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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadSpurgeon Verse Expositions - John 16:16 - 16:33
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Our Lord is speaking to his disciples before his departure from them to be crucified, and he says:
Joh_16:16. 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.
It is wonderful how he could talk thus calmly about his death, knowing that it would be a death of bitter shame and terrible agony. Yet he does, as it were, pass over that view of it as he says, “A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me,” — “ because I die?” No. “Because I am crucified?” No; but, “because I go to the Father.” Beloved, always think of your departure out of the world in the same light: “I go to the Father.” Do not say, “I die; I languish upon the bed of pain; I expire.” No; but, “I go to the Father.”
Joh_16:17-18. 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.
Then why not ask him? But are not you and I often very slow to ask the meaning of the Master’s words? You read in Scripture something that you cannot understand, and you say to yourself, “I cannot make out the meaning of that chapter;” but do you always pray over it, and ask the Writer to tell you what he intended when he wrote it? It is a grand thing to have this Inspired Book, and it is a grander thing still to have the Spirit of God, who inspired it, abiding with his people for ever; but we fail to learn many a secret from the Word because we do not pray our way into it. He who does not know can scarcely have his ignorance pitied when it remains willful; if you can know for the asking, why not ask?
Joh_16:19. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire 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?
They might have inquired a long while among themselves, and all in vain; but to go to their Lord was the short way out of the difficulty, for he could explain it. See how ready he is to explain, for he expounds the truth even to those who had not asked for an exposition. In this matter, he was found of them that sought him not. Knowing that they were desirous to ask, he accepted the will for the deed, the wish for the prayer; and he answered the secret longing of their heart.
Joh_16:20. Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice:
“I am going away from you, and while I am gone, it will be all weeping and lamenting with you; but while I am gone, the world shall have its hour of triumph, it shall think that I am slain, and that my cause is defeated.”
Joh_16:20-21. 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.
So, when Christ came back again, they would remember no more the sorrow of their travail hour in which they saw him bound, and spat upon, and taken off to execution, and mocked upon the tree. The joy that would come of it all would obliterate the remembrance of the sorrow.
Joh_16:22-23. 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.
“Ye shall not need to make anymore inquiries of me, for everything shall then be explained to you by the Spirit.”
Joh_16:23. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
“This shall be one fruit; of my passion, that, henceforth, whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father, in my name, shall be given to you; and though you may not, perhaps, address your prayers to me personally, yet addressed to the Father, in my name, they shall succeed.”
Joh_16:24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name:
“Ye have not yet learnt how to use my name in prayer.” Our Lord had not yet taught them so to pray; but now we know what it is to ask in the name of Christ, it is to pray with the authority of the risen and glorified Son of God.
Joh_16:24. Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
See how our Lord continues to drive at that point, for he would have his people happy. He wants you, beloved, to be ‘joy-full’ — full of joy; not merely to have a little joy hidden away in a corner somewhere, but “that your joy may be full.”
Joh_16:25-26. 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 show you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shalt ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
Though that is, indeed, what our Lord does.
Joh_16:27. For the Father himself loveth you,-
“The Father, whom you are so apt to think of as sterner than myself, and farther off than I, the Son of man am, ‘the Father himself loveth you,’”—
Joh_16:27. Because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
Have you, dear friends, love to Christ? Do you believe that Christ came forth from God? Then does the Father give his special love to you.
Joh_16:28. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
Had he not clearly explained what he meant by being absent a little while, and then coming back again?
Joh_16:29-30. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure-
Now they can give reasons for the hope that is in them. “Now are we sure”—
Joh_16:30.That thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
They are very positive; but notice the check that our Lord put upon all this confident assurance.
Joh_16:31-32. 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.
Whenever there is any boasting upon your lips, even though you may think that you can rightly say, “Now we are sure,” stop a bit, dear friends, stop a bit. We have not any of us all the good we think we have; nay, they who think themselves perfect think the most amiss. They are altogether mistaken, and there is some latent unbelief even where faith is strongest. Christ still asks, “Do ye now believe?” You have only to be sufficiently tried, and to be tempted long enough, and in that very point where you think you are strongest you will fail. “Now are we sure,” say the confident disciples. “Ah!” says Christ, “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.”
Joh_16:32. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
How gloriously is that blessed truth put in just here! The awful solitude that Christ was about to pass through can hardly be understood by us. It was not only that every friend forsook him, but that there was not under heaven a single person who could sympathize with him. He was going through deeps that no other could ever fathom, he was to bear griefs which no other could ever bear. Ye may indeed sip of his cup, but ye can never drink it to its dregs as he did. Ye may be baptized with his baptism; but into the depths of the abyss of woe into which he was immersed, ye cannot come. Alone! Alone! Never was there a human being so much alone as was the man Christ Jesus in that dread hour; and yet he says, “I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” O brave Master, make us also brave! May we be willing to stand alone for thy sake, and to feel that we are never so little alone as when we are alone with thee!
Joh_16:33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.
Your Lord wants you to have peace. Come, then, ye tried ones, ye who are tossed about with a thousand troublous thoughts, it is your Master’s wish and will that ye should have peace.
Joh_16:33. In the world ye shall have tribulation:
You have found that true, have you not? Perhaps you are finding it true just now: “In the world ye shall have tribulation.”
Joh_16:33. But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
And in that overcoming he has conquered for you also, and he guarantees to you the victory in his name.
Joh_16:16. 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.
Remember that the disciples were on the verge of great trouble. Their Leader and Friend was about to be taken away from them by a cruel death. They were to be tried as they had never been tried before. The Saviour therefore prepared their minds for the trial. I have often noticed that, before a great trouble comes, the Spirit of God secretly comforts in a very remarkable manner those who are to be tried. Perhaps, tonight, without knowing it, we may be near some great affliction or sorrow. If so, may the Lord store us with comfort and strength for the coming hour of need!
Joh_16:17-18. There 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 shalt 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.
It was only too plain. We often do not understand our Master because we imagine that there is some deep significance in his words when their meaning lies upon the very surface. If you would understand the gospel as you understand the common talk of life, it would be wise. If we could but bring men to believe God as a child believes its mother, practically and really, then their salvation would be a very simple and speedy matter.
Joh_16:19-20. 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:
Sometimes the world appears to have the best of it. Its mouth is full of laughter while the child of God cannot speak for sorrow. Ah! well, there is time enough for a change. We may very well let those laugh today who will have to gnash their teeth for ever. Judge not God by your present circumstances. Take the rough with the smooth. Be willing to go to heaven up the bleak side of the hill.
Joh_16:20. And ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
So, the more of it the better. If your sorrow is to be turned into joy, then the more sorrow, the more joy. Happy is he who endureth trial, since his trial is to be turned into happiness.
Joh_16:21-22. 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 your sorrow is the pang of life.
Joh_16:22. But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
The joy that comes by sorrow in connection with Christ is the joy of which we shall never be bereaved. Let us thank God that there is a joy which no man can take away. Happy are they who have it.
Joh_16:23. 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. This is a grand promise. If we dare ask in the name of Christ, and it is not everything that we could ask for in his name ¾if our petition is such that we honestly judge that we may put Christ’s name to it; if it is a thing that Christ would have asked; if it is a thing that Christ could have asked, let us ask in Christ’s name, and the Father will give it.
Joh_16:24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name:
You have not been bold enough. You have asked a few petty things, but you have never fully made use of Christ’s name. How many Christians have never learned to pray in the name of Christ! They say at the end of their petition, “For Christ’s sake.” That is good as far as it goes. I may ask a man to give me such and such a thing for the sake of another; that is good pleading so far as it goes. But if I dare to use the authority that my friend gives me to put his name at the bottom of my request, that is another and a higher thing. To ask in the name of Christ, to plead under his authority, this is to pray indeed.
Joh_16:24. Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
“That your joy may be full,” a ripe joy, a joy that fills your being, that sparkles in your eye, dances in your feet, leaps in your heart, an unutterable, inexpressible joy: “That your joy may be full.”
Joh_16:25-26. 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:
Though that be true,
Joh_16:27. For the Father himself loveth you,
What a delightful little sentence! “The Father himself loveth you.”
Joh_16:27. Because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
God’s first love to us is from himself alone. Then there is another love that grows in his heart because of our love to his Son. You love your child. The reason lies in your own heart. After a while, that dear, loving, affectionate child has won a farther place in your affection, and you love him because of his choice and special love to you. Remember that Psalm, “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” Our love of God wins from him another love, of a different sort, although it comes from the same fountain as the first: “For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.”
Joh_16:28-30. 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.
One does not see any reason why they should have been made so strong in faith just then. But we were not there to hear Christ’s words. There is many a message, which depends upon the tone and manner of the speaker for its influence over the people who hear it. When you read the story afterwards, without the earnest manner and the living tone of the speaker, you do not see why it had such a strange effect upon his hearers. So we do not quite see here, by the calm reading of this narrative, why the disciples leaped all of a sudden into such confidence.
Joh_16:31. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?
He did not feel so sure of their faith as they did. We often think we have great heaps of the gold of faith; and it glitters very brightly, but it is not the precious metal after all. So Jesus said, “Do ye now believe?”
Joh_16:32. 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 poor creatures, who were so bold and so oversure, would all be runaways. If persecution were to arise in our day, I wonder how many of us would be found true men. Ah! you think you are true blue; but you would run at the first touch of water, not to mention fire. Are there not many of us who are but poor believers? If our faith were sharply tried, would it stand the test?
Joh_16:33. 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.
Christ wants his disciples to have peace. Are you fretting tonight? Are you afraid of Monday? Are you fearful about the trials of the week? Christ wants you to be at peace. Be quiet. Be quiet. Let all be still within your heart, and wait your Father’s will. “In the world ye shall have tribulation:” on God’s threshing-floor the flail will be kept going. If you are a child of God, you will have to suffer. The Captain of our salvation was made perfect through sufferings; and good soldiers of Jesus Christ must expect to pass through the same experience. As long as you are here, you will be tried: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Think of that; the Christ who is about to sweat great drops of blood, and to die on the cross of Calvary, says, “I have overcome.” It is not Julius Caesar’s” Veni, vidi, vici;” but it is Christ’s “Veni, vidi, vici;” ¾“I came, I saw, I conquered:” “I have overcome.” And as he has overcome, so shall you, if you be his true follower.