Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 16:26
At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
26. At that day ] As in Joh 16:23 and Joh 14:20 from Pentecost onwards.
ye shall ask in my name ] With the perfect knowledge just promised they will discern what may be asked in His name (see on Joh 14:13): ‘ cognitio parit orationem.’
I say not unto you ] This does not mean ‘I need not say unto you; for of course I shall do so;’ which does not harmonize with Joh 16:27. The meaning rather is, that so long as through the power of the Advocate they have direct communion with the Father in Christ’s name, there is no need to speak of Christ’s intercession. But this communion may be interrupted by sin, and then Christ becomes their Advocate (1Jn 2:1; Rom 8:34).
that I will pray ] The pronoun is emphatic. On the word here rendered ‘pray’ ( ertn) see on Joh 14:16.
for you ] More literally, concerning you.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I say not unto you that I will pray … – In Joh 14:16, Jesus says that he would pray the Father, and that he would send the Comforter. In John 17 he offered a memorable prayer for them. In Heb 7:25, it is said that Jesus ever liveth to make intercession for us; and it is constantly represented in the New Testament that it is by his intercession in heaven now that we obtain the blessings of pardon, peace, strength, and salvation. Compare Heb 9:24. This declaration of Jesus, then, does not mean that he would not intercede for them, but that there was no need then of his mentioning it to them again. They knew that; and, in addition to that, he told them that God was ready and willing to confer on them all needful blessings.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 16:26-27
I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you
No need of an intercessor
Our Lord would teach that the Father is ready to receive our petitions directly, because He loveth us.
We have here
I. A NEW CONCEPTION OF GOD.
1. New to the Jew with his elaborate sacrificial and mediatorial scheme.
2. New to us who, conscious of sin and of Gods anger against it, could never have hoped that He would view us in any other light but that of aliens.
II. THE ANXIETY OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN CLOSE RELATIONS WITH HIS CHILDREN. The mediation of Christ is a means to the end of bringing us to God (1Pe 3:18).
III. THE ERROR OF MULTIPLYING THE MEDIATIONS BETWEEN THE SOUL AND GOD. Remove God afar off, confine Him to the heavens, then priests mediating for men, and saints mediating for priests, is rational; but how does it comport with this saying and the whole teaching of Scripture, which reveals a God dwelling in the heart, and jealous of everything that comes between Him and the soul He has redeemed.
IV. THE COMFORTABLE BELIEF THAT CHRIST MAKES INTERCESSION FOR US. Christ does not decline to pray for us. He only makes known Gods willingness to hear us directly. But all the while we know He ever liveth to make intercession for US. (H. M. Jackson.)
The intercession of Christ
1. In three passages from the Epistles, we find a notable consensus of statement on the present work of Christ as our Intercessor. St. John lays stress on the basis of this advocacy; it is His own personal righteousness and His propitiatory atonement. St. Paul makes intercession the climax of that splendid series of facts on which reposes the safety of a believer: Christ not only died and rose, He even ascended to the Fathers side, and there, says he, He also maketh intercession. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, emphasis lies on the ceaselessness of that intercession, which is offered not by a mortal priest, but by One who ever liveth, and whose priesthood is unchangeable.
2. How admirably all this fits into the wants of our nature! Even had there been no sin to be dealt with, humanity might have found its way to the Father best through a mediator. As it is, not without some reconciling Go-between to act for him and to speak for him, does the criminal venture to approach his Judge. Even after we know that satisfaction has been made, there still remain the hesitation and the awe of conscious unworthiness. Now, the appropriate and very tender response which God has given to this reserve on our part is the Divine Man. The awful fact of incarnation creates at once a Spokesman, into whose ear we need have less fear to whisper our confessions or our needs, and whose lips are clean enough to speak for us to the Father.
3. But while Christs advocacy for us is a valuable part of His mediation and a comfort to timid petitioners, it is exposed to misconception. Jesus is our priestly Suppliant, who entreats mercy on the ground of His sacrifice; our Advocate, who represents our case to the Judge; our powerful Patron, who moves the Father to do at His instance what He would not do for our deserving. The first of these modes of representing the intercession is biblical and harmless. The others suggests false associations. In Asiatic states, and even under Roman law, patronage was nearly everything. To get some one in high position or close friendship with the judge to speak for you, was, as it still is in the East, the only line of safety. It is plain that where mens minds were steeped in associations of this description, it would be natural to transfer similar ideas to the Divine Advocate in heaven. What a miserably false conception this suggests of the Divine character! How it reduces the righteous and impartial God to the weakness of a corruptible earthly sovereign! How it makes the Saviours plea a plea not of equity addressed to righteous love, but of affection addressed to the indulgence of partiality! It splits the Divine character in two, and apportions its features between the First and Second of the blessed Persons, and gathers into the remoter Father, at whose judgment-seat Jesus pleads, all the sterner attributes of anger, rigorous justice, and hardness to be won: while Jesus Christ become the placable and gentle Friend, on whose good offices, with His Father, we have to build our hope.
4. Any one who is familiar with the popular working of Catholicism in modern times will know how, in the Church of Rome, this process has gone even a step further. Having thrust back the Son into the Fathers supposed place, the Church has consistently thrust Mary in the Sons. For all practical purposes of religious worship, or pious hope, Christs mother is now the benignant patroness, to whose maternal persuasions the soul may trust for final mercy. Nay, this generation of Catholics has begun to carry the process one step further still. Since Mary was declared to be immaculate, the Catholic heart seeks now an intercessor with the Virgin. Joseph must plead now with the awful mother, that she may plead with her more awful Son. Horrible as all this sounds in a Protestant ear, yet it is possible to say, Jesus, pray for us! and mean what is quite as dishonouring to the infinite charity of the Godhead, as though we said, Mary, pray for us! or Joseph, pray for us! If the intercession which we solicit means in either case the extorting of boons from an unwilling hand, then the one conception is just as heathenish and unscriptural as the other.
5. None of the apostolic writers has been led to say one word to guard against an abuse so monstrous, but their far-sighted Master had before protested against it by anticipation, in the text which was spoken only a few minutes before He lifted up His voice in that wonderful intercession, and that lest the apostles should suppose the Fathers love to be in the least inferior to His own, or to need any prompting from Him. It was the special work of Jesus to discover to us, not Himself, but His Father; or Himself only as the Incarnate image of His Father. As this was His business, so, being a true Son, it was also His delight. What vexed Him was that the disciples would not, or could not, look through and past Himself to the Greater One, whose Image and Messenger He was. Hence there grew up in Him a consuming anxiety that men would honour the Father, and an alarm lest they should be led to think less of the Fathers love than of His own. This alarm it is which finds vent in the text.
6. How, then, are we to represent to ourselves the intercession of Christ while guarding the spontaneous love of the Father? Take the case of a guilty penitent who approaches the Divine seat for pardon. He is certain that the heart of God is as the heart of a father. He knows, therefore, that the Father Himself loves him, and of His own accord will bend a favourable ear to his request. But he is no less certain that pardon is a judicial act on the part of God, an act which He can only do in consideration of previous satisfaction for sin. The guilty petitioner, therefore, approaches with his mind full of the Atonement, recognizing in it the supreme generosity of God clearing away every obstacle to his forgiveness, and he begs for the Fathers mercy in the name of Jesus. Let him now be told that Jesus Himself is to be thought of as a priestly Advocate by the Fathers side, to sustain each earthly cry for mercy with the plea of His own finished atonement. What does the petitioner learn from that? That the Father cares less about forgiving him than the Son? That forgiveness is not only to be wrung through personal interest? No, but this–that the judicial basis on which the righteous Father can grant the pardon which He longs to grant is now for ever present to the Fathers mind, and for ever avails to sustain the sinners plea for mercy. (J. O. Dykes, D. D.)
The Father Himself loveth you because ye have loved Me
The Fathers love
I. ITS NATURE. It is
1. A redeeming love. God so loved the world, &c.
2. A calling love. No man cometh unto Me except the Father draw him.
3. An adopting love. Behold what manner of love, &c.
4. A protecting love. Babes, children, want guardian care, Can a mother forget, &c.
5. A sanctifying love. As we all desire to see our children grow, so our Father desires to see us grow in grace. Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.
6. An everlasting love (Joh 16:31.).
II. ITS CLAIMS. My Son, give Me Thy heart. God claims our
1. Supreme love–a love of Him above every creature whatsoever.
2. Practical love (Joh 14:21; 1Jn 3:18).
3. Expansive love. It must embrace all Gods family for His sake. Apply this in the way of
(1) Remonstrance.
(2) Encouragement. (Bp. Montagu Villiers.)
Mutual love
We have here
I. AN AMIABLE CHARACTER. The saints love is the love of
1. Of a debtor to his surety.
2. One friend to another.
3. A brother.
4. A wife to her husband.
5. A scholar to his teacher.
6. A servant to his master.
7. A loyal subject to his king.
II. A DISTINGUISHING PRIVILEGE.
1. Gods love to us is prior to our love to Christ.
2. Our love to Christ is not the cause but the effect of Gods love to us.
3. Gods love to us is infinitely superior to our love to Christ.
4. Though Gods love is the same to all the saints, yet the manifestations of it are not so.
Conclusion:
1. Serious self-examination, Lovest thou Me.
2. Subjects for astonishment, gratitude and praise. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Going to God through Christ
Did you ever observe the difference there sometimes is between father and mother, in regard to gaining the confidence and affection of their children? Here are two equally good parents, but they are very diverse in their dispositions, and the children make an election of one of them in preference to the other. The father is great-hearted and noble, but rugged, firm, stern, and inflexible; and the children do not like to climb up the steep sides of his disposition. If they are in trouble, they say, Do not let us go to father first: let us go to mother first, and she will tell it to father. It is a level, grassy, flowery slope to her heart, and the children go to her first because she receives them so kindly. If they want to go to the father, they go to him through her. Now I think it is exactly so in respect to going to God the Father, through Christ, regarded as a Being characterised by love and tenderness and pity and sympathy; but all the gentle elements of disposition which we see displayed in men–only in Him they exist in a state of glorious perfection, while in us they are but imperfectly developed. He invites us to come to Him with our troubles and sorrows, and we feel drawn to Him because He is so placable and, we may say, so persuadable–though no man ever did persuade Christ. No tears or implorations ever persuaded Him. He never was persuaded by anything. There never was a time when His mercy was not ahead of our requests. When a heart comes to Him asking for a blessing, quicker than a flash of lightning the thought of God leaps to the conclusion of mercy. When we plead for the smallest favour, which in His wisdom He sees that we need, before we have half done our prayer, He has granted it. He is always ahead of us in this way. Do you not see such things among men? (H. W. Beecher.)
The love of God
Mary, said a missionary to a pious woman, a negro–Mary, is notthe love of God wonderful? Massa, me no tink it so wonderful, she replied; its just like Him.
The love of God
A mother, whose daughter had behaved very badly, and at length had run away from home, thought of a singular plan in order to find the wanderer and draw her back to her home. After having exhausted the ordinary means, she had her own portrait fixed on a large handbill, and pasted on the walls of the town where she supposed her daughter to be concealed. The portrait, without name, had these words–I love thee always. Crowds stopped before the strange handbill, trying to guess its meaning, Days elapsed, when a young girl at last passed by, and in her turn, lifted her eyes to the singular placard. Can it be? Yes, truly it is the picture of my mother. Those eyes full of tenderness, I know them from childhood. Why is it here? She approaches nearer and reads, I love thee always. She understood; this was a message for her. Her mother loved her–pardoned her. Those words transformed her. Never had she felt her sin or ingratitude me deeply. She was unworthy of such love. She loves me always, she cried. If she had ever doubted that love, if in moments of distress she had feared to return home, those doubts were all gone now. She set out for the house of her mother; at last she crosses the threshold, is in her mothers arms. My child! cried the mother, as she presses her repentant daughter to her heart; I have never ceased to love thee. (La bonne Nouvelle.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 26. I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you] I need not tell you that I will continue your intercessor: I have given you already so many proofs of my love that ye cannot possibly doubt this: besides, the Father himself needs no entreaty to do you good, for he loves you, and is graciously disposed to save you to the uttermost, because ye have loved me and believed in me as coming from God, for the salvation of the world.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
When the Spirit shall come, then you shall fully and clearly understand how to put up your prayers to the Father in my name: hitherto have you done it imperfectly, not fully understanding what you did; but when I shall have poured out my Spirit, then you shall fully understand what it is to pray in my name, and you shall accordingly do it. He doth not deny that he would ask the Father; for the Scripture elsewhere plainly expresses it, Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25; but he only tells them, that he said not so to them; the reason of which he tells us in the next words.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. I say not . . . I will pray theFather for youas if He were not of Himself disposed toaid you: Christ does pray the Father for His people, but not for thepurpose of inclining an unwilling ear.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 they had been before: they then better understood the throne of grace, and the advantages of it; had greater enlargements and assistances at it; and were better acquainted with the mediation of Christ, and the necessity of making use of his name, blood, and righteousness, in all their petitions and requests.
And I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you. This Christ had promised before, Joh 14:16; nor was there any occasion to repeat it now, of which they might be strongly assured: besides, at that day the Spirit would be given to them by virtue of his intercession; so that there would be no need of praying to the Father for them on that account. This is said, not as if the intercession of Christ for his people would then cease; for he is always their advocate with the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for them; though it may not be carried on in the same manner, by prayer, as when he was here on earth, his personal appearance, and the presentation of his blood, sacrifice, and righteousness, being sufficient; but to declare the disposition and readiness of his Father to hear them, and grant unto them whatsoever they should ask of him in his name.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
I say not ( ). “I speak not.” Christ did pray for the disciples before his death (John 14:16; John 17:9; John 17:15; John 17:24) and he prays also for sinners (Luke 23:34; 1John 2:1). Here it is the special love of God for disciples of Jesus (John 14:21; John 14:23; John 17:23; 1John 4:19). Note and used in practically the same sense as in verse 23.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Ye shall ask – I will pray. Note again the use of the two verbs for asking. Ye shall ask [] ; I will pray [] . See on ver. 23.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “At that day ye shall ask in my name:” (en ekeine te hemera en to onomati mou aitesesthe) “in that day you will ask in my name,” after that the Holy Spirit is sent to indwell and empower and anoint you all, as a church people, Joh 14:16-17; Luk 24:49; Act 4:12; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27; Joh 15:16.
2) “And I say not unto you,” (kai ou lego humin) “And I tell you not,” for it is not even necessary; I do not press the issue that to ask in my name is the only reason your prayers will be answered, for the Father has intense love for you also.
3) “That I will pray the Father for you” (hoti ego eroteso ton patera peri humon) “That I will request the Father concerning you all,” for I have already told you this, Joh 14:16-17; Joh 16:7. For I will pray to Him who loves both you and Me, and I will advocate or intercede on your behalf, Heb 7:25; 1Jn 2:1-2.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
26. In that day you shall ask in my name. He again repeats the reason why the heavenly treasures were then to be so bountifully opened up. It is, because they ask in the name of Christ whatever they need, and God will refuse nothing that shall be asked in the name of his Son. But there appears to be a contradiction in the words; for Christ immediately adds, that it will be unnecessary for him to pray to the Father Now, what purpose does it serve to pray in his name, if he does not undertake the office of Intercessor? In another passage John calls him our Advocate, (1Jo 2:1.) Paul also testifies that Christ now intercedes for us, (Rom 8:34😉 and the same thing is confirmed by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who declares that Christ always liveth to make intercession for us, (Heb 7:25.) I reply, Christ does not absolutely say, in this passage, that he will not be Intercessor, but he only means, that the Father will be so favorably disposed towards the disciples, that, without any difficulty, he will give freely whatever they shall ask. “ My Father, ” he says, “will meet you, and, on account of the great love which he bears towards you, will anticipate the Intercessor, who, otherwise, would speak on your behalf.”
Besides, when Christ is said to intercede with the Father for us, let us not indulge in carnal imaginations about him, as if he were on his knees before the Father, offering humble supplication in our name. But the value of his sacrifice, by which he once pacified God toward us, is always powerful and efficacious; the blood by which he atoned for our sins, the obedience which he rendered, is a continual intercession for us. This is a remarkable passage, by which we are taught that we have the heart of the Heavenly Father, (104) as soon as we have placed before Him the name of his Son.
(104) “ Le coeur du Pere celeste.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) At that day ye shall ask in my name.Comp. Notes on Joh. 16:23-24. When guided by the Paraclete, the life will be subject to the will of Christ, and the prayer will be in His name.
And I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you.These words have often been taken to mean, That I will pray the Father for you, is a matter of course, of which I need not tell you; but this sense is excluded by the following verse. The thought is rather, I do not speak of praying for you, because in the presence of the Advocate you will yourselves be able to pray in My name to the Father. His prayer is thought of as not necessary for them, and yet the form of the words implies that He will pray for them if it should be needed. While their hearts are the temples of the Holy Ghost, and they maintain communion with the Father, they will need no other Advocate, but If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1Jn. 2:1). Comp. Joh. 14:16; Joh. 17:9, which refer to the time which precedes the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. I say not will pray That he said at another time; but that he sets aside for the present. He will omit now to mention his own prayer to the Father for them, in view of the rich access they shall have to the Father himself.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.”
This verse for ever puts to an end the claim that we need Mary or the saints to pray for us. Indeed it tells us that even the intercession of Jesus is not strictly necessary for those who are committed to Him, because the Father loves them so much.
Of course Jesus will discuss us with the Father, but not because the Father needs persuading of anything. And He will carry out His High Priestly intercession, applying His work of atonement and sanctification to His people, a work which no other can do. But receiving answers to prayer for assistance in their work for Him do not require His intercession because of the direct interest of the Father in their work.
So when the disciples ask ‘in His name’ in order to obtain assistance in carrying out His work they can be sure the Father will answer because of the regard the Father has for them. This regard is due to the fact that they have believed that Jesus really did come from the Father. It is because of their response to Him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 16:26. At that day ye shall ask in my name: This is the fifth time our Lord enjoined his apostles to offer up their petitions in his name. See Joh 16:23-24. Ch. Joh 14:13 and Joh 15:16. The frequency of the injunction shews the importance of the matter enjoined; for whether we understand Jesus as speaking of the things requisite to the conversion of the world, or of such things as are necessary to the salvation of individuals, it is evident that the great end of the mediation of Christ is, to atone for the sins of the world, and to impress mankind with a deep sense of their own sinfulness which makes them unfit to approach the divine presence directly; of the merit and efficacy of Christ’s death, whereby alone they have access to God; of the necessity of receiving his spirit for every good thought, word and work, and to send this divine Comforter into the hearts of believers. When our Lord says, And I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father, his meaning is, “Do not think that I shall solicit the Father on your behalf,as if he was unwilling to bestow upon you the blessings you want: no; the Father himself bears a warm love towards you, for my sake, and on account of your love to me, and your faith in me.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 16:26-27 . . . . . .] Because enlightened by the Paraclete. Comp. Joh 16:24 . Bengel’s remark is apt: “Cognitio parit orationem,” and that the prayer to be heard in the name of Jesus. [183]
, . . . ] and I say not , etc.; I would therewith promise something for that coming time that may be dispensed with. For on my part ( ) an intercession on your behalf in order to the hearing of these your prayers will not at all be needed, because, that is, they are just prayers in my name (see on Joh 14:14 ). The opposite meaning is deduced by Aretius, Grotius, Wolf, Rosenmller, Kuinoel: that . means: I will not mention at all , so that the intercession is thus designated as a matter of course. Against this the following , . . ., is decisive. There is no contradiction, however, with Joh 14:16 , Joh 17:9 , since in these places the intercession of Christ belongs to the time prior to the communication of the Paraclete.
] ipse , from the proper divine impulse of love, without my intercessory mediation being required to that end.
] “ amat vos , adeoque vos exaudit,” Bengel. The present denotes that the future is represented as present. They have then the , Rom 8:15 ; Gal 4:6 ; along with which, however, the intercession intended in 1Jn 2:1 , Heb 7:25 , Rom 8:34 , on the part of the exalted Jesus, is not excluded. This intercession is not required in order to the hearing of prayer, if it is made in virtue of the Spirit in the name of Jesus, but rather generally in order to the continued efficacy of the atonement on behalf of believers.
The reason of that is: , . . .: “for He will not thus remove Himself out of the midst, that they should pray without and exclusive of Him,” Luther. Note : because ye are they who have loved me . . is placed first as the correlate of ; and with logical correctness, since faith, in this definiteness of development ( ), could in its progress gradually unfold itself only in their loving bond to Christ, by means of the exercise and experience of this love. On the perfects , as the presents of the completed act, Bengel says, and rightly: “amore et fide prehensum habetis.” Hofmann, Schriftbew . II. 1, p. 543, incorrectly explains them from the standpoint of the Parousia, from which a glance is taken backwards to the love that has been borne to the close. The entire promise has nothing to do with the Parousia; see on Joh 16:16 ; Joh 16:22 ; Joh 14:18 .
] See on Joh 8:42 .
[183] “For thou comest not in thine own name, work, or merit, but on this, that it is announced to thee by the Holy Spirit what God’s will and command is, which He has performed through Christ,” Luther.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
Ver. 26. At that day ye shall ask, &c. ] Christ had promised them further light, but yet expects they should pray for it. Prayer is a putting the promises in suit; we must pray them over ere we get the performance, Eze 36:37 . Christ himself was to ask of his Father the world for his inheritance, &c.,Psa 2:8Psa 2:8 ;
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
26. ] “The more knowledge, the more prayer in the name of Jesus,” Lcke. “Cognitio parit orationem,” Bengel. The approaching the Father through Him shall be a characteristic of their higher state under the dispensation of the Spirit.
. ] This has been variously understood. Grotius’s rendering, “prtereo hoc quasi minus eo quod jam inferam,” comes I believe the nearest to the truth, though it does not express the whole meaning. The Lord is now describing the fulness of their state of communion with Himself and the Father by the Spirit. He is setting in the strongest light their reconciliation and access to the Father. He therefore says, Ye shall ask the Father in My name: and I do not now say to you, I do not now state it in this form, that I will ask the Father for you as if there were no relation of love and mercy between the Father and yourselves: ( 27 ) for the Father Himself ( , i.e. (Nonnus) ‘proprio motu’) loveth you; why? Because ye love and believe on Me.
The whole mind of the Father towards mankind is Love: both in Redemption itself (ch. Joh 3:16 ), and then in an especial manner by drawing those who come to Christ ( Joh 6:44 ), and again by this fuller manifestation of His love to those who believe on and love Christ. The aim of this saying is to shew them that His intercession (which is still going on under the dispensation of the Spirit, 1Jn 2:1 ) does not imply their exclusion from access to the Father, but rather ensures that access , by the especial love which the Father bears to them who believe in and love His Son: CHRIST being still the efficient cause of the Father’s love to them, and the channel of that Love.
No stress must be laid (Lcke) on here coming before , as to Faith coming after Love: probably . is placed first as corresponding to just before: and it might be said with just as much reason that contains the ground of the , as the converse.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 16:26 . . “In that day,” in which I shall tell you plainly of the Father (Joh 16:25 , ), “ye shall ask in my name”; this is the natural consequence of their increased knowledge of the Father. “And I do no say to you that I will ask the Father concerning you” , almost equivalent to , here and in Mat 26:28 ; 1Jn 4:10 , “in relation to,” almost “in behalf of” (Joh 16:27 ) “for the Father Himself loves you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God”. The intention of the statement is to convey fuller assurance that their prayers will be answered. The Father’s love needs no prompting. Yet the intercession of Christ, so emphatically presented in the Epistle to the Hebrews and in Rom 8:34 , is not ignored. Jesus says: “I do not base the expectation of answer solely on my intercession, but on the Father’s love, a love which itself is quickened and evoked by your love for me”. “I do not say that I will ask” means “I do not press this,” “I do not bring this forward as the sole reason why you may expect to be heard”. The mediation of Christ has here its incidence at an earlier stage than in the Apostolic statements. The love of God is represented as intensified towards those who have accepted Christ as the revealer of the Father.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
At = In. Greek. en. App-104.
that day. See Joh 16:23.
pray. Greek. erotao. Same as “ask” in Joh 16:5.
for = concerning. Greek. peri. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
26.] The more knowledge, the more prayer in the name of Jesus, Lcke. Cognitio parit orationem, Bengel. The approaching the Father through Him shall be a characteristic of their higher state under the dispensation of the Spirit.
.] This has been variously understood. Grotiuss rendering, prtereo hoc quasi minus eo quod jam inferam, comes I believe the nearest to the truth, though it does not express the whole meaning. The Lord is now describing the fulness of their state of communion with Himself and the Father by the Spirit. He is setting in the strongest light their reconciliation and access to the Father. He therefore says, Ye shall ask the Father in My name: and I do not now say to you,-I do not now state it in this form,-that I will ask the Father for you-as if there were no relation of love and mercy between the Father and yourselves:-(27) for the Father Himself (, i.e. (Nonnus)-proprio motu) loveth you;-why? Because ye love and believe on Me.
The whole mind of the Father towards mankind is Love: both in Redemption itself (ch. Joh 3:16),-and then in an especial manner by drawing those who come to Christ (Joh 6:44),-and again by this fuller manifestation of His love to those who believe on and love Christ. The aim of this saying is to shew them that His intercession (which is still going on under the dispensation of the Spirit, 1Jn 2:1) does not imply their exclusion from access to the Father, but rather ensures that access, by the especial love which the Father bears to them who believe in and love His Son: CHRIST being still the efficient cause of the Fathers love to them, and the channel of that Love.
No stress must be laid (Lcke) on here coming before , as to Faith coming after Love: probably . is placed first as corresponding to just before:-and it might be said with just as much reason that contains the ground of the , as the converse.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 16:26. , in My name) knowledge of God [which they were to have in that coming day] produces prayer.- , I do not say [I say not]) comp. , 1Jn 5:16, where, I do not say, is similarly used for, I say that He is not to, etc.; a courteous (i.e. expressive of affection) and Attic mode of expression. Jesus declares that the love of the Father needs not then, as if for the first time, be conciliated for them by His request, so as that they should be heard. It is rather owing to the very fact that they belonged to the Father, that now He makes request for them: ch. Joh 17:9, I pray for them, whom Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine.[367]
[367] In this verse we have used of the disciples prayer, , of Jesus request. , rogo, interrogo (see note, ver. 23) implies a certain equality in the asker, as of king with king (Luk 14:32), or at least familiarity. Jesus never in the New Testament uses of Himself, which would mean the petition of a creature, but , which implies the request of an equal-of the Son to the Father. is therefore never used in the New Testament of the prayer of man to God. See Trench Syn. N. T.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 16:26-27
Joh 16:26-27
In that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you; for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father.-After his resurrection and ascension they were to ask in his name. Then he does not say he will ask the Father for them because by their faith in him as sent of God and their love and obedience to him God would of his own love bless them.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
At: Joh 16:23
that: Joh 14:16, Joh 17:9, Joh 17:19, Joh 17:24, Rom 8:34
Reciprocal: Joh 14:13 – whatsoever
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6
At that day still has refer-ence to the complete inspiration of the apostles, at which time they would make their requests in the name or by the authority of Jesus. Say not . . . will pray the father, yet chapter 14; 16 expressly says that he would pray the Father. We are sure that Jesus never contradicted himself, but the next verse will show he meant that the favor of God Upon the apostles did not depend solely on the prayer of his Son.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 16:26-27. In that day ye shall ask in my name; and I say not unto you, That I will ask the Father concerning you: for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father.In these words, which may be spoken of as the last words of this discourse before Jesus turns to its closing thoughts, the encouragement that He would give to His disciples reaches its highest point. They are assured that they shall stand in such unity of love with the Father that the Father shall embrace them in constant affection as His sons, that they as sons shall approach directly to Him as their Father; and that in that intercourse there shall come to them every blessing which the fulness of Divine love can supply. The verse will best be understood by contrasting it with the words of chap. Joh 14:16. There Jesus had said that He would ask the Father, and He would give them another Advocate. Here He says that He will not need to ask for this Advocate on their behalf; and why? Because the Advocate has come, because He has taken full possession of their hearts, because it is His day. What is the consequence? They will ask in the name of Jesus,that is, the habit of their mind is that of prayer as persons who, through the revelation of the Father in the Son, know the Father to be their Father. Further, Jesus will not need to ask concerning them, for the Father needs no one to remind Him of His children. Lastly, the Father Himself will enfold them in His love, because in faith and love they have been united to the Son with whom He is one. It is an ideal state, the perfected state of the Church of Christ under the teaching of the Spirit; a state not yet reached by her amidst her many sins and weaknesses. Nevertheless the state is one not the less ideally true, because not yet reached; and not the less to be kept before us as the hope of our calling to that glorious issue, when all contradictions and disharmonies shall be done away, and when, through the power of the Spirit, the one unity of father, Son, and redeemed man shall be completely realised.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
At that day ye shall ask in my name; that is, after I have ascended into heaven, and have sent down the Holy Ghost upon you, you shall put up all your prayers and requests to God in my name; And I say not that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loveth you; that is, I need not tell you (though I shall certainly do it) that I will intercede with the Father for you, for he of himself is kindly disposed and affected towards you for my sake.
When Christ says, I do not say that I will pray the Father for you, the meaning is not that he will lay aside his office as intercessor for believers, but that they had not only his intercession, but the Father’s love, upon which to ground their hope of audience.
Learn hence, 1. That the Christian’s prayers, put up in Christ’s name, cannot fail of audience and acceptance for the sake of the Mediator’s intercession and the Father’s love.
2. That in our prayers we ought so to eye and look up to Christ’s intercession, as not to overlook and forget the Father’s love, but ground our hopes of audience upon both; I say not that I will pray the Father for you, though I shall assuredly do it, for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
16:26 {8} At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
(8) The sum of the worship of God is the invocation of the Father in the name of the Son the mediator, who is already heard for us, for whom he both abased himself, and is now also glorified.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
After Jesus’ ascension, the disciples would pray in Jesus’ name to the Father (cf. Joh 14:13-14; Joh 14:26; Joh 16:23-24). The Father would grant their request-in the context it is a request for understanding of Jesus’ former teachings-because the Father loved them in a special sense. They had loved His Son and had believed on Jesus. This is a second reason the disciples could take comfort in Jesus’ promise that they would understand better in the future. The first reason was that the Father would grant them answers to their prayers because they prayed in Jesus’ name.
Jesus was not denying that He would intercede for His disciples with the Father (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25; cf. 1Jn 2:1). His point was that the Father’s love for them would move Him to grant their petitions, as well as Jesus’ intercession and sponsorship (cf. Joh 15:9-16). Believers have a direct relationship with the Father as well as with the Son and the Spirit (cf. Rom 5:2).