Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 16:15
All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show [it] unto you.
15. All things ] Literally, All things whatsoever: comp. Joh 17:10.
therefore said I ] For this cause (Joh 12:18; Joh 12:27) said I: see on Joh 5:16; Joh 5:18.
shall take ] Better, taketh: the Spirit is already revealing the Truth which is both of the Father and of the Son.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All things … – See Mat 28:18; Mat 11:27. No one could have said this who was not equal with the Father. The union was so intimate, though mysterious, that it might with propriety be said that whatever was done in relation to the Son, was also done in regard to the Father. See Joh 14:9.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 16:15
All things that the Father hath are Mine
The fulness that is in Christ
I.
CHRIST HAS A LEGAL RIGHT TO THE PROPERTY OF THE FATHER. Because He has
1. A natural right to it, as He is God.
2. A federal right as Mediator, i.e., God the Father and God the Son are represented in Scripture as having agreed together in a covenant respecting the salvation of the human race. It was in this agreement that God the Father made over all the blessings that He had unto Jesus Christ.
3. A donative right as Saviour (Joh 3:35).
4. An acquisitive right as Conqueror. Suppose two individuals are combating for some property or privilege, and this is to belong to the individual who comes off victorious; you say of him afterwards, he has acquired that. Just so Christ came into the world to contend with sin and Satan for us, and He came off victorious.
5. A hereditary right as Gods Son and Heir (Heb 1:2.)
II. SOME OF THOSE ALL THINGS WHICH JESUS CHRIST IS SAID TO HAVE.
1. All the perfections of God. If, as is said, in 1Co 1:24, He is the power of God and the wisdom of God, then all the rest must be His.
2. The glory of the Father (Heb 1:3).
3. All the fulness of the Father (Col 1:19; Col 2:19).
III. IN WHAT SENSE ARE ALL THINGS CHRISTS?
1. Substantially, not figuratively or nominally, but really.
2. Communicatively. Some persons may possess great and inestimable treasures, but they may not have the power of communicating them. But Christ possesses all things for the express purpose of communicating Joh 1:16). He has pardon for our sins, and we have received it;He has justification for our souls, and He has imputed it, &c.
3. Sufficiently (Psa 107:9).
4. Efficiently. It shall be really applied to the heart, and go to the extent which necessity requires. There may be many things that may be said to be sufficient and yet not efficient. Some of us may have enough for ourselves and others, but it is not efficient unless they partake of it.
5. Unchangeably.
6. Eternally. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
IV. FOR WHAT REASON IT IS SO ARRANGED THAT THE FATHERS PROPERTY IS CHRISTS.
1. The right and the property of no party is lost. The Father has the same property as the Son, and the Son has the same property as the Spirit.
2. Herein is seen the pleasure of the Father, the pleasure of the Son, and the pleasure of the Holy Spirit.
3. Here is Gods honour in choosing His people; Christs honour in redeeming them, and the Spirits honour in regenerating them. (T. B. Baker, M. A.)
The joint proprietorship of the Father and the children
I once heard a father tell, that when he removed his family to a new residence, where the accommodation was much more ample, and the substance much more rich and varied, his youngest son, yet a lisping infant, ran round every room, and scanned every article with ecstasy, calling out, in childish wonder at every new sight, Is this ours, father? and is this ours? The child did not say yours, and I observed that the father while he told the story was not offended with the freedom. You could read in his glistening eye that the infants confidence in appropriating as his own all that his father had, was an important element in his satisfaction. Such, I suppose, will be the surprise, and joy, and appropriating confidence, with which the child of our Fathers family will count all his own, when he is removed from the comparatively mean condition of things present, and enters the infinite of things to come. When the glories of heaven burst upon his view, he does not stand at a distance, like a stranger, saying, O God, these are Thine. He bounds forward to touch and taste every provision which those blessed mansions contain, exclaiming, as he looks in the Fathers face, Father, this and this is ours. The dear child is glad of all the Fathers riches, and the Father is gladder of His dear child. (W. Arnot.)
The revealing work of the Spirit
The Holy Spirit is given for the purpose of restoring to spiritual truth its natural and reasonable efficiency. It is as though we had our eyes fixed on a book in the deep gloom of twilight. We believe that the page reveals truth, we know the language in which it is written; but the light is so imperfect, that, though here and there we can distinguish a capital letter, and now and then decipher a word, yet we are unable to make out distinctly a single sentence. But let light now fall upon the page, and every word and every letter is instantly revealed, the thought of the writer beams upon our understanding, and the channel of communication between His mind and ours is, for the time, fully established. Very similar to this is the case before us. We read and we hear about God, the Judge of all, and Christ, the Redeemer of men, about sin and repentance, heaven and hell, the wages of guilt and the reward of holiness, and we care so little about them that the words hardly awaken a thought, or leave a trace upon our recollection. But let now the Holy Spirit show these things of Christ unto us, and they are at once invested with the terrors or the joys of a most solemn reality. (F. Wayland, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. All things that the Father hath are mine] If Christ had not been equal to God, could he have said this without blasphemy?
And show it unto you.] As Christ is represented the Ambassador of the Father, so the Holy Spirit is represented the ambassador of the Son, coming vested with his authority, as the interpreter and executor of his will.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All the Divine essence, wisdom, power, which is in the Father, are mine; I am, in all things that concern the Deity, one and equal with the Father; and that was the reason that I said that he should
take of mine, and show it to you; which is the same as if I had said, he shall take of my Fathers, and shall show it to you; for all that the Father hath is mine; I and my Father are one in essence, wisdom, power, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. All things that the Father hathare minea plainer expression than this of absolutecommunity with the Father in all things cannot be conceived,though the “all things” here have reference to the thingsof the Kingdom of Grace, which the Spirit was to receive that Hemight show it to us. We have here a wonderful glimpse into the innerrelations of the Godhead.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 the phrase, all that the Father hath are his; yet since Christ is speaking of things received of him by the Spirit, and shown unto his people, it rather seems that the blessings of grace, which the Father has in store for his chosen ones, and the doctrines of grace, those deep things of his, are here more especially meant; which to reveal and apply, is the peculiar work of the Spirit; and in these Christ is equally concerned with the Father:
therefore, said I, he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you; he does not mention the things of the Father, only his own; nor was there any necessity for it, because whatever is his, is the Father’s, and whatever the Father has is his: they are jointly concerned in every thing relating to the salvation, benefit, comfort, and happiness of the saints; so that when the Spirit of God takes of the things of the one, he takes of the things of the other, and discovers, and applies them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Therefore said I ( ). Jesus explains how and why the Holy Spirit can and will reveal to the disciples what they need to know further concerning him. They had failed so far to understand Christ’s words about his death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit as Guide and Teacher will teach them what they can only receive and understand after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
All things that [ ] . Literally, all things as many as. Rev., all things whatsoever.
Shall take [] . The best texts read lambanei, taketh. The relation between the Son and the Spirit is put by Jesus as present and constant.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “All things that the Father hath are mine:” (panta hosa echei ho pater ema estin) “All things which the Father has, holds, or possesses are (exist as) mine,” therefore available through Jesus Christ, within our reach, treasured up in Jesus Christ, 1Co 1:30-31; 1Co 3:21-23.
2) “Therefore said I,” (dia touto eipon) “On account of this I said,” or explained to you all, Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26-27.
3) “That he shall take of mine,” (hoti ek tou emou lambanei kai apangelei humin) “That he will take things that are mine,” take empowering control and direction of my church, through which He shall reveal me, Luk 24:49.
4) “And will shew it unto you.” (kai apangelei humin) “And he will announce or disclose it to you all,” in repeatedly disclosing my character of holiness, love, mercy, peace, compassion to you all, as I have told you He would, Joh 14:16-17; Act 1:8; Act 2:1-4; Act 2:14-18; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27. The Holy Spirit has all the sources of the Godhead to draw upon.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15. All things that the Father hath are mine. As it might be thought that Christ took away from the Father what he claimed for himself, he acknowledges that he has received from the Father all that he communicates to us by the Spirit. When he says that all things that the Father hath are his, he speaks in the person of the Mediator, for we must draw out of his fullness, (Joh 1:16.) He always keeps his eye on us, as we have said. We see, on the other hand, how the greater part of men deceive themselves; for they pass by Christ, and go out of the way to seek God by circuitous paths.
Other commentators explain these words to mean, that all that the Father hath belongs equally to the Son, because he is the same God. But here he does not speak of his hidden and intrinsic power, as it is called, but of that office which he has been appointed to exercise toward us. In short, he speaks of his riches, that he may invite us to enjoy them, and reckons the Spirit among the gifts which we receive from the rather by his hand.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) All things that the Father hath are mine.He has told them that the Spirits work is to glorify Him, to receive of His, and announce to the world. The ground of this saying is in the fact that the Son is the Revealer of the Father, and that the fulness of the truth (Joh. 16:13) is given unto Him. The words appear from the context not to express the spiritual relation of the Son to the Father, but the fulness of the communication to Him in His human nature of the divine truth which He should reveal to man. (Comp. Notes on Joh. 1:18; Joh. 8:42; Joh. 10:36; Joh. 17:10; Mat. 11:27; Col. 1:19; Col. 2:2-3.)
He shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.Better, He taketh of Mine, and shall declare it unto you. The present expresses the unchanging relation of the Spirit to the Son. It should be noted that in these verses (14 and 15) there is an implication of the following doctrinal truths. They are implied, let us remember, in the words of our Lord Himself, and that they are implied and not stated increases the force of their meaning:(1) The divinity of the Son: He shall glorify Me; All things that the Father hath are Mine. (2) The personality of the Holy Ghost: He shall receive of Mine. The Greek word, , expresses this in the most emphatic way. The word is used of the Holy Spirit in Joh. 16:8; Joh. 16:13, and in Joh. 14:26; Joh. 15:26. (3) The Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity: the Father; I; He.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. All things that the Father hath How stupendous is this all! Omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, eternity, all these the Father hath, and, therefore, the Son. Yet, by the very terms, the Father possesses alone his Fatherhood, and the Son his Sonship.
Therefore Because the Son hath this fulness, therefore had Jesus included this all in the things revealed by the Spirit.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 16:15. He shall take of mine He will receive of mine, the same word as in Joh 16:14 and consequently the translation should be the same in both places. “Be not surprized that I said unto you, He will receive of mine, &c. for the whole treasure of the Father’s wisdom belongs to me.” See Col 2:3. Those who oppose the divinity of Christ, seem to be at a loss for an explication of this passage. Le Clerc tells us, that it is highly figurative;that the subject treated of is such as cannot be understood by reason;that the manner of it is not revealed;and therefore it is not possible to mark precisely the proper sense of every expression. Such are the shifts to which the espousers of a false hypothesis are reduced!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shew it unto you. (16) A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. (17) Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us? A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? (18) They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. (19) Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? (20) Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (21) A woman, when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. (22) And y e now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. (23) And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. (24) Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (25) These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. (26) At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: (27) For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. (28) I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
In what a full and comprehensive manner the Lord Jesus here speaks, at the opening of this paragraph, in relation to the common interest and property the Father and himself possessed in all things; and which included in it, all the persons of his Church and people. And, Reader! what a sweet thought is it for you, for me, for the whole Church, to keep in everlasting remembrance; that both the persons and the things which Christ takes such interest in, for his Church’s present and eternal welfare, are as much the Father’s, and in which He takes equal regard with that of his Son; Oh! for grace to know this, and to live in the constant enjoyment of it!
I beg the Reader particularly to notice, what the Lord Jesus hath here said concerning prayer. He first observes, that at that day, ye shall ask me nothing. Not that he meant to discourage their coming to him in prayer, but rather on the contrary, for he soon after adds: Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. But according to my view, it forms a beautiful and an affectionate method of Jesus, to invite them to be very often making their requests known unto him. He had just before said, that he was going away from them; that they should weep and lament, while the world would rejoice. Well! how will the Lord keep up their spirits during these exercises? This shall be the way. At that day you shall ask me nothing, but what I have already outrun your expectations in giving; agreeably to that sweet promise, Isa 65:24 . It is as if Jesus had said, I shall be so much with you in spirit by the Holy Ghost, whom I am going away to send to you, and he will endite all your petitions for you, in teaching you what your wants are, and my fulness to supply; that I shall be daily expecting to hear from you, and in comparison to what I expect to hear from you, hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; Ask, therefore, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full,
And I pray the Reader to observe yet further, in confirmation, that this was Christ’s meaning; that they should be frequent and clamorous at the mercy seat; I say not unto you that I will pray for you, (said Christ,) for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. What a tender, blessed method, was here of Jesus, in shewing them how his whole heart was with them, and that he took part in all that concerned them. Jesus did not mean to say, that his office of Intercessor would cease when he got to heaven. So far from it, that it was one of the great purposes for which he was going there. Jesus would bear them unceasingly upon his breast, and upon his heart, as the Jewish high priest bore the names of the twelve tribes, when he went in before the mercy-seat. But saith Jesus, my Father takes such an interest, as well as myself, in all that concerns you, that all your causes and interests must be eternally safe and secure. Reader! put the whole of those words of Jesus together, and look at them in one united view. I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you. I need not say it. You know it. You know my whole heart is with you. Nay, if I leave you, it is on this very account, to carry up everything that concerns you before my Father, and to see the whole of my grand designs for which I came on earth, accomplished for you. And moreover, though I shall unceasingly be thus engaged for you in heaven, in my office of an unchanging priesthood; yet such is my Father’s love to you, because ye have loved me, that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, he will give it you. So that your persons and your concerns are everlastingly secured, both in my Father’s love and mine. And I will send the Holy Ghost, who shall not only act in my place and room, and shew you all your wants and my glory, with my infinite readiness to supply; but He shall endite all the letters and petitions you send me, and such a blessed intercourse shall be kept up between me and you, by reason of these things, that what He teacheth you to pray for upon earth, shall be in exact correspondence to my intercession for you in heaven. Reader! what saith your heart’s joy to this view of the subject? Have you so learned Christ, and heard him, and been taught of Him, as the truth is in Jesus? Eph 4:20-21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Difference Between Christ and Christians
Joh 16:15-33
“All things that the Father hath are mine.” We often speak of the union between Christ and his disciples, as if these terms were mutually equivalent. It may be well to look upon the distinctions which separate Christ from his disciples, in order that we may learn our true relation to the Son of God. This may turn out to be but another aspect of union, though at first sight the discourse will seem to be one upon the divisions and contrasts which separate so widely the Lord and his followers. We must not get into that easy way of thinking that Jesus Christ and his people are practically one, in any sense which denotes equality as between them; as if a Christian were a Christ, and as if Christ were but a Christian, differing in some sense in degree, it may be, but identical in quality. All that line of thought needs sifting, defining, and guarding, lest we lose reverence, and loyalty, and sense of what is due in worship, and trust, and sacrifice. Jesus Christ was very condescending, but in his condescension there was a majesty, unequalled and uncomprehended. The very stoop of Christ was more majestic than the enthroned attitude of any monarch. We should therefore dwell now and again, yea, frequently, upon the contrast which is established between Christ and his supreme apostle; we should, as it were, calculate the difference, which is really incalculable in degree and in quality, between the Son of God and those whom he has saved by the shedding of his blood. His words are full of significant accent and meaning when he dwells upon this subject. He, himself, is indeed now and again most frank about it; if he should appear to come near to us, and associate with us on terms of equality, he suddenly rises from the feast, and leaves us to feel for a moment what we should be were he to withdraw altogether. We become so accustomed to the light that we take no heed of it: we expect it; we reckon upon it, as one of the certain quantities in the whole arithmetic of life; but the sun has only to hide himself for a few moments, and he stops the traffic of the world.
Let us hear some words of Jesus Christ bearing upon this matter, in which he will not allow any one to share his glory; in which his personality shall stand out in its singular and unapproachable solitude. We think so often of Jesus Christ as meek, and lowly, and condescending, that we are apt to forget his majesty. The sight of the noonday sun may be instructive and gladdening.
“I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” There is no identity there in the sense of equality. The vine can do without the branches, but the branches cannot do without the vine. “Without me ye can do nothing.” It is as if a unit were talking to all the ciphers in creation; the unit says to the assembly of ciphers, “Without me ye can do nothing”: you may put yourselves into a great line, and you will signify at the end what you signified at the beginning, and that is nothing; but when I stand at your head my relation to you fires you every one, gives you personality and value and meaning. This was the speech of the meek and lowly in heart, the poor in spirit, the Man of sorrows, the Man acquainted with grief. He would not have shed tears with us upon an equality, saying, Your sorrow is great, and so is mine, and we are found in a world of woe together, and therefore together we must mourn and weep. In his tears he was alone; when his soul was sorrowful he threw into nothingness the grief of all other life.
“I am the good Shepherd.” Is there only one? Jesus Christ assures us that there is only one Shepherd, and that he is the one himself. Then all the apostles and martyrs, apologists and missionaries, preachers, teachers, Christians what are they? They are the flock, the sheep, under his care. Is the flock equal to the Shepherd? Can any sheep in all the flock say to the Shepherd, I will take thy place, and thou mayest rest awhile? Is there a more pitiable spectacle upon the earth than sheep without a shepherd? Are not sheep chosen as the very image of silliness, helplessness, imbecility, when God describes his people after they have detached themselves from his government and shepherdliness? Observe always that this was the speech of him who was meek and lowly in heart Yet never does he allow his singularity to be pluralised.
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” There again Christ stands alone. There is none to divide his honour; there is none even to reflect his glory in some of these higher ranges of his personality and priesthood. Where now the thought of condescension, lowliness, abjectness, self-immolation, in the sense of putting away crown and sceptre and throne, and being only a man? These terms are not permissible in any one who is in any sense only equal to his brethren. They cannot be passed by without notice, or regarded as hyperbolical, or as being coloured with a poetical imagination; they are too distinct and graphic and practical. They are only to be accepted on one of two theories: either the man was mad, or he was God. When a man describes himself saying, “I am the Light of the World; I am the Vine; I am the good Shepherd; I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” he does not offend against modesty; he violates truth, and he violates the reverence which is due from the finite to the infinite. We ourselves have no difficulty about going up to him and saying, My Lord and my God, if I have any crown I will take it and cast it at thy feet, for thou only art worthy of the honours of infinite and eternal sovereignty.”
Hear, however, how he speaks: “All things that the Father hath are mine.” No man must be allowed to talk that language without rebuke. If there is some hidden sense in which it may be made to appear to be true, that hidden sense must be revealed and defined; otherwise we shall have spreading amongst us the very spirit of presumption, infallibility, and mock divinity. Who can claim to hold in his hands what God holds? Who dare say, “All things that the Father hath are mine,” without qualification, and yet only be meaning in some far-off and semi-spiritual sense that he is part-proprietor of the universe? There is a morality of language. Men ought not to be allowed to speak hyperbole which is falsehood. Within the acknowledged limits of rhetoric, they may take what figures of speech they like, but they must declare them to be figures of speech, that we may distinguish between truth and falsehood. “Therefore said I, that he [the Paraclete] shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.” Even the Holy Spirit is here represented as the minister of Christ. Ask for the text upon which the Holy Spirit discourses, and the answer is, he speaks evermore upon one text, namely, Jesus Christ. When he speaks of doctrine, it is the doctrine of Christ; of righteousness, it is the righteousness of Christ; of sin, it is the sin for which Christ died. Ought we to allow a man to speak so, with no other than a merely rhetorical meaning? A book, part of a larger volume, containing such words ought to be torn out of the volume of which it is a part, and burned with unquenchable fire. If we admit a rhetorical criticism we may have to admit by-and-by a rhetorical Christianity, which means a rhetorical morality: words will be emptied of their meaning, and all speech will become but sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. According to the twenty-third verse, prayer is to be offered in Christ’s name. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”
Where is meekness and lowliness of heart in any sense which means simple equality with human nature? Observe what Jesus Christ does in these words: he pledges the Father. The words are most emphatic, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you”: I pledge his existence, and his honour, and his throne. Again and again we must remark, This is not the language which any man must be allowed to use unless he can vindicate its use by qualities so sublime as to make the use of that language obviously appropriate. The language must fit him like a robe; there must be no discrepancy between the word and the thing, the symbol and the substance; here and there in this life there must be an outshining of glory which justifies the use of language so sublime nay more, which shows that even language so sublime pitifully fails of its object in expressing a dignity ineffable. Jesus Christ guarantees the answer. He speaks as the inhabitant of eternity, as the custodian of the riches of the universe, as one who lays his hand familiarly upon everything and says, Ask for it, and the Father, through me, will give it; I will take it up with my own hand and pass it down until it reaches your hand. This is not the language of a mere man; it must not be admitted as such. We must not get into the frame of mind which will allow us to pass a man like this, saying, He does not mean what he says, or he has some signification far short of the obvious interpretation of the common language. Then we could only retain our religion at the expense of our morality; we could only cling to Christ by giving up the first principles of honesty.
Then, again, he declares a divine descent for himself. “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world.” This cannot be a mere commonplace. If there is a sense in which every man may be said to have come from the Father, then the words of Jesus Christ lose all their special significance. He does not say, Brethren, we all came forth from the same Father, and we are all returning to him. He speaks in his own name, and speaks of a common human nature, and declares that he “came forth from the Father, and am come into the world” implying a kind of accommodation to the smallness of the space, as if he should say, I have so related myself to the world that I can find room enough in it for the little time that I shall be here. Having built the world, I have built a door into it, through which I have passed through momentarily visible ministry, and presently I shall be gone again, and leave what little room there is to be occupied by yourselves. This is blasphemy if it is not divinity. This is rant if it is not infinite reason. The Church will lose all vigour when it comes to the paring down of words so as to rid them of their rhetoric, in order to give them commonplace meanings.
The weak-minded disciples thought their opportunity had come. They were but children half-grown, untaught, inexperienced. What faces they wore when the Master talked to them! They wanted to appear to be intelligent when they were not fully comprehending the meaning of the speaker; they loved him with strange admiration and passion; they were quite sure he was right, though they could not follow his high strain of thought and speech looking as they might have looked upon an eagle gradually mounting into the dim air, keeping sight of him for awhile, and now the great black wings passing away from the visual line; they are quite sure he is flying, and the moment they see the reappearing wing they will exclaim as children utter their delight. So in this case. Jesus Christ has been taking a flight into the highest regions of spiritual thought, and his disciples have been looking on with awed amazement, and half-anticipation that they might never see him any more; but now he is coming within their horizon, and when he says, “I leave the world, and go to the Father,” they exclaim, “Lo, now thou speakest plainly ” now we know what thou dost mean; now we are quite sure about thee; now we feel as if upon a measured equality with thee: remain on that plane of thought, and never leave us alone any more. It was a momentary bubble on the river of their life. They looked at one another with a kind of vacant delight. They could only exclaim; they could not explain. Jesus piteous, tender, compassionate descended to their level, and said, “Do ye now believe?” You think you do: poor souls, you cannot understand a word I have spoken to you. God’s method is to lay up a great deal in the mind which history has to explain in due time; so that the Old Testament is searched by the New Testament, and is read in the illuminating glory of the latter days. You think you understand me, and I see your childish pleasure. Now listen, “The hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone.” You will know whether you understand me or not when you have to suffer for me. Do not imagine that heaven has begun; I observe your delight, I cannot but feel sympathetically with you. It is no pleasure of mine to rid you of your immediate joys, but as I look upon you I see you already being driven forth into desert places. I observe your condition, and it is that of sheep being pursued by wolves; in the dark night you must receive explanation of all this mystery.
So the contrast remains as broad at the end as at the beginning. Jesus Christ never mingles with others as an equal. When he is counted one of a number, he is the one, the others are the unmeaning ciphers. This being the case, some practical questions immediately rush upon the mind, and some fears, indeed, threaten to leap upon the spirit and quench its trembling hope. There need not be any alarm of that kind. Though the difference between Christ and his disciples is the difference between infinity and infiniteness, there need be no hindrances to communion. The little earth communes with the great sun: the earth never found room for the sun, or hospitality, or entertainment, for one brief day. The difference between them is an abiding distinction which can never be lessened; they never change places. The earth is always little, and cold, and naked, and the sun is always what he is in the summer-time and in the winter, the origin of such heat as the earth receives and utilises, and such light as makes earth’s poor little grey day. The earth might say, were we to personalise it and give: it faculty, and reason, and speech, “I am so little and can do nothing. I will take myself away, and fall into the oblivion which best becomes my insignificance.” But the earth makes no such speech; rather does it say, “I am little and the sun is great; the sun might do without me, but I cannot do without the sun. O thou great Light, let me see thee every morning; let me feel thee when I cannot see thee; warm me, cheer me, enlighten me, bless me, and make me fruitful, that I may grow all that is needful for the hunger of man and beast. I am but little, spurn me not, but rather fill me with thy light, and make me do my duty in my little sphere with gladsomeness and music and gratitude.” It has pleased Christ to make his people the light of the world, but only in some reflective sense. The moon is the light of the world, but only at night. She knows the time and the limit of her shining, and sweetly does she run the round of her gentle ministry. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Not only is this distinction no hindrance to communion, it is a positive guarantee of blessing “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.” I have not shown you my majesty that I might dazzle you, but that I might comfort you; I have not blazed and burned upon you from heavenly heights that you might close your eyes and run away into the congenial and healing darkness, but to show you that whatever may come of you, in me ye shall have day and summer, and light and beauty, riches unsearchable. When the rich man displays his wealth to the poor man it may be to keep the poor man at arm’s length, saying, Who are you? for you have no wealth to compare with this. Be satisfied with your situation, and keep at the other end of the staff, nor venture to look upon me as an equal. But when Jesus Christ displays his riches he says, These are yours because ye are mine; and because of your faith and love, your trust and service, my wealth shall be at your disposal, and you can never be really poor whilst I live. Some such word as this was needed at the end of such a discourse. Having companied with Christ so long, if we put ourselves into the place of the disciples, we may say we had become almost familiar with him: we have seen him when he was weary and weak; we have seen the great tears standing unshed in his gentle eyes; many a time we have helped him and done our best to comfort him amid the woes darkening upon his life, and so accustomed have we been to his coming and his going that we have looked upon ourselves as in some sense his equals and fellow-labourers. But now, suddenly, he has become a strange man to us; he has changed the whole tone and scale of his speech; he does not even use the common simple little words that used to pass between us as the currency of love. He seems to be seated upon a throne, and to be talking from heaven to earth, and gradually separating himself from us, and we cannot bear it. Whilst such hearing overpowers the listener, the great divine Speaker says, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace, assurance of plenty, confidence of unexhausted spirit, and the tranquillity which arises from these profound assurances. Say now, Christ is mine, and I am his; and because of the union between us, all that he has I have, and so long as he can lift an arm no foe shall overwhelm me. I have no confidence in myself, in my poor little strength, in my mean resources, but I live in Christ; I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me. If we make that reply to the sermon which Christ delivered, we shall understand what he meant when he said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.”
Then he concludes with an assurance that the conquest is already won. “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Why should we be of good cheer on that account? Have we ourselves not yet to overcome the world? Why should we joy in another’s gladness because he has triumphed when we ourselves are left in the thick of the fight? Therein we reason erroneously, and altogether mistake the real condition of the case. When Jesus Christ says that he has overcome the world, he means that his conquest is the pledge of ours. If he had failed we could not have succeeded. It is because he has succeeded that we cannot fail. These are Christian promises; these are Christian delights; these are the joys of the sanctuary. My soul, when thou art afraid because of the war, put thyself into the keeping of the all-conquering Lord; when the chariots against thee are a million, and are all made of iron, and when the horses are down upon thee like lightning, hide thyself in the Rock of Ages, draw upon the stock of the infinite store. “What time I am afraid I will trust in God.” I know by this meditation how vast is the difference between Jesus Christ and myself. If I had been guilty of the presumption of thinking that he had made me an equal, I feel that the mistake has been entirely on my own side. He has not made me an equal, nor can omnipotence do so. There is but one infinity. The difference between the creature and the Creator can never be reduced to nothingness. But this can be made of it: a means of communion, a fountain of blessing, an assurance of protection. That is enough! Poor little earth, do not distract thyself because thou canst not be the great sun. Keep in thy place; roll on in thy peaceful course, and keep thyself open to receive morning messages of light and evening assurances of defence.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Ver. 15. All things that the Father hath, &c. ] So that if we can but marry the heir, we have all. The Father saith unto him, as he did to his eldest son, Luk 15:31 ; “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine;” therefore we may go boldly to him for all things needful for life and godliness. When Joseph sent to Jacob, that Pharaoh had put all into his hands, he was not a little comforted that one so near to him in nature was so able to accommodate him. Let us also come boldly to the throne of grace, since our flesh and blood hath all power to do us good. Christ, as mediator, is able to make all grace abound toward us, that we “always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work,” 2Co 8:8 . Well might Ignatius say, Ignis, crux, et diaboli tormenta in me verdant, tantummodo ut Iesum nanciscar. The fire, the troubles and the torments of the devil change me, only merely so I may find Jesus.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15. ] Here we have given us a glimpse into the essential relations of the Blessed Trinity. The Father hath given the Son to have life and all things in Himself (Col 1:19 ; Col 2:2-3 ), the relation being, that the Son glorifies not Himself but the Father, by revealing the Father, whom He alone knows ( Mat 11:27 ). And this Revelation, the Revelation of the Father by Christ is carried on by the blessed Spirit in the hearts of the disciples of Christ; Who takes ( , indefinite, of the office of the Spirit) of the things of Christ, and declares, proclaims, to them.
] For this cause I (rightly) said. i.e. ‘this was the ground of My asserting:’ not the reason why it was said , but the justification of it when said.
This verse contains the plainest proof by inference of the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 16:15 . There is no need that the Spirit go beyond Christ and no possibility He should do so, because , “all things whatsoever the Father has are mine,” cf. Joh 17:10 and Joh 13:3 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ; Heb 2:8 . The Messianic reign involved that Christ should be truly supreme and have all things at His disposal. So that when He said that the Spirit would take of what was His, that was equivalent to saying that the Spirit had the unlimited fulness of the Godhead to draw upon.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
therefore = on account of (Greek. dia. App-104. Joh 16:2) this.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
15.] Here we have given us a glimpse into the essential relations of the Blessed Trinity. The Father hath given the Son to have life and all things in Himself (Col 1:19; Col 2:2-3), the relation being, that the Son glorifies not Himself but the Father, by revealing the Father, whom He alone knows (Mat 11:27). And this Revelation, the Revelation of the Father by Christ-is carried on by the blessed Spirit in the hearts of the disciples of Christ; Who takes (, indefinite, of the office of the Spirit) of the things of Christ, and declares, proclaims, to them.
] For this cause I (rightly) said. i.e. this was the ground of My asserting:-not the reason why it was said, but the justification of it when said.
This verse contains the plainest proof by inference of the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 16:15. , A considerable number of manuscripts read .[364] The and , Joh 16:15, accords with , giving a magnificent signification in the use of the present tense: and the receiving certainly precedes the announcing, .
[364] A reading to which greater value is attached by the margin of the 2d Ed. than by the larger Ed. But the Germ. Vers. adhered to the reading .-E. B. , an Alexandrine form for , is the reading of AD. These less polished forms are retained in our LXX. Rec. Text, because it was taken from the very ancient Vatican MS. Whereas in our New Testament Rec. Text we have substituted the smoother forms, because our Rec. Text is formed according to the mass of modern MSS. instead of the few more authoritative old MSS. which have the rougher forms. Orig. 471e, 346d, however, supports the Rec. reading . . is probably a reading drawn from the genuine original .-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 16:15
Joh 16:15
All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you.-Jesus and his Father are one in their character and possessions. As the Son of God, he was heir to all things, therefore in revealing the things of God, they made known those of Christ the Lord. [We are here shut up to two alternatives, either that Jesus of Nazareth is not only the Christ, but the Son of the living God, in all that those words can imply of deific attributes and essence, or that he was the most arrogant pretender that the world has ever seen.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Joh 3:35, Joh 10:29, Joh 10:30, Joh 13:3, Joh 17:2, Joh 17:10, Mat 11:27, Mat 28:18, Luk 10:22, Col 1:19, Col 2:3, Col 2:9
Reciprocal: Zec 13:7 – the man Joh 6:45 – Every Joh 8:54 – it is Joh 15:26 – he Joh 17:7 – are Act 3:13 – hath 1Co 2:12 – that 1Co 12:3 – no man 2Co 8:9 – though Phi 2:11 – to the Col 2:2 – of the Father Heb 1:2 – appointed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
This verse is Christs ex-planation of the statement he made in the preceding verse. The Father and Son were so united In the great scheme of human redemption, that what pertained to one was a concern of the other.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 16:15. All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I that he receiveth of that which is mine, and will declare it unto you. It is of Himself as Son of man as well as Son of God, not of Himself only as the Eternal Son, that Jesus speaks. In that capacity all things whatsoever had been given Him by the Father. Therefore might He well say in the previous verse that, in leading His disciples onward to the ultimate goal of the Divine purposes, the Spirit would do this by receiving and declaring of that which was His. What was so received and declared would not fall short, therefore, of leading them into the highest truththe truth as to the Father.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 15
All things; that is, all that relates to moral truth.