John 16:5-15

3. 16:5-15.

Jesus now describes the victory which the disciples will gain over the world which has risen up against Him. He first connects with His departure the coming of the divine agent (already announced in John 15:26-27), who will gain the victory through them, John 16:5-7; He then describes the manner of this victory, John 16:8-11; finally, He speaks to the disciples of the interior operation of the Spirit, which is the condition of it, John 16:12-15.

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

Vv. 5-15.

1. John 16:5-6 form a transition passage, having a connection both with John 16:4 and John 16:7, the new section finding its proper beginning with the latter verse. The thought of John 16:5-6 is kindred to that of John 14:28 -instead of rejoicing in the thought of what was to come to Him, of the place to which He was going, they were filled with sorrow of heart in view of their own loss. This failure to think of His happiness is here indicated by the words, “And no one of you asks me, Whither art thou going?” This statement is not inconsistent with the implied question on this subject in John 14:5, for the words of Thomas there involve, at the most, only a request for information, while here Jesus is speaking of the interest of a friend in the joy which is to be bestowed upon one whom he deeply loves. The connection with John 16:4 is seen in the contrast of νῦν to ἐξ ἀρχῆς; but instead of going on to say, as we might have expected from the preceding, “Now I am going away, and I give you the needed prediction of what is to come,” He turns to the condition of mind of the disciples, and makes their sorrow at His separation from them an introduction to a renewed promise respecting the Spirit. “It is expedient for you that I go away, because upon my going away the coming of the new Helper, who will lead you in all the truth and give you permanent joy, is dependent.”

2. The work of the Spirit is set forth in this passage both in its relation to the world and to the disciples. The relation to the former is given in John 16:8-11. It will be noticed that the work which the Spirit will do is described by the verb ἐλέγξει, and has reference to three points: sin, righteousness and judgment. The verb presents the Spirit apparently as engaged in an argument or controversy with the world, and as convincing the world of the truth of His view of the matters in question and of the error of its view. This convincing is also, perhaps, to be regarded as a convicting and putting to shame. The three nouns which are connected with the verb are without the article or any defining word. This fact seems to indicate clearly that they are to be taken in the most general sense. This is true of all of them alike. The ὅτι clauses in John 16:9-11 give the ground on which the convincing or conviction is founded, and by means of which it is effected. The Spirit takes hold of the facts suggested in these ὅτι clauses, and uses them as proofs of His view with regard to sin, righteousness and judgment. The true interpretation of these sentences seems, accordingly, to be this: He shall convince the world with respect to sin the truth of His view of it by laying hold of and pressing the fact that they do not believe on Christ. This unbelief in Christ is the central sin, and all sin is that state of the heart which leads a man to refuse, when Christ is offered, to believe on Him. The world does not hold this view of sin, but the Spirit, by His testimony and His reasoning, convinces it that this is the true view. So of righteousness; the Spirit, while laying hold upon and pressing the fact that Christ goes away to the Father, so that He is seen no more that is, the great consummation of His work in the ascension to heaven will convince the world of His idea of righteousness: that righteousness consists in the union of the heart with God, the entrance to which is through faith. The world's idea of righteousness is of something outward and perfunctory. His idea is of something inward: the conformity of the man in the inmost recesses of the soul to what he ought to be. And again of judgment; the Spirit convinces the world of the truth of His view with respect to this also. The word judgment here is to be taken as condemnatory judgment, because this is the judgment pronounced on the ruler of the world. The Spirit accomplishes His end here, as in the former cases, by laying hold upon and pressing the fact which is set forth in the ὅτι clause: namely, the fact that the ruler of the world is already condemned. He is condemned in the sense that Christ's finished work has condemned his spirit and secured the final condemnation of himself and also his exclusion from his kingdom. That the work of Christ does this the Spirit impresses upon the world, and, by doing so, He shows the world that there is a condemnatory judgment awaiting its spirit and itself.

3. The work of the Spirit for the disciples is now set forth again, in contrast with that which He does for the world. The work for the world is that of convincing or convicting. The Spirit testifies and reasons and persuades. But in His work for the disciples, He only passes beyond the limitations which were necessarily imposed upon Jesus in His communications with them, by reason of the fact that they were as yet at the beginning and were comparatively unenlightened. He leads them in the whole sphere of the truth and announces to them the coming things. Godet says that John 14:26 contains the formula of inspiration of our Gospels, John 16:13 that of the Epistles and the Apocalypse. Whether this distinction can be properly made, and the statement of Godet pressed to the strictness of its letter, may be questioned. The “coming things” may, not improbably, include more than what are ordinarily spoken of as eschatological.

4. In doing this work for the disciples the Spirit will glorify Christ, for the announcements which He makes, whether of the general truth or of the things to come, will all be of what appertains to Christ His system of teaching and His kingdom. This will and must be so, because all things which the Father has, and from which communications can be made to men, belong to Christ. The reference is, of course, to those things which fall within the sphere in which the whole thought is moving. John 16:14, says Alford, “is decisive against all additions and pretended revelations subsequent to and besides Christ, it being the work of the Spirit to testify to and declare the things of Christ, not anything new and beyond Him.” Alford also declares that John 16:15 “contains the plainest proof by inference of the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity.”