John 16:1-33
Jesus Must Leave and Go Back to His Father
1 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 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. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 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, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 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. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 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. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 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 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.”
17 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’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
19 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’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 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. 22 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. 23 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. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
25 “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. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 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.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “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.
33 “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.”
The Greeks called the Holy Spirit the Paraclete...Paraclete means Advocate or Helper...The Holy Spirit has other names...Other names for the Holy Spirit include the Spirit of Truth, Lightful Spirit of God Almighty, Holy Breath, Almighty Breath, Giver of Life, Lord of Grace, Helper, Comforter, Counselor, and Supporter...He has also been called Strengthener and the Intercessor...
Jesus tells them that He must leave...But after they grieved for Him and His leaving, their grief would later turn to joy...Jesus told them that 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 it would be with His Disciples: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy, after that...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...Jesus' joy was His absolute sacrifice and doing His Father's Absolute Will...
Jesus was preparing His Disciples for His death...He was also preparing them for their persecution...He knew that since He was persecuted and killed, followers of His would face this same dilemma...And as we read these verses, we can hear the preparation process unfold, as Jesus speaks...He had much more to tell them, which was even more than they could bear...And as Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit, we read and hear about this mystery of the Holy Spirit coming after His ascension...Jesus said when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide them into all the truth...The Spirit of Truth would be this Helper and an Advocate for them...The Holy Spirit would not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come...The Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus because it is from Him that the Holy Spirit will receive what He will make known to the Disciples...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...He will not leave them as orphans when He goes back to heaven, the Holy Spirit will be with them...
Hearing this the Disciples had to know something big was going to happen...And big is not the right word or a big enough word...Words could not explain what would be happening in the next hours, days, and month...Jesus arrest was coming up very shortly, the Disciples would separate and flee, He would be convicted as a criminal, then Jesus would be carrying His own cross to Golgotha (which is also called Calvary), then He would be hung from a cross, then His death would happen on the cross, then His resurrection back to life for forty more days on earth, and then His ascension into heaven...And then He would send the Holy Spirit to the Disciples on the Day of the Pentecost...
Jesus has this very special relationship with the Holy Spirit...And to repeat the part about joy...Jesus suffering and death were upcoming, but there still would be joy for the Eleven Disciples...His Disciples would experience this joy, when they realized that the Holy Spirit would come and show them the Way...Their joy would come from the Holy Spirit, when Jesus was in heaven...The Holy Spirit would replace Him when He left, and then they would understand these things better, and better understand what He was saying now...Very importantly, the Holy Spirit is a Helper of Jesus' and will also be helping His Disciples...The Holy Spirit would speak for Jesus, and He would help the Holy Spirit find the right words to guide the Disciples to the Truth and to Him...So once Jesus had died on the cross and resurrected and later ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit would be helping and the Eleven and they would feel Jesus in their hearts...The Holy Spirit would be sharing the gospel work of Jesus as they expanded His teachings across the Roman Empire...