, rudimentary and fragmentary, because while he was yet with them in the flesh they could and notably did depend upon him.

5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?

6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow[606] hath filled your heart.

[606] verse 22.

=5, 6. But now I go away.= Not _my way_; the idea of departure simply is conveyed by the original.--=And no one of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? but because I have said these things unto you sorrow hath filled your heart.= The first clause is not literally true. Peter directly, Thomas indirectly, had asked, Whither goest thou? (ch. 13:36; 14:5). It is to be interpreted by the latter clause. The meaning is, Instead of turning your thoughts towards me and my future glory, and asking after my Father and my home, which you would do with rejoicing if you loved me supremely (ch. 14:28), your thoughts are on your own loneliness in the future when I shall have left you, and because of it sorrow has completely filled your heart, that is, to the exclusion of every other thought. My words should bring you comfort; they bring you pain. There is a pathetic reproach in Christ’s language, easily comprehended by every pastor who has attempted to point sorrowing souls to the invisible world, only to see their grief burst out afresh at the awakened recollection of the earthly loss. Notice, your _heart_, not hearts; the singular is used, as in Rom. 1:21, because they are so thoroughly a unit in their common feeling of sorrow. Stier notices the contrast between the experience of these same disciples now and at the subsequent parting at the ascension: “These are the same disciples who afterwards, when their risen Lord had ascended to heaven, without any pang at parting with him, returned with great joy to Jerusalem (Luke 24:52).” A practical lesson to every mourner here, as in ch. 14:28, is that he should not allow a selfish sorrow to fill his heart so completely that he cannot follow in his thoughts the loved one to his heavenly home.

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.

=7. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is for your benefit that I am going away.= The original is stronger than our English version; the implication is plainly, as Alford gives it, “that the dispensation of the Spirit is a more blessed manifestation of God than was even the bodily presence of the risen Saviour,” and the reasons why it is so are intimated in previous parts of this discourse. See especially ch. 14:16, 17, notes.--=For if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you.= He does not say will not come, but will not come _unto you_. Hitherto the Spirit had been given only to men especially fitted by their spiritual nature to receive its teachings and to become in turn teachers to others. After the death and resurrection of Christ the Spirit was given to the church universal, to all believers. See Acts 2:8. The language therefore does not prove, according to Alford, that “the gift of the Spirit at and since Pentecost was and is something totally distinct from anything before that time.” The difference consisted in its universal bestowal, whereas before it was limited to a few. Why could not the Spirit be sent until Christ had first gone away? Because it is impossible for men to live at the same time by faith and by sight. So long as the disciples had a visible manifestation of God with them, they would not and could not turn their thoughts inward to that more sacred but less easily recognized manifestation which could not be seen, and therefore could be known only by spiritual apprehension.

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

=8. And coming, that one shall convince the world respecting sin and respecting righteousness and respecting judgment.= In this and the three succeeding verses Christ describes briefly the office and work of the Holy Spirit. As the advent of Christ was itself a preparation for the dispensation of the Spirit, and as in his departure he points his disciples to the indwelling of that Spirit as the source of their hope, their joy, their love, their entire spiritual life, these verses, in which he points out specifically the manner in which the Spirit will develop this spiritual life, may be regarded as the heart of this discourse. To attempt to give the various opinions of conflicting commentators on this passage would almost inevitably entangle the mind of the student in a mesh of contradictory interpretations, and would obscure rather than clarify the meaning. I have therefore, with Alford, “preferred giving pointedly what I believe to be the sense of this most important passage, to stringing together a multitude of opinions on it, seeing that of even the best commentators no two bring out exactly the same shade of meaning, and thus classification is next to impossible.” Much depends on the right reading of the five words rendered in our English version _reprove_, _world_, _sin_, _righteousness_, and _judgment_, and I believe that very much of the difficulty in interpretation has grown out of imputing to these words a theological and scholastic meaning instead of taking them according to their most simple and natural meaning. (1) The word _reprove_, which I have rendered _convince_, properly signifies to convince one of truth in such a way as to convict him of wrong-doing. It is rendered _tell_ him his _fault_ (Matt. 18:15); _reprove_ (Luke 3:19; John 3:20); _convict_ (John 8:9); _convince_ of sin (John 8:46; 1 Cor. 14:24); _rebuke_ (Titus 2:15; Rev. 3:19). Here, then, the meaning is that the Holy Spirit will so bring to the world’s consciousness the spiritual truths respecting sin, righteousness, and judgment that the world will stand self-convicted. (2) _The world_ is here, as always with John, the great mass of humanity, not necessarily excluding believers, but in contrast with the distinctive body of believers. This world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth, for it seeth him not, neither knoweth him (ch. 14:17). Nevertheless it is this unseen and unknown Spirit who can alone convince and convict the world. The disciples “are to despair of its ever coming from them; they are to be sure it will come from the Spirit with which He will endue them. Not they, but He, will convince the world; because, though the world may not receive Him neither know Him, it has been formed to receive all quickening life from Him; it must confess His presence, even if it would hide itself from His presence.”--(_Maurice._) (3) _Sin_ is primarily a miss or wandering, but in the N. T. only in a moral sense, that is, a wandering or turning away from the line of truth and righteousness. It is the first office of the Holy Spirit to show the world how this turning away from righteousness is the great folly, the mistake in comparison with which all other mistakes are as nothing (Prov. 1:32; 8:36). (4) _Righteousness_ is primarily rectitude, uprightness, perfectitude of character. John’s use of the term is indicated by his employment of it in 1 John 2:29; 3:7, 10, “He that doeth righteousness is righteous.” To understand the language here to refer to any doctrine of an imputed or transferred righteousness is to import into the simple language of the Master theological ideas born of scholasticism and belonging to a later date. The meaning is that he who convicts the world of having departed from righteousness will also bring to the world’s consciousness a realization of the elements of true righteousness of character. (5) _Judgment_ is primarily moral discrimination, whether exercised by God or man; its use, to signify a tribunal, whether human (Matt. 5:21, 22) or divine, as in the frequent use of it to signify the day of judgment (Matt. 12:42; Luke 10:14; Heb. 9:27), is secondary. John always uses it in the primary sense of moral and spiritual discernment, except in 1 John 4:17, where he defines his meaning by employing the phrase _day of judgment_. The third truth of which the Holy Spirit will convince the world will be the true divine canons of moral judgment. The general declaration, then, is that the Holy Spirit when he comes will convict the world, by bringing to its spiritual consciousness the truth respecting sin, or wandering from God and his law; righteousness, or the divine ideal of character; and judgment, or the true principles of spiritual discrimination.

9 Of sin,[607] because they believe not on me;

[607] Rom. 3:20; 7:9.

10 Of righteousness,[608] because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

[608] Isa. 42:21; Rom. 1:17.

11 Of judgment,[609] because[610] the prince of this world is judged.

[609] Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:2; Rev. 20:12, 13.

[610] ch. 12:31.

=9-11. Concerning sin, because they have not had faith upon me.= _Because_ indicates, not the reason why the Spirit shall convince of sin, but the nature and evidence of the sin itself. It may be rendered _in that_. The meaning is not, The Holy Spirit will convince of sin because they have not had faith, but, That they have sinned in that they have not had faith. The fact that the character of Christ does not call forth the moral and spiritual affections of the soul is the strongest evidence of that soul’s insensibility; and the fact that the offer of free pardon and the impartation of a new spiritual life is not accepted, demonstrates that continuance under condemnation and in sin is the soul’s free choice. Thus the sin of the world both consists in and is demonstrated by its rejection of Christ (ch. 3:18-21); not by any intellectual opinion entertained respecting him, but by the lack of spiritual appreciation and the failure to give to him and his teaching the welcome of an affectionate and obedient faith.--=Concerning righteousness, because I go away to my Father and ye see me no more.= Christ is himself the ideal of human character, the divine righteousness interpreted by a human life. But this righteousness was not, and could not be, comprehended while Christ still lived in the flesh among men. The eyes of men were fastened upon the apparent ignominy of his position and circumstances, and the divine love which is interpreted to us by his humiliation was to his contemporaries obscured by it. It was necessary that he should go away to his Father before the world could begin to appreciate the sacred meaning of a life which was so wholly laid down for others. So, habitually, the world learns the meaning of a life after it has ended, and honors after death those whom it has despised while living, and forgets after death those whom it has honored while living. The Holy Spirit convinces the world respecting true righteousness of character, by spiritually interpreting to it, through the ages, the glory of one who could only be understood after he had gone away to the Father and the world saw him no more. To appreciate his righteousness they must look on him by faith and not by sight. The more common explanation (see _Godet_ and _Meyer_) that he who was put to death as a sinner was proved to be righteous by his resurrection and ascension is inadmissible, because Christ here says nothing of his resurrection or his ascension; he uses the same phraseology which he has previously employed in this discourse in speaking of his death (ch. 13:33, 36; 14:28; 16:5); and because he adds emphasis to the truth that it is his _departure from them_, not his visible exaltation or ascension to which he refers, by adding to the words “because I go to my Father” the explanatory clause “and ye see me no more.”--=Concerning judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.= Comp. John 12:31. In the history of the race, the methods, principles, and policies of the world and its prince are being perpetually tried and perpetually proved false by their results. Thus the world and its prince are ever being judged, and humanity, by the progressive teaching of the Holy Spirit, interpreting the book of God’s Providence, are being taught the divine canons of moral and spiritual judgment. This work is represented here, as in ch. 12:32, as being completed in the death of Christ (κέκριται, perf.), because the crucifixion of Christ, the consummate work of the Evil One, was at once his apparent victory and his real defeat. In the crucifixion he pre-eminently had his own way, and by the crucifixion he is defeated throughout the ages. Thus it is in and by the cross that he is pre-eminently judged. On the phrase _prince of this world_, see John 12:31; 14:30; and comp. Ephes. 2:2. Interpreting it to mean Christ is contrary to all N. T. usage. In all this threefold work the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ (ver. 14); it convicts the world of sin, by showing what a Saviour it has rejected; it teaches the world of righteousness, by showing the world in Christ the divine ideal of sanctified humanity; and it educates the world in judgment, by the perpetual contrast between the policies of the world and the enduring and peace-bringing principles of Christ, demonstrating in the cross that the weakness of Christ is stronger than the strength of Satan, and the defeat of Christ is a victory over Satan. See 1 Cor. 1:23-25.

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye[611] cannot bear them now.

[611] Heb. 5:12.

=12. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.= This was Christ’s last conference with his disciples, and in his interviews with them after the resurrection he added very little to the instructions previously given to them. Clearly, therefore, he here implies a progressive teaching to be afforded by him through the Spirit to the church in the future ages. It is of this future teaching he speaks in this and the next three verses. These truths the disciples could not then bear, that is, _lift up and take away with them_ (βαστάξω), because they had not yet the mental and spiritual strength. Among the truths which were thus too much for them, and which were mercifully concealed from their knowledge, was the long period which must intervene before the spiritual work of the church could be completed and the world be ready for the Second Coming of its Lord. Christ’s language clearly implies that he held back phases of truth for which his disciples were not ready, and thus affords a clear example and divine authority for the religious teacher, who may never suppress the truth because it is unpopular--this Christ never did--but who may and should adapt his teaching of the truth to the spiritual capacity of his hearers.

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he[612] will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, _that_ shall he speak: and he[613] will shew you things to come.

[612] ch. 14:26.

[613] Rev. 1:1, 19.

=13. Howbeit when that one= (ἐκεῖνος, emphatic), =the Spirit, is come, he will guide you into all the truth=. “The term guide (ὁδηγέω, _to show the road_) presents the Spirit under the image of a guide conducting a traveler in an unknown country. This country is truth.”--(_Godet._) This guidance is given to the church throughout all ages, leading them by gradual processes into ever higher and broader conceptions of divine truth.--=For he shall not speak from himself.= _From_ (ἀπό) marks the remote or ultimate origin or cause. As Christ traces all the source of his own authority back to the Father, who dwelleth in him (ch. 5:19, 30; 7:28; 14:20), so he traces back to the same source the authority of the Holy Spirit. Thus he guards his disciples against that subtle tritheism which regards the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as practically three deities. See ch. 15:26. Both the Son and the Spirit take those things which they receive of the Father and give to the believer, and the object of their ministry is to bring the believer into fellowship with the Father.--=And he will show you things to come.= Rather _the coming things_. As the coming one (ὁ ἐρχόμενος) (Matt. 3:11; Rev. 1:4) is the Messiah, and as the coming world (Mark 10:30) is the Messiah’s kingdom, so the coming things (τὰ ἐρχόμενα) are those things which are connected with the future advent and the final kingdom of the Messiah. The Holy Spirit shall not merely bring all things which their Lord has taught them to the disciples’ remembrance (ch. 14:26), but shall also teach them concerning the things of the future; he shall inspire their hope as well as clarify their memory. This promise of Christ was primarily fulfilled in the prophetic hopes and anticipations inspired in the early church, and in the prophetic character given to many of the apostolic utterances, _e. g._, Rom. 11:25-32; 1 Cor. 15:50-53; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14. But this office of the Spirit was not consummated in apostolic times; those who submit themselves to his guidance and instruction will still press forward toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, ever looking for that blessed and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. “He will not allow us to be satisfied with our advanced knowledge or great discoveries, but will always be showing us things that are coming; giving us an apprehension of truths that we have not yet reached, though they be truths which are ‘the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.’”--(_Maurice._)

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

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

=14, 15. He shall magnify me.= That is, the office of the Spirit shall be to magnify Christ, his character, his work. See above on verses 9-11. Any pretended dispensation of the Spirit which draws the thought of the world away from Christ to some other and independent authority is spurious, whether it be that of ecclesiastical tradition as of the Church of Rome, or that of the mysticism which substitutes an inner light for the word and authority of Christ, or that of spiritism, introducing in lieu of that word communications with the spirit world. That only is the message of the Holy Spirit which tends to magnify Christ.--=He shall receive of mine, and shall it show unto you.= To receive of Christ (λαμβάνω) is to accept, acknowledge, and follow his instructions as a teacher. This use of the word is especially marked in John’s employment of it in respect to Christ, _e. g._, ch. 1:12; 5:43; 13:20. The declaration, then, is that the Holy Spirit comes not to gainsay or cancel, and not even, in strictness of speech, to add to the instructions of Christ, but to accept them, and accepting, interpret them, giving to them in the future apprehension of the church a profounder significance than they had or could have in the apprehension of his own contemporaries.--=All things that the Father hath are mine; therefore said I=, etc. We are not, however, to imagine that Christ’s teaching is confined to the words uttered by him in the flesh and reported to us in the Gospels. All things that the Father hath are his; the book of nature and the book of Providence are his as truly as the spoken and reported word. And in receiving and spiritually interpreting the testimony of nature and life, the Holy Spirit is receiving from him and showing to us. If we understand his teaching aright, we shall always see in it Christ magnified.

In these verses (7-15) Christ points out more specifically than he has previously done to his disciples, and through them to us, the office of the Holy Spirit and the nature of his dispensation. It is for our benefit that the manifestation of God in the flesh and to the sense has ceased, in order that the inward manifestation to the faith--profounder, broader, and more universal--may take its place. This invisible but indwelling Spirit comes that he may teach the world the reality and greatness of its sin, the true conception of righteousness, and the canons of a divine spiritual discernment. This work of the Spirit is a perpetually progressive work, guiding, by successive steps, the church into the way of all truth. In it the Spirit speaks from and by authority of the Father, and concerning the future, turning the thoughts of the believer ever toward a larger knowledge and a higher and diviner life; albeit in all he acts not as a revealer of a new Gospel, but as an interpreter of the teachings of Christ, in the written word and in all the things of God, in nature and life, which are themselves the things of Christ; so that the dispensation of the Spirit is not an addition to but an essential part of Christianity, the revealing in its fullness to the ever-growing spiritual apprehension of the church the truth of and from Christ.

16 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.

=16. Yet a little while and ye shall not see me= (θεωρέω), =and again a little while and ye shall perceive me= (ὁράω), =because I go away to the Father=. There is some doubt respecting the last clause, _because I go to the Father_; it is omitted by Alford, Meyer, Luthardt, and Tischendorf, queried by Lachmann, retained by Godet. But the fact that the phrase reappears in the disciples’ expression of their perplexity, in the next verse, seems to me to furnish very nearly conclusive evidence that it belongs here. Those who omit it here suppose that the disciples put with what he has just now said, what he had previously said in ver. 10. Observe the contrast between the first and second seeing; two different verbs are both rendered _see_; the one signifies properly an external perception by the senses; the other is also used to indicate a mental or spiritual perception, and that appears to be its meaning here. In a little while Christ should be no longer visibly present with his disciples; a little while more, and, in the dispensation of the Spirit inaugurated at Pentecost, they should again perceive him by spiritual apprehension. It is evident that Christ does not refer to his Second Coming, both because he changes the form of the verb, so indicating another and unsensuous seeing, and because not a little but a long while was to elapse between the departure of the Lord and his Second Coming.

17 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?

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

19 Now Jesus knew[614] that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, A little[615] while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?

[614] ch. 2:24, 25.

[615] verse 16; ch. 7:33; 13:33; 14:19.

=17-19.= The disciples, however, had no other thought of any second advent of their Master than that in which they should sensuously see as well as spiritually perceive him. They therefore ask among themselves what he means by this distinction between _seeing_ and _perceiving_ him. Their difficulty was the same as that previously expressed by Judas, with the analogous declaration of Christ that he would manifest himself to them (ch. 14:22). It was enhanced by Christ’s statement that this new manifestation to the spirit should be in a little while; for in his discourse on the Last Day (see Matt., ch. 24, notes) he had plainly implied that a long interval of trial and persecution must intervene before his Second Coming in power and glory. They therefore inquire in whispers of one another what he means by this, “_Ye shall not see me, and ye shall perceive me_,” and what by “_A little while_.” Their fear to ask Christ is one of the many indications of the peculiar awe which his presence inspired in them; their love was reverential, not familiar; the love of a child for an honored teacher, not that of an equal (Mark 9:32; Luke 9:45). See further, note on verses 29, 30, below.

20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye[616] shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

[616] Luke 24:17, 21.

=20. Ye shall weep and lament * * * ye shall be sorrowful.= These three different words are used to express the same substantial idea; not to convey different shades of meaning, but to give emphasis, and to indicate the largeness and breadth of the impending anguish of the disciples. _To weep_ (κλαίω) is a general word including every external expression of grief; _to lament_ (θρηνέω) is somewhat more specifically to wail, and is used respecting the lamentation of hired mourners (see notes on Mark 5:38; Luke 23:27); _to be sorrowful_ (λυπέω) is more spiritual, and expresses the feeling of the heart rather than any outward expression. The disciples lamented the death of Christ at the time of his crucifixion, and their lamentation was in striking contrast with the malignant joy of the world (comp. Matt. 27:39-44 with John 19:25-27). They experienced in the apparent shame of their Master’s ignominious death a deep, heartfelt sorrow, but it was turned into joy when later they saw in the cross the manifestation of the wisdom and glory of God (1 Cor. 1:23-25).

21 A woman[617] 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.

[617] Isa. 26:17.

22 And ye[618] now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your[619] heart shall rejoice, and your joy[620] no man taketh from you.

[618] verse 6.

[619] ch. 20:20; Luke 24:41, 52.

[620] 1 Pet. 1:8.

=21, 22. A woman when she brings forth hath sorrow.= The figure of a woman in travail is used in the O. T. to illustrate sudden and great anguish (Isa. 21:3; 26:17; 66:7; Hos. 13:13; Micah 4:9, 10). Christ lays hold upon this familiar figure and gives it a new signification, indicating that the pain is but a preparation for and a presage of a greater joy. And this is generally the N. T. use of the figure (Matt. 24:8, note; Rom. 8:22). The contrast is an instructive illustration of the difference between the O. T. and the N. T. We are not mystically to interpret the figure here by saying that the travail of the Son of God was necessary in order to bring the Messiah forth as a King and lawgiver. However true this may be, it is not the truth here enforced. Christ speaks not of his own suffering for sinners, but of the suffering of the disciples in and because of him; and this suffering he declares will be forgotten when it has accomplished its purpose and brought forth its fruits in and for them. See the same general truth illustrated by Rom. 5:3-5; Heb. 12:11. Observe that, as above, the sorrow is not merely displaced by joy, but is _turned into joy_; the travail is not merely followed by gladness, but brings forth that which is the cause of the gladness. Comp. Rom. 8:18, where the glory is represented as revealed in us because of the sufferings, and Heb. 12:11, where the fruits of chastening are promised only to those that are “exercised thereby.” Comp. Rev. 7:14.--=I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.= But he does not say, Ye shall see me again. He is speaking not of his second and visible coming, but of his spiritual and invisible presence. His words are interpreted to us by history, and the distinction between the two is plain; to the apostles they were not so interpreted, and upon the traditional report of such words as these the apostolic church may have built its hope of Christ’s Second Coming in their own time. _I will see you_ expresses Christ’s sympathy for his church in all their experiences, whether of joy or sorrow. See Rev. 1:12, 13; 2:1. He weeps with those that weep, and rejoices with those that rejoice; not a hair of the head perishes, not a sparrow in the church falls without his knowledge. _Your heart shall rejoice_ foretells such experiences as those of Peter and other apostles (Acts 5:41), Stephen (Acts 6:15), Paul and Silas (Acts 16:25), etc.--=And your joy no one taketh away from you.= Because it is Christ’s joy (ch. 15:11), a joy in God (Phil. 3:1; 4:1), which is _in_ the new-born soul, not merely given _to_ it, and therefore cannot be taken from it by any experience whatever (Rom. 8:28, 37-39).

23 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.

24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask,[621] and ye shall receive, that your[622] joy may be full.

[621] Matt. 7:7, 8; James 4:2, 3.

[622] ch. 15:11.

=23, 24. And in that day ye shall inquire nothing of me. Verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father he will give it to you in my name.= In our English version two different Greek words are rendered by the word _ask_ in this verse, suggesting a contrast which does not exist in the original. Christ does not distinguish between two epochs in Christian experience; in the earlier and more imperfect one prayer being offered to Christ, in the later and perfected one prayer being offered directly to the Father. He specifies two distinct blessings which shall attend upon the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. The disciples, perplexed by Christ’s enigmatical language, had desired but feared to ask an explanation (verses 17, 18). Christ tells them that when the Holy Spirit shall have come with his illuminating and quickening influences, they shall no longer be perplexed by truths which now they cannot understand. In that day they shall no longer need to interrogate him for an interpretation. Then he adds that this dispensation shall be one of great power in prayer: Whatsoever ye shall request the Father he will give it you. “There is not in this verse a contrast drawn between asking _the Son_, which shall cease, and asking _the Father_, which shall begin; but the first half of the verse closes the declaration of one blessing, namely, that hereafter they shall be so taught by the Spirit as to have nothing further _to inquire_; the second half of the verse begins the declaration of a new blessing, that whatsoever they shall _seek_ from the Father in the Son’s name, he will give it them.”--(_Trench._) And in fact one of the first and most notable influences of the descent of the Spirit was to make clear to the minds of the apostles those spiritual truths concerning the character of Christ and his kingdom which had theretofore been hidden from their eyes. And ever since, growth in spiritual life has made clear sayings which are dark and incomprehensible to the unspiritual. The reading, _He will give to you in my name_, is preferable to the reading of the Received Text, _Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name_, (_Tischendorf_, _Meyer_, _Alford_.) But the fact that the Father gives in the name of Christ, by whom He made, sustains, and governs the world (Col. 1:16-20; Heb. 1:1, 2), and through whom all his redeeming love is manifested to his earthly children, presupposes that they present their requests through him as their Mediator, that is, in His name.--=Until now ye have asked nothing in my name; ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.= Not until the descent of the Holy Spirit did the disciples recognize Christ as a Divine Mediator and Intercessor. Prayer out of Christ is offered to a God from whom the soul is separated by a consciousness of sin (Isa. 59:2). Such prayer is often one of wrestling and of anguish; and the deeper the consciousness of sin the greater the mental and spiritual stress. Christ lays emphasis here upon the fact that his disciples are to pray in his name, that is, standing in his stead, the prophecies of the O. T. fulfilled and their sins and iniquities blotted out as a thick cloud (Isa. 44:22), and they themselves brought into filial relations with the Father, reconciled unto God, and receiving the Spirit of Adoption whereby they cry Abba Father (Rom. 8:15). Thus prayer, which in the O. T. was often characterized by fear and wrestling (Gen. 18:27, 30, 32; Exod. 32:31, 32; Psalms 42, 43), is in the N. T. almost always characterized by joy and thanksgiving (Ephes. 3:14-21; Col. 1:9, 12; 2 Thess. 1:11, 12). In the reading of this direction of Christ respecting prayer we are to interpret the direction to ask in Christ’s name and the declaration that the Father will give in Christ’s name by the experience of the apostolic church, who did all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 20:31; Acts 2:38; 3:6; 5:28; 9:27; 10:43; 16:18; Rom. 1:8; 1 Cor. 6:11; Ephes. 1:21; Phil. 2:9, 10; Rev. 2:3, 13; 22:4).

25 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.

26 At that day[623] ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:

[623] verse 23.

27 For the Father[624] himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I[625] came out from God.

[624] ch. 14:21, 23.

[625] verse 30; ch. 17:8.

=25-27. These things have I spoken unto you in figures; * * * but I shall show you plainly of the Father.= In the imperfection of human language all teaching respecting spiritual things is of necessity in figures. Christ’s teaching, not only to the multitude, but to his own disciples, and in this last interview, was figurative. See for example ch. 14:2, 16, 18; 15:1; 16:21. But he foretells a time in which these spiritual truths shall be spiritually revealed (1 Cor. 2:9, 10). “The entire human language is a parable, as it does not admit of adequate expression concerning some things. The Lord therefore contrasts with the use of this feeble medium of communication the employment of one more internal and more real. By the impartation of his Spirit, the Lord teaches the knowledge of the nature of God freely and openly (παῤῥησίᾳ), without any fear of a misunderstanding.”--(_Olshausen._)--=At that day ye shall ask in my name; and I say not to you that I will request the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me and have had faith that I come from the presence of the Father.= Or _from God_; there is some uncertainty as to the reading. Christ does not say that he will not request the Father on behalf of his disciples; but if we take the whole sentence in its connections he does clearly teach, not only that no intercession is required to win the love of the Father, but also that they who have loved Christ, and have spiritually recognized the divine life manifested in him, are thereby brought into direct personal communion with the Father, and need no intercessor. “While their hearts are the temples of the Holy Ghost and they maintain communion with the Father they will need no other advocate; but ‘If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous’ (1 John 2:1).”--(_Watkins._) Beware of supposing that this passage impliedly teaches that the Father’s love depends on the prior faith and love of the disciple. The contrary doctrine is abundantly taught in the Bible, and nowhere more clearly than in the writings of John (ch. 3:16; 1 John 4:9, 10, 19). But love has many inflections, and the fullness of the Divine love is possible only to those who by love and faith enter into the adoption of the children of God. The love of the father to the prodigal in the far country is not the same as the love to the same son, clothed and in his right mind, sitting at his father’s board.

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

=28.= “This verse,” says Bengel, “contains the most important recapitulation;” “a simple and grand summary of Christ’s entire life, his origin, his incarnation, and his destiny,” Meyer calls it. It is this, but also more than this. The disciples have believed that Christ came from the Father; Christ seizes on this belief that he may awaken their hope by leading them to see that in going from the world he must return to the Father. Thus he leads back their minds to the declaration, “If ye loved me ye would rejoice because I go unto the Father” (ch. 14:28).

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

30 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.

=29, 30.= These verses clearly show a change in the spirit of the disciples. They had begun the supper by a contention for the first place at the table. They had almost scouted at Christ’s prophecy of their desertion (Matt. 26:33-35). The questionings of Thomas, Philip, and Judas (ch. 14:5, 8, 22) indicate not only perplexity, but a state of semi-skepticism, removed from absolute disbelief on the one hand and from unquestioning faith on the other. This spirit is abated as the conference proceeds, and it is because the disciples are ashamed to confess it that they question with bated breath among themselves the meaning of his words, “A little while and ye shall not see me, and again a little while and ye shall perceive me” (verses 17-19). Now they declare their doubts allayed; there is no need to question him further; they are convinced that he knows all things; they are willing to take his declarations without questioning; this absolute credence they declare as the evidence of their faith that he came forth from God. They do not profess fully to understand their Master, only fully to believe him. Augustine’s remark, therefore, is more epigrammatic than just: “They so little understand that they do not even understand that they do not understand. For they were babes.”

31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?

32 Behold,[626] 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[627] am not alone, because the Father is with me.

[626] Matt. 26:31; Mark 14:27.

[627] ch. 8:29; Isa. 50:7, 9.

=31, 32. Do ye now believe?= Most of the commentators take this affirmatively, _Ye do now believe_, and the original is capable of either construction. Our English version seems to me preferable. Christ does not indeed deny their faith, but he questions it, that he may lead them to question themselves. He cautions them that their faith in his divine origin, sweet as it may be to them in this hour of quiet conference, is not sufficiently strong to stand in the hour of treachery, peril, and death. So many a disciple has had faith in divine principles and truths in the hour of his quiet meditation upon them, which he has deserted when holding fast to them would involve suffering.--=And ye shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.= This sentence is one of those parenthetical asides which give us a glimpse of the inmost heart of Christ: his spiritual loneliness, and the temper of his solitude. See Robertson’s Sermon on the _Loneliness of Christ_.

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me[628] ye might have peace. In[629] the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.

[628] ch. 14:27; Rom. 5:1; Ephes. 2:14.

[629] ch. 15:19-21; 2 Tim. 3:12.

=33. These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace.= By _these things_ is meant the whole discourse contained in chaps. 14, 15, and 16. Comp. ch. 14:27; 16:4, notes.--=In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good courage, I have conquered the world.= Thus Christ ends as he began this discourse, with encouragement. In Christ we have peace, because in Christ we are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37. Comp. 2 Cor. 4:7; 6:4-10). Meyer well remarks that Paul’s whole life is a commentary on this verse; and Luther, whose life was a scarcely less eloquent interpretation, thus paraphrases it: “The game is already won. Do not be afraid that I will send you thither to venture it at your own risk. The victory is already there, only be undespairing and hold fast to it.”