John 16:4

John 16:4-6 . But these things have I told you — And forewarned you of them; that when the time shall come — In which they shall happen; ye may remember that I told you of them — And so may turn what has so discouraging an aspect into a further confirmation of your faith. And these things I said not at the beginning — Of my ministry; because I was with you — And could easily suggest proper instructions and consolations, as new circumstances of difficulty arose; and because, being with you, I could bear the chief shock of persecution in my own person, and so screen you from it. But now I go to him that sent me — But now, that my ministry is drawing toward a conclusion, and I am going to leave you, I could no longer defer speaking of these things to you; because it is of great importance you should know them, in order that when they come to pass you may not be surprised and stumbled. And none of you asketh me — Now when it is most seasonable; whither goest thou? — Though I mentioned to you my departure once before, ( John 13:33 ,) none of you has inquired of me the reasons of my departure, nor the effects of it; nor is concerned to make those inquiries about that better world, which surely might well become you in such a circumstance. But because I have said these things — Have spoken of leaving you for a time, and have informed you of the persecutions you will meet with when I am gone; sorrow hath filled your heart — Hath engrossed your thoughts, and filled you with sadness.

John 16:4 . ἀλλὰ ταῦτα … ὑμῖν . This repeats John 16:1 , but He now adds an explanation of His silence up to this time regarding their future: ταῦτα δὲ ὑμῖν … ἤμην . ἐξ ἀρχῆς = ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς of John 15:27 , Holtzmann. If there is a difference, ἐξ ἀρχῆς indicates rather the point of time ( cf. its only other occurrence, John 6:64 ) while ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς indicates continuity. The fact of the silence has been disputed: but no definite and full intimations have hitherto been given of the future experience of the Apostles, as representing an absent Lord. The reason of His silence was ὅτι μεθʼ ὑμῶν ἤμην , “because I was with you”. While He was with them they leant upon Him and could not apprehend a time of weakness and of persecution. See Matthew 9:15 .

Whatsoever I have discovered to you formerly, of my going to my Father, the coming of the Holy Ghost, your sufferings from the world, I have told you of before; you will see that they will most certainly come to pass: then you will remember what I have said unto you; and I have told you them on purpose that you may remember them, and thereby know, that although I am in the form of a man, yet I also am God blessed for ever, and did know things that should afterward come to pass, and could tell you the truth about them. And having been with you, I have not from the first of your converse with me told you these things; that is, those which relate to the world’s dealing with you (which he had told them, Matthew 10:16 , &c, but that was after some good while’s converse with them); nor yet had he spoken to them at first about his death, resurrection, and ascension, because he was with them, and to stay with them some time, during which time he bare the brunt of all; the whole hatred of the Jews was poured out upon him: and for those other things relating to his death, and ascension, and the sending of the Spirit, he, who taught his disciples as they were able to bear them, Mark 4:33 , had concealed these things till by his other doctrine he had prepared them to receive this revelation, and there was a necessity of his relieving them against his bodily absence, by the promise of that other Comforter the Holy Ghost.

John 16:4 . Μνημονεύητε ) ye may remember , with faith: ch. John 13:19 , “Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come to pass ye may believe that I am He.”— οὐκ εἶπον ) I said not , although knowing it. A most wise method of Christ was this. He had told them, even a little before, of the hatred of the world, but less openly, and more sparingly. [Now that they were fortified by the promise of the Holy Spirit against that hatred He speaks more openly concerning that subject.—V. g.] Matthew 10:17 ; Matthew 10:21 ; Matthew 10:25 ; Matthew 24:9 .

4 . But ] Making a fresh start; But, to return (to John 16:1 ). have I told ] See on John 16:6 . when the time ] Rather, when their hour , according to the better reading; i.e. the hour appointed for these things ( John 16:2 ). ye may … of them ] Better, ye may remember them, that I told you . ‘I’ is emphatic, ‘I Myself, the object of your faith.’ And these things … beginning ] Better, But these things I told you not from the beginning . Not exactly the same phrase as in John 15:27 ( ἀπ ' ἀρχῆς ) but ἐξ ἀρχῆς (here and John 6:64 only): the one expresses simple departure, the other consequence and continuity. There is no inconsistency between this statement and passages like Matthew 10:16-39 ; Matthew 24:9 ; Luke 6:22 , &c. ‘These things’ will cover a great deal more than the prediction of persecutions, e.g. the explanation of the persecutions, the promise of the Paraclete, &c. because I was with you ] See notes on Matthew 9:15 .

(4) But these things have I told you . . . —He recurs to the thought of John 16:1 . (Comp. also John 13:19 ; John 14:29 .) He strengthens them by forewarning them. When the persecution comes they will remember His word, and find in it support for their faith and evidence of His presence with them. These things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.—While with them, He would spare them, and it was against Himself that the hatred of His foes was directed. When He shall have left them they will represent Him, and must stand in the foreground of the battle. These words seem to be opposed to Matthew 10 and parallel passages, where our Lord did tell the Apostles at the time of their call of the persecutions which awaited them. (See especially John 16:17; John 16:21; John 16:28.) The passages are not, however, really inconsistent, for “these things” in this verse (comp. John 16:3; John 16:1, and John 15:21) refers to the full account He has given them of the world’s hatred and the principles lying at the foot of it, and the manner in which it was to be met by the Spirit’s witness and their witness of Him. These things which the infant Church would have to meet, and meet without His bodily presence, He told them not at the beginning.

These things - These things which are about to happen, John 16:1-2 . He had foretold them that they would take place. Ye may remember ... - By calling to mind that he had foretold these things they would perceive that he was omniscient, and would remember, also, the consolations which he had afforded them and the instructions which he had given them. Had these calamities come upon them without their having been foretold, their faith might have failed; they might have been tempted to suppose that Jesus was not aware of them, and of course that he was not the Messiah. God does not suffer his people to fall into trials without giving them sufficient warning, and without giving all the grace that is needful to bear them. At the beginning - In the early part of the ministry of Jesus. The expression these things here refers, probably, to all the topics contained in these chapters.

He had, in the early part of his ministry, forewarned them of calamities and persecutions Matthew 10:16; Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 9:15, but he had not so fully acquainted them with the nature, and design, and sources of their trials; he had not so fully apprised them of the fact, the circumstances, and the object of his death and of his ascension to heaven; he had not revealed to them so clearly that the Holy Spirit would descend, and sanctify, and guide them; and especially he had not, in one continued discourse, grouped all these things together, and placed their sorrows and consolations so fully before their minds. All these are included, it is supposed, in the expression "these things." Because I was with you - This is the reason which he gives why he had not at first made known to them clearly the certainty of their calamities and their joys; and it implies: 1. that it was not needful to do it at once, as he was to be with them for more than three years, and could have abundant opportunity gradually to teach these things, and to prepare them for the more full announcement when he was about to leave them. 2. that while he was with them he would go before them, and the weight of calamities would fall on him, and consequently they did not so much then need the presence and aid of the Holy Spirit as they would when he was gone. 3. that his presence was to them what the presence of the Holy Spirit would be after his death, John 16:7. He could teach them all needful truth.