Frameworks:
John's Gospel, chapter 16
(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
CHAPTER
16
v.1-15
Persecution will come but so will the Spirit to help you
v.16-33
The Disciples' Grief Will Turn to Joy
v.1-15
Persecution will come but so will the Spirit to help you
v.1
(I've said these things to help you stand) “All
this I have told you so that you will not fall away.
v.2
(persecuting you they'll think they serve God)
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.
v.3
(they'll do this because they are godless)
They will do such things because
they have not known the Father or me.
v.4,5
(I've warned you) 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, but
now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where
are you going?'
v.6
(and I know this saddens you) Rather,
you are filled with grief because I have said these things.
v.7
(but it's for your good that I go and the Spirit
comes) 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.
v.8-11
(He'll point out how they are wrong) When
he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin
and righteousness and judgment: about
sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness,
because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands
condemned.
v.12
(I've more to say later) “I
have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
v.13
(but the Spirit will guide you) 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.
v.14
(he'll bring you my words and glorify me) He
will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what
he will make known to you.
v.15
(it comes from the Father through the Spirit to
you) 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.”
v.16-33
The Disciples' Grief Will Turn to Joy
v.16
(I will go and come) 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.”
v.17,18
(this confused them) 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' ?”
They
kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a
little while' ? We don't understand
what he is saying.”
v.19
(he prods them on) 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'?
v.20
(your grief will turn to joy) Very
truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.
You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
v.21
(think about a woman having a child) 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.
v.22
(so grief now, joy later) 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.
v.23
(then you'll be asking and getting from the Father)
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.
v.24
(ask Him in my name, receive and have joy)
Until now you have not asked for
anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will
be complete.
v.25
(it will become clearer) “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.
v.26
(in that day you'll ask the Father directly)
In that day you will ask in my name.
I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.
v.27
(it's OK, the Father loves you) No,
the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have
believed that I came from God.
v.28
(I came from Him and will return to Him) I
came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the
world and going back to the Father. ”
v.29,30
(they see it) Then
Jesus' disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without
figures of speech. 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.”
v.31
(you believe?) “Do
you now believe?” Jesus replied.
v.32
(you will be scattered) “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.
v.
33 (but you can still have peace,
I'm still in charge) “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.”