THESE THINGS HAVE I SPOKEN UNTO YOU,.... Concerning the world's hatred and persecution of them, and the little regard they would show to their doctrine: these things Christ thought, proper to give them notice of before hand, that expecting them, they might be prepared for them, and be fortified agai... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL PUT YOU OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUES,.... The Jews had made a law already, that he that confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, should be cast out of their synagogues; and they had put it in execution upon the blind man Christ restored to sight, for his profession of faith in him; which struck suc... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THESE THINGS WILL THEY DO UNTO YOU,.... Christ here opens the true spring and source of the furious zeal of the Jews, against the apostles, in putting them out of their synagogues, and taking away their lives; it was pure wilful ignorance of the Father and himself; BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN T... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THESE THINGS HAVE I TOLD YOU,.... Christ enlarged on this disagreeable subject, and was the more particular in enumerating the evils his apostles were to endure for his name's sake: THAT WHEN THE TIME SHALL COME; some copies read it, "their time"; so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic render... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NOW I GO MY WAY TO HIM THAT SENT ME,.... These words seem to belong to John 16:4, and to contain a reason why Christ spoke of the trials and afflictions of his disciples now, because he was going away from them to his Father; when as they would be at the head of his affairs in this world, so the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT BECAUSE I HAVE SAID THESE THINGS TO YOU,.... Of being hated and persecuted by the Jews, of being put out of their synagogues, and of losing of their lives; and particularly of his departure from them, or the loss of his bodily presence: SORROW HATH FILLED YOUR HEART; sorrow for his absence so p... [ Continue Reading ]
NEVERTHELESS, I TELL YOU THE TRUTH,.... Christ was truth itself, and could say nothing else; but he makes use of this way of speaking, to raise the attention of his disciples, and to engage their belief of what he was about to say, and of which they were not easily persuaded; which was, that however... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE IS COME,.... The coming of the Spirit here, chiefly designs his descent upon the apostles, at the day of "Pentecost": as the things ascribed to him, and which were then done by him, clearly show; though it may also include his coming along with, and by the ministration of the Gospel, int... [ Continue Reading ]
OF SIN, BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE NOT ON ME. The "sin" here primarily intended, is that of the Jews, in disbelieving, rejecting, and crucifying Christ; and which the Spirit of God, by Peter, charged upon them on the day of "Pentecost", and fully proved against them; gave such clear evidence, and wrought... [ Continue Reading ]
OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, BECAUSE I GO TO MY FATHER,.... The "righteousness" here spoken of, does, in the first sense of the word, design the personal righteousness of Christ. The Jews had traduced him as a wicked man, said he was a sinner himself, and a friend of publicans and sinners; that he was guilty o... [ Continue Reading ]
OF JUDGMENT, BECAUSE THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD IS JUDGED. This is to be understood of the judiciary power and authority of Christ, who has "all judgment" committed to him by the Father, as Mediator; has all power in heaven and in earth; and as he is appointed, so he is a very fit person to judge the... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE YET MANY THINGS TO SAY UNTO YOU,.... Not with respect to the main doctrines of the Gospel, for everything of this kind he had made known unto them, John 15:15; but what regarded the rejection of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles, the abrogation of the Mosaic economy, and settling the... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWBEIT, WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH IS COME,.... Of this character of the Spirit, see John 14:17. His coming, as before, intends more especially his descent on the apostles at Pentecost; though what is here said of him is true of his office, and of his operations on other persons, and at other times:... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL GLORIFY ME,.... In the ministration of the Gospel, which is "the ministration of the Spirit", 2 Corinthians 3:8; and asserts Christ to be God over all, to have all that the Father hath, to be possessed of all divine perfections, to have the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him; ascribes t... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THINGS THAT THE FATHER HATH ARE MINE,.... Though it is true that the same divine nature the Father is possessed of, the Son is; and the same divine perfections belong to the one, as to the other; and the Son shares in the same glory and felicity the Father does; so that in the utmost extent of t... [ Continue Reading ]
A LITTLE WHILE AND YE SHALL NOT SEE ME,.... Meaning, that he should be quickly taken from them by death. And in a very little time after this, having put up a prayer for them, recorded in the next chapter, he went into the garden, where he was met by Judas with his band of men, who laid hold on him,... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID SOME OF HIS DISCIPLES AMONG THEMSELVES,.... It may be, some of them might better understand the meaning of Christ than others, or they might all be ignorant of it; for before the effusion of the Spirit on them, they were attended with a great deal of ignorance; and what through their being... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SAID THEREFORE,.... One, and all of them; the inquiry became universal; WHAT IS THIS THAT HE SAITH, A LITTLE WHILE? it seems as if this phrase was the most intricate and perplexing to them; for whatever conceptions they might have of not seeing, and seeing him again, as expressive of his going... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW JESUS KNEW THAT THEY WERE DESIROUS TO ASK HIM,.... This is a proof of Christ's deity, that he is the omniscient God who knows all things, what is in man, even the secrets of the heart; for he not only knew the whisperings of the disciples, and their inquiries among themselves about the sense of... [ Continue Reading ]
VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU,.... A strong asseveration, a way of speaking often used by him, when he solemnly affirms any thing, and would assure of the truth of it, as here: THAT YE SHALL WEEP AND LAMENT; meaning at his death, when he should be removed from them, so that they should not see him... [ Continue Reading ]
A WOMAN WHEN SHE IS IN TRAVAIL HATH SORROW,.... As was said she should have, Genesis 3:16; This is God's ordination and appointment for sin: BECAUSE HER HOUR IS COME; is at hand; the fixed time in nature is up, and there is no avoiding it: BUT AS SOON AS SHE IS DELIVERED OF THE CHILD; for though t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE NOW THEREFORE HAVE SORROW,.... This is the application of the preceding case. As it is with a woman in travail, when her hour is come, so it was now with them, and would be when Christ was removed from them; and as it is with every believer, when Christ is absent: for though there are many th... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY YE SHALL ASK ME NOTHING,.... Meaning, not the whole Gospel dispensation, so often called, in prophetic language, "that day"; and is, in the New Testament, opposed to the night of Jewish and Gentile darkness; and, in comparison of the former dispensation, is a time of great spiritual ligh... [ Continue Reading ]
HITHERTO HAVE YE ASKED NOTHING IN MY NAME,.... Not that they had never prayed as yet; for they had desired him to teach them to pray, which he did: they had prayed to him particularly for an increase of faith, and for many other things; but either they had only asked him, he being present with them,... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE THINGS HAVE I SPOKEN UNTO YOU IN PROVERBS,.... Concerning his Father, and his Father's house, and the many mansions in it, of his going to prepare a place for them there, and of the way unto it, all which they seemed not to understand; of the nature of communion with him and his Father, and of... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THAT DAY YE SHALL ASK IN MY NAME,.... For when the Spirit was poured upon them, they not only received his extraordinary gifts, and had a larger measure of his grace bestowed upon them; but were also blessed with him, as a spirit of grace and supplication, in a more remarkable manner than ever th... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE FATHER HIMSELF LOVETH YOU,.... The Father loved them as well, and as much as the Son did, and of himself too, without any merit or motive in them: he loved them from everlasting, and had given proofs of it in time, in the gift of his Son to them, and for them; and in calling them by his grac... [ Continue Reading ]
I CAME FORTH FROM THE FATHER,.... This is the sum of what the apostle believed, and Christ, in these discourses of his, had been speaking of. This his coming forth from the Father is to be understood, not of his eternal filiation; nor of his coming forth in a way of grace towards his own people in t... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS DISCIPLES SAID UNTO HIM,.... Upon the above discourse of Christ, such rays and beams of light darted into the minds of the apostles, and things stood so clear in their view, and they so well understood what Christ had said, that they declare, LO, NOW SPEAKEST THOU PLAINLY, AND SPEAKEST NO PROVE... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW ARE WE SURE THAT THOU KNOWEST ALL THINGS,.... Not only all men, but all things, even the secrets of men's hearts, of which the apostles had now a convincing proof; for whereas Christ had delivered some expressions, John 16:16; which they did not understand, and were desirous to ask him the meani... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS ANSWERED THEM, DO YE NOW BELIEVE?] Not as calling their faith in question; or as denying they had any; or as despising it for the smallness of it; but as reproving them for their security, vain confidence and boasting, as if their faith was so very strong that it would never be moved; and perh... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD THE HOUR COMETH, YEA, IS NOW COME,.... The time is at hand, yea, it may, in a sense, be said to be already come, it was within an hour: and indeed the following prayer might be delivered in less than an hour's time; when he went immediately into the garden, and was apprehended; or at least in... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE THINGS I HAVE SPOKEN UNTO YOU,.... As this is the conclusion of our Lord's sermons to his disciples, these words may well enough be thought to have regard to all that he had said in general; as concerning his departure from them; his going to prepare a place for them; his union to them, and th... [ Continue Reading ]