John Chapter 16 (cont.)
There were "yet many things" the disciples needed to know but they would not be able to "bear", receive, or understand them for the Holy Spirit did not yet dwell within them (v.12). When the Spirit would come He would enable them to understand much more of the things of God. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, would guide the disciples into all the truths God wanted them to know for their blessing and the blessing and guidance of believers in the future. The "Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1 Cor 2.10), and He would communicate to them things He had heard from God the Father, as did the Lord (Jn 8.38; 12.49; 15.15), and would reveal to them "things to come" (v.13). The Spirit would reveal many truths to them concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, His Person, work, and teachings, and He would lead them into a deeper appreciation of the Lord. The Lord glorified His Father on the earth, the Father would glorify His Son in heaven (Jn 17.4,5), and the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son on earth (v.14). The Spirit always seeks to glorify the Son and we can be sure that the teaching and ministry we are receiving is of God when it honours, exalts and glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit revealed to the apostles wonderful truths which are recorded for us in the New Testament. The Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the words we read in the Scriptures are not the "words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth" (1 Cor 2.13; 2 Tim 3.16; 2 Pet 1.21).
The Lord said, "All things that the Father hath are mine" (v.15). There is eternal love, harmony, equality, and unity in the Godhead, and the Spirit would take out of the limitless store of things which are Christ’s and reveal them to the apostles. We who are believers, being finite, will go on and on in eternity learning more and more of the wonders of God, who is infinite (Eph 2.7).
Your sorrow shall be turned into joy
The disciples had failed to understand much of what the Lord had told them of future events but the Holy Spirit would cause them to remember and understand the things the Lord had taught and said (Jn 14.26). As they walked along on the way to Gethsemane, the disciples discussed, among themselves, the Lord’s enigmatic statements regarding "A little while" (vv.16,17,18). The Lord had told them that in a little while they would not see Him and then He said, "and again, a little while, and ye shall see me" (v.16). The Lord, who knows all things (Mt 12.25; Lk 6.8; Heb 4.13), "knew that they were desirous to ask him" to explain what He meant by "A little while" (v.19).
In a "little while" the Lord, who had glorified His Father in His life on earth, would be "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil 2.8). The Lord had said that He would be buried for three days and would be raised the third day (Mt 12.40; 16.21; 20.19; Jn 2.19). During those three days the disciples would not see Him. The Lord’s suffering and death on the Cross would cause them to "weep and lament", but the world at large would rejoice (v.20). In a short time, however, their sorrow would be turned to joy, for the Lord would rise from among the dead and His disciples would see Him again and they would be glad (Jn 20.20). After His resurrection, the Lord was "seen of them forty days" (Acts 1.3). The Lord compared the experience they were to pass through with that of a woman who gives birth to a child. First there are the pains experienced by the woman in labour giving birth to the child, but after the child is born the pains are forgotten and there is joy (v.21). The disciples’ sorrow was to be temporary but, after the resurrection, when He would rise "the firstborn from the dead" (Col 1.18), they would rejoice and their joy and rejoicing would be permanent and not affected by the circumstances they would pass through (v.22; 1 Pet 1.6-8).
The words "a little while" (vv.16-19) could apply, therefore, to the time between the Lord’s death and His resurrection. However, two different words are used for "see" in v.16 and in the verses that follow. The first word used, theoreo, refers to physical sight, and the second word, opsesthe, to spiritual sight. The "little while" could then also apply to the time between the Lord’s death and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost when they would see or perceive Him by faith. Then again, there is the "little while" (Heb 10.37), between the Lord’s ascension to go back to His Father in heaven and His coming back for His saints to take them to His Father’s house (1 Thess 4.15-17). In all three instances the experience of disciples and other believers would, ultimately, be joy and rejoicing.
Ask, and ye shall receive
During His last discourse with His disciples, the Lord spoke about praying in His name (Jn 14.13,14; 15.16; 16.23,24,26). Previously, He had said to them, "whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (Jn 14.13). After the Lord’s ascension, believers would be able to pray to the Father in the Lord’s name and the Father would answer those prayers (16.23). The Lord said to them, "ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (v.24).
The Lord did not always teach using direct methods of communication, but sometimes used parables and figurative language so that the meaning was not always readily apparent. Now He told them, "the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father" (v.25). This can be seen when we read the things the Lord said during His post-resurrection appearances (Mt 28.19; Lk 24.49; Jn 20.17), and after the Spirit came the statements made in the Acts and the Epistles were direct and clear.
In v.23 the Lord said that following His ascension believers should pray to the Father in His name. He reinforced that statement by saying that "At that day" they could pray directly to the Father in His name, asking for the very things the Lord would ask for. The Lord would not then ask the Father to answer their prayers (v.26). God the Father loves believers with a divine, sacrificial love because they love His Son and have believed that He is indeed the Son of God who came from God to glorify Him and to save lost sinners (v.27; 1 Jn 4.10; 1 Tim 1.15; Rom 8.32).
The Lord said to His disciples, "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father" (v.28). The Lord was a man, but not a mere man. His humanity was sinless, holy humanity. He was not simply a man sent by God but He came from His Father. The Lord had come from heaven, His eternal dwelling place (Jn 1.14; 3.31; 6.32,33,58; 8.42), and He was going to return to His Father in heaven (Jn 14.12; 16.5). He is God the Son, co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent with God the Father. The disciples’ response to the Lord’s statement was positive, for they now understood clearly and definitely what He was seeking to tell them, and they said, "Lo, now speakest thou plainly" (v.29).
The disciples had now been graciously brought by the Lord to a clear understanding of the fact that He knows all things. Now they understood the things He had been telling them, and they were sure that He had come "forth from God" (v.30). The Lord asked them, "Do ye now believe?" (v.31). What they believed and what we believe is a result of revelation by God. The very faith we have is a gift of God (Eph 2.8; Mt 16.17).
To be continued.
