Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 16:29
His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
29. said ] Rather, say.
plainly ] Literally, in plainness or openness. As in Joh 7:4, the word here has a preposition (see on Joh 7:26).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now speakest thou plainly – What he had said that perplexed them was that which is contained in Joh 16:16. Compare Joh 16:17-19; A little while and ye shall not see me, etc. This he had now explained by saying Joh 16:28, Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. In this there was no ambiguity, and they expressed themselves satisfied with this explanation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 16:29-32
Now speakest Then plainly
The disciples confession and the Masters warning
The first words of these discourses were, Let not your heart be troubled.
The aim of all was to bring peace and confidence to the disciples. And this joyful burst shows that the aim has been reached. The last sublime utterance had gathered all the scattered rays into a beam so bright that the blindest could not but see, and the coldest could not but be warmed But yet the calm, clear eye of Christ sees something not wholly satisfactory in this out-pouring of the disciples confidence.
I. THE DISCIPLES JOYFUL CONFESSION. Their words are permeated with allusions to previous sayings of our Lord, and show how shallow was their understanding of what they thought was plain. He had said to them that in that coming day He would speak to them no more in proverbs; and they answer that the promised day has come. If they had understood what He meant could they have spoken thug, or bare left Him so soon?
1. They begin with what they believed to be a fact, His clear utterance. Then follows a conviction. He had said, In that day ye shall ask Me nothing. And from the fact that He had interpreted their unspoken words they rightly draw the conclusion of His Divine Omniscience. And they think that therein is the fulfilment of that great promise. Was that all that He meant, No! He meant, Ye shall ask Me nothing because you will have an illuminating Spirit. And so, again, a shallow interpretation empties the words which they accept of their deepest and most precious meaning.
2. They take a further step. They begin with a fact; then they infer a conviction; and now, upon the basis of the inferred conviction, they rear a faith. We believe that Thou camest forth from God. But what they meant by coming forth from God fell far short of what He meant. And so their confession is a strangely mingled warp and woof of insight and of ignorance.
3. Note the lessons. We learn
(1) What it is that gives life to a creed–experience. These men had, over and over again, heard the declaration, I came forth from God; and in a sort of fashion they believed it, But, as so many of our convictions do, it lay dormant and half dead in their souls. But now experience had brought them into contact with a manifest proof of His Divine Omniscience; and the torpid conviction flashes all up at once into vitality. That is the only thing that teaches us the articles of our creed in a way worth learning them. We do not know the use of the sword until we are in the battle. Until the shipwreck comes no man puts on the lifebelt. Of all our teachers who turn beliefs assented to into beliefs really believed none is so mighty as sorrow. For that makes a man lay a firm hold on the deep things of Gods word.
(2) The bold avowal that always accompanies certitude. These mens stammering tongues are loosed. They have a fact to base themselves upon. They have a faith built upon the certitude of what they know. Having this, out it all comes in a gush. No man that believes with all his heart can help speaking. You silent Christians are so because you do not more than half grasp the truth that you say you hold.
(3) Take care of indolently supposing that you understand the depths of Gods truth. These apostles fancied that they had grasped the whole meaning of the Masters words, and were glad in them. And there are only too many of us who are disposed to grasp at the most superficial interpretation of Christian truth, and lazily to rest ourselves in that. Better that we should feel that the smallest word that comes from God is like some little leaf of a water plant on the surface of a pond; if you lift that you draw a whole trail after it; and nobody knows how far off and how deep down are the roots.
II. THE SAD QUESTIONS AND FOREBODINGS OF THE MASTER. He does not reject their imperfect homage, though He discerns its imperfection and transiency; but sadly warns them to beware of the fleeting nature of their present emotion; and would seek to prepare them, by the knowledge, for the terrible storm that is going to break upon them. Note, then, that
1. The dear Lord accepts imperfect surrender. If He did not, what would become of us all? He was willing to put up with what you and I will not put up with; and to accept what we reject; and be pleased that they gave Him even that.
2. The need for Christian men to make sure that their inward life corresponds with their words and professions. Our words and acts of Christian profession and service are like bank notes. And what will be the end if there is a whole ream of such going up and down the world, and no balance of bullion in the cellars to meet them? Nothing but bankruptcy. Do you see to it that your reserve of gold, deep down in your hearts, always leaves a margin beyond the notes in circulation issued by you. And in the midst of your professions hear the Master saying, Do ye now believe?
3. Trust no emotions, no religious experiences, but only Him to whom they turn. These men were perfectly sincere, and there was a glow of gladness in their hearts, and a real though imperfect faith when they spoke. In an hours time where were they? We trusted. Ah! what a world of sorrow there is in those two final letters of that word. We trusted that it had been He who should have redeemed Israel. But they do not trust it any more, and so why should they put themselves in peril for One on whom their faith can no longer build? Would you and I have been any better if we had been there? Suppose you had stood afar off and seen Jesus die on the cross, would your faith have lived? Let us all, recognizing our own weakness, trust to nothing, but only to Him, and cry, Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.
III. THE LONELY CHRIST AND HIS COMPANION.
1. Jesus was the loneliest man that ever lived. All other forms of human solitude were concentrated in His. He knew the pain of unappreciated aims, unaccepted love, unbelieved teachings, a heart thrown back upon itself. Solitude was no small part of the pain of His passion. Remember the pitiful appeals in Gethsemane. Now, some of us no doubt have to live outwardly solitary lives. Physicists tell us that in the most solid bodies the atoms do not touch. Hearts come closer than atoms, but yet after all, we die alone, and in the depths of our souls we all live alone. So let us be thankful that the Master knows the bitterness of solitude, and has Himself trod that path.
2. Then we have the calm consciousness of unbroken communion. Jesus Christs sense of union with the Father was deep, close, constant, in manner and measure altogether transcending any experience of ours. But still He sets before us a pattern of what we should aim at in these great words. They show the path of comfort for every lonely heart. If the world with its millions seems to have none in it for us, let us turn to Him who never leaves us. If dear ones are torn from our grasp, let us clasp God. It is not all loss if the trees which with their leafy beauty shut out the sky from us, are felled and so we see the blue. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Faith in the chamber and faith in the world
I. THE DISCIPLES PROFESSED TO BELIEVE, BUT THEY DID NOT KNOW WHY.
1. Here was a great, though natural mistake.
(1) It was a vast conclusion to draw from Christs knowing what was passing in their minds now, that He came from the Father, and know all things. Any man present that evening might have known that. They had worn their hearts on their sleeves!
(2) They made another mistake. They thought that Christ spoke plainly now and therefore believed, when in fact He had (Joh_14:2; Joh_14:12; Joh_14:28; Joh_15:26; Joh_16:20) said the same thing before. We all know how easy tis to reflect ourselves upon the speaker, and, if we think we comprehend his meaning better than we did, to attribute it to his improved lucidity of exposition. But in thinking that they understood him, they were mistaken also. It would be impossible to discover the precise ideas they affixed to Christs language. But it is clear that they did not think of His dying or rising at all. Christs words on these subjects are clear enough to us, for we look at them through plain history; but they were anything but clear to those who looked at them through beliefs entirely incompatible with their occurrence.
2. And yet they did believe. They believed more than they thought, and better. They knew the Teacher, if not the lesson. While they were basing their faith on knowledge of His meaning, they had a faith already built on a surer foundation than that; and while they were rejoicing in a confidence which had no support but a mistake, they felt a deeper, stronger confidence which rested on no mistake at all. We too feel more than we understand. It were a poor thing if our confidence in Christ and Christianity were based on learning and logic, or even distinct opinions. A man may believe in Christ, and cleave to Him, and follow Him, and yet be miserably at a loss if asked for a scientific or a satisfactory exposition of his faith.
II. THEY BELIEVED, BUT THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW. Christ did not mean to question the reality of their faith but its intensity. They always had believed, and, under the influence of this affecting scene, and thinking that they understood His meaning, believed more than ever. But they little knew how frail and feeble was their faith in comparison with the burden it would have to bear. They felt strong, like a convalescent invalid, but as soon as strain and pressure were on them, their strength was that of a little child. Apply this thought
1. To the faith of contemplation and the faith of action; to man looking on truth as an object, and obeying it as a claim. While the disciples had Christ before them, and had only to listen to and behold Him, they believed; but when they had to follow Him, to show their practical regard, they all forsook Him and fled. And still there is a difference between the quiet thought of truth, and its embodiment in act. Faith worketh by love. No other faith can save a man. How can faith save, if it does nothing? How can it save from sins, if it does not destroy sin? Truth is given us, not to be a pleasant object but a living power. The Word of God is a lamp to the feet, not only to the eye. It is very possible to have faith in Christ when beholding the graces of His character, the credentials of His mission, and the glory of His work, and to be sadly wanting in loving and daily obedience to His will; possible to have faith in propositions, with practical unbelief in duties; and yet the faith which is more precious than gold, must bear the test of gold.
2. To the faith which receives Christ in peace and prosperity, and that which receives Him when His claims conflict with our fond beliefs and wishes. We can think calmly and speak eloquently of the goodness and equity of Providence when the lines are fallen to us in pleasant places, but how mysterious it becomes when He destroyeth the hope of man. What was a pleasant study becomes s perplexing, perhaps insoluble problem. We can recommend so persuasively the cheerful drinking of the cup of sorrow when in the hand of others, but what wry faces we make when put into our own! It is as it was in that upper room: Jesus in peace and safety, speaking of a dear Father, His joyful home, His love to His disciples, and great comforts in store for them, is one Christ; but Jesus betrayed and seized is quite another.
3. To faith in enjoyment of strong and stimulating privileges and faith deprived of them. There was everything in that upper room to excite and gratify every religious and Christian feeling. As men, the disciples were with brethren; as Jews, they had observed one of the most solemn and delightful festivals of their nation; as friends of Jesus, they had seen Him open His heart as He had never done before. But when this scene had passed as a dissolving view, and wintry barrenness had taken the place of summer loveliness–when the spell had been broken, and nature was left to its ordinary action–faith failed. We know what times of unwonted spiritual impression and excitement are, when the spiritual world seems opened to our view; when alone with Jesus, He expounds all things to His disciples; and when they know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. But these times do not last. And how soon the fair vision vanishes! A return to the worldly lot and the society of man dissipates it all; and it requires all our effort and care not to leave, in heart, the Jesus we had felt to be our Life, and Peace, and Hope. Conclusion: The subject teaches us how to try ourselves and others. Not by clearness of views or sensibility of feelings, but life. (A. J. Morris.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 29. Lo, now speakest thou plainly] The disciples received more light now, on the nature of Christ’s person and office, than they had ever done before.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Saviour having now plainly told them that he was leaving the world, put an end to their inquiries whither he was going, and satisfied them that in his former expressions of going away, not for a while to be seen, he meant no earthly motion: this they confess had no obscurity at all in it; These words are so intelligible, that there is no reason for any of us to ask thee any thing about the sense of them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
29, 30. His disciples said, . . .now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverbhardly moreso than before; the time for perfect plainness was yet to come; buthaving caught a glimpse of His meaning (it was nothing more), theyeagerly express their satisfaction, as if glad to make anything ofHis words. How touchingly does this show both the simplicity of theirhearts and the infantile character of their faith!
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
His disciples said unto him,…. Upon the above discourse of Christ, such rays and beams of light darted into the minds of the apostles, and things stood so clear in their view, and they so well understood what Christ had said, that they declare,
lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb: what he had said before, were to them like proverbial, or parabolical expressions, not easy to be understood; they were like enigmas, riddles, and dark sayings, the meaning of which they could not apprehend; but now they observe, with admiration, that what he delivered was plain, and intelligible; which was not so much owing to Christ’s different way of speaking now, from what it was before, as to their former dulness of hearing, and now having some further degree of light given unto them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
No proverb ( ). No wayside saying, no dark saying. See John 10:6; John 16:25.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Speakest – speakest [ – ] The first, of the form; the second, of the purport. See on ver. 18.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “His disciples said unto him,” (legousin hoi mathetai autou) “The church disciples of him say,” directly or openly to Him, with a sense of certain relief.
2) “Lo, now speakest thou plainly,” (ide nun en parresia laleis) “Just grasp it, you now speak clearly,” or in plain words, plainness so that we know what you are talking about, at length, Joh 16:25-28.
3) “And speakest no proverb.” (kai paroimian oudemian legeis) “And you speak no allegory,” no veiled thing or covert thing, as you often have, when we could not bear, or bear up, under the strain of certain things, Joh 16:12; Joh 10:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
29. His disciples say to him. This shows how great was the efficacy of, that consolation, for it suddenly brought into a state of great cheerfulness those minds which formerly were broken and cast down. And yet it is certain that the disciples did not yet understand fully the meaning of Christ’s discourse; but though they were not yet capable of this, the mere odor of it refreshed them. When they exclaim that their Master speaketh openly, and without a figure, their language is certainly extravagant, and yet they state honestly what they feel. The same thing falls within our own experience in the present day; for he who has only tasted a little of the doctrine of the Gospel is more inflamed, and feels much greater energy in that small measure of faith, than if he had been acquainted with all the writings of Plato. Not only so, but the roads which the Spirit of God produces in the hearts of the godly are sufficient proofs that God worketh in a secret manner beyond their capacity; for otherwise Paul would not call them groans that cannot be uttered, (Rom 8:26.)
Thus we ought to understand that the apostles were conscious of having made some progress, so that they could say with truth, that they did not now find the words of Christ to be altogether obscure; but that they were deceived in this respect, that they thought they understood more than they did. Now the source of their mistake was, that they did not know what the gift of the Holy Spirit would be. They therefore give themselves up to joy before the time, just as if a person should think himself rich with a single gold piece. They conclude, from certain signs, that Christ came out from God, and they glory in it, as if nothing more were needed. Yet still they were far from that knowledge, so long as they did not understand what Christ would be to them in future.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(29) Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.Better, . . . parable, as in Joh. 16:25. (Comp. Note there.) The emphasis is upon the word now. He had told them (Joh. 16:25) that the hour would come when He would speak to them no more in parables, but tell them plainly of the Father. His last words have explained what they before could not understand, and it seems to them that the illumination promised in the future has already come.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Last response of the disciples, and concluding reply of Jesus, Joh 16:29-33.
So literal and cheering were these last sentences of our Saviour so did they fill the demand of their hearts that the apostles suddenly applaud him as not only clear but divine. Thereupon the Saviour avails himself of the moment of their elation to warn them of coming dispersion, but to assure them, also, that all will result in final triumph.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
29. Now speakest thou plainly Commentators very generally here attribute to the apostles a false pretence, or rather a false estimate of their own understanding. They profess or imagine that they understand when they do not. “They understand so little,” says Augustine, “that they do not even understand that they understand not.” And Lampe even goes so far as to say that they contradict Jesus. But the emphatic word in their language is now. This little word implies that in the past the discourse of Jesus had been enigmatical, and not by them understood. In the present it implied, and implied truly, that his words just uttered were understood, and were divinely cheering to their hearts. For the future it implied that his present words were an earnest that there were lessons yet to come that would make them wise for their high office and for eternal life. Their words were indeed child like, but not child ish.
“His disciples say, ‘Lo, you now speak plainly and do not speak in mysterious words. Now we know that you know all things and do not need that any man should ask you. By this we believe that you came forth from God’.”
The disciples now accept as wholeheartedly as they can that He has come into the world from the Father, that He has ‘come forth from God’. Thus they realise He is a heavenly figure and must know all things, and self-contentedly say that now none of them need ask Him anything about it any more, for now they understand. How foolish is the wisdom of men. They will soon learn how little they know. Do they now think that His going to the Father will be peaceful and without problems? Probably. For they were certainly not ready for what lay ahead.
Their response is understandable. The truth is that no one likes to be told that they do not understand. So they begin to put on a pretence of understanding, and to save their own self-respect even convinced themselves that they did. The disciples had not liked being told that they saw all things as parables. They liked to think that they really did understand things, unlike those others. Their pride demanded that they tell Jesus that now at last they understood. So they seized on His current words and told Him that now they could suddenly understand what He meant. Notice that Jesus immediately righted their wrong impression. He did it gently by referring to belief rather than understanding. He did not want to humiliate them. But He knew that the greater their self-confidence the greater the spiritual collapse when their belief was all revealed within the next few days to be totally wrong.
The close of the discourse:
v. 29. His disciples said unto Him, Lo, now speakest Thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
v. 30. Now are we sure that Thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask Thee; by this we believe that Thou camest forth from God.
v. 31. Jesus answered them: Do ye now believe?
v. 32. Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
v. 33. These things I have spoken unto you that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
The last statements of Jesus had been so clear and unmistakable, of the love of the Father, of Christ’s coming from, and going to, the Father, that the disciples thought they understood Him perfectly. There was neither parable nor proverb in these sayings, and they had the conviction, which they also freely expressed, that He had a full knowledge of all things, and that His teaching was free from all obscurity. The implication of the disciples is that they need not wait for some future manifestation and revelation, when everything would be clear to their minds. They were persuaded now of His divine Sonship. But the enthusiasm of the disciples was premature; the time of Pentecost had not yet come; they must first experience sorrow and suffering. Jesus tells them that the test of their faith, of which they now seemed so sure, would come very soon. And the result would be most disappointing. They would be scattered, they would flee from His side, leaving Him all alone in His great Passion. Their own interests, their life and safety, would claim their first consideration. So would they fail Him in the critical hour. But as for Him; the prospect did not fill Him with terror; He would not be alone, since His Father would be with Him. His presence would at all times be sufficient for all needs. And now the Lord once more summarizes His loving sayings of the evening in one short sentence. He has spoken to them, He has given the all the necessary assurances, in order that in Him they might have peace. He places Himself and His sphere of activity in contrast to the world and her sphere of influence and activity. In the world, in the midst of the unbelievers, the disciples of all times have tribulation; from them they may expect only persecution and torment. That is the inevitable lot of the confessors of Christ. And yet they should feel happy and be of good cheer. For in Jesus they have peace. Amidst all the turmoil and hatred and persecution of these latter days the Christians have peace with God, peace in Christ the Savior. For He, Jesus, our Champion, has overcome the world. Though His Passion proper had not yet begun, the Lord knows that He will be Conqueror in the battle with sin, death, and hell, that all His enemies will be made His footstool. And therefore He will make the necessary provisions that His disciples will not be overcome by enmity and persecution. “Behold, that is the kind farewell and comforting last word which Christ leaves to His disciples; He would fain talk into their hearts. Although the apostles at that time did not understand it and even we do not yet understand it,… yet we have seen, by the grace of God, that the Holy Ghost reminded many hearts of these words when it came to the battle, and strengthened them that in the memory of that victory they endured everything, and died a peaceful death. May God help also us and give us that mind that we also cling to this fact in misfortune and death!”
Summary. Jesus teaches concerning the office of the Holy Spirit, both in rebuking and in comforting, and of His own going to the Father, and the blessed results which would thereby come to the believers.
Joh 16:29-30. His disciples said “We acknowledge that now thou speakest in such a manner as we can understand; for what thou sayest is by no means dark, like the things before delivered. Moreover, by what thou hast now spoken, we clearly perceive that thou knowest the hearts of men; and that in conversing with men, thou hast no need that they should tell thee their thoughts by any question. In short, thy knowledge of our hearts fully convinceth us that thou camest forth from God.” It seems, through the whole of this discourse, Jesus had obviated the objections, and answered the questions which his disciples were going to propose, or would gladly have proposed to him. See Joh 16:19 and on Joh 16:17.
Joh 16:29-30 . The disciples, aroused, nay, astonished ( ), by the clearness of the last great declaration, now find the teachings contained in Joh 16:20-28 so opened to their understanding, and thereby the enigmatical character of Joh 16:16-17 so solved, that they judge, even now , that in this instruction just communicated He speaks so openly and clearly, so entirely without allegorical disguise, that He is at the present time doing for them (not merely a prelude thereof, as Hengstenberg tones down the meaning) that, for the attainment of which He had in Joh 16:25 pointed them to a future hour. But as He, by this teaching in Joh 16:20-28 , had anticipated (Joh 16:19 ) the questions which they, according to Joh 16:16-17 , had upon their heart, they are also in this respect so surprised, that they at the same time feel certain that He knows all things, and needs not first to be inquired of, since He replies unasked to the questions on which information was desired; hence the future things promised by Him in the words to , Joh 16:23 , may likewise already exist as present , on account of His unlimited knowledge. “Exultant ergo ante tempus perinde acsi quis nummo uno aureo divitem se putaret” (Calvin); but however incomplete their understanding was as yet, it was sufficient for them to experience a deep and vivid impression therefrom, and to lead up to the expression of the decided confession of faith, , . . . Augustine exaggerates when he says: “Illi usque adeo non intelligunt, ut nec saltem se non intelligere intelligant. Parvuli enim erant.” Schweizer has very arbitrarily declared Joh 16:30 to be spurious; but Lange maintains that the disciples regarded a ray of light from the Spirit, which they now received as the beginning of an uninterrupted holiday of the Spirit. This is least of all to be established by , . . .
Joh 16:29 . ] Now , what Thou first didst promise as future , Joh 16:25 .
Joh 16:30 . ] What we, according to thy declaration, Joh 16:23 , should first become aware of at a future time . The obvious retrospective reference, given in the words themselves that are employed, of Joh 16:29 to Joh 16:25 , and of Joh 16:30 to Joh 16:23 , is neither to be concealed nor denied.
] as in Joh 2:25 .
] propter hoc , Act 24:16 . Comp. , quoniam (Fritzsche, ad Rom . II. p. 93). denotes causal dependence (Bernhardy, p. 211). Not now for the first time does their faith begin, that ( ) Christ came forth from God (see Joh 16:27 ), and not for the first time do they believe it on the ground that He knows all things; but for their present faith in the divine origin of Christ they acknowledge to have found a new and peculiar ground of certainty in that which they said in Joh 16:30 ; comp. on Joh 2:11 . Lange erroneously says that denotes because; “in this our faith is rooted, because Thou,” etc. The procession of Christ from His pre-human existence with God was indeed not the ground of faith (this were His words and works, Joh 14:10-11 , Joh 10:38 ), but the grand subject of faith (Joh 16:27 ; Joh 17:8 ; Joh 20:31 ). Comp. 1Jn 4:2-3 ; 2Jn 1:7 . According to Ewald, would express that in which they believe, namely, in the fact that ( ), etc. But John never designates the object of faith by (Mar 1:15 ); he would probably have written . (Joh 11:26 ).
His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb (30) Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. (31) Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? (32) Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. (33) These things I have spoke n unto you, that in me ye might have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
It should seem by those acknowledgements of the Apostles, that now they understood plainly all that Jesus meant, and his sweet words were no longer proverbs; as Jesus just before had said they were, (Joh 16:25 ) but plain, and suited to their apprehension. And hence I venture to suppose, (but by no means to speak positively,) that the Lord was pleased as he drew near the close of his sermon to enlarge their minds, that they might have more clear and extended views of this great subject, on which he had been speaking to them. And, Reader! it will be our mercy in like manner, on this glorious view Jesus hath here given of the Person, Work, and Offices of God the Holy Ghost; if you and I can join issue with the Apostles, and say, Now speaketh our Lord plainly, and speaketh no parable. Now are we sure that Jesus knoweth all things, and needeth not that any man should ask him. By this we believe that He came forth from God!
It will form I hope no unprofitable conclusion in our Commentary upon this blessed sermon of Christ, if we briefly gather into one point of view, some of the precious things which Jesus hath left in it to his Church, concerning the Person and love-offices of God the Holy Ghost. Sure I am, the review of the whole will be profitable, if so be, (and which I humbly beg both for, myself and Reader,) that the Almighty Spirit of whom I write, shall graciously condescend to be our teacher.
We have beheld in these chapters, with what a world of tenderness the Lord Jesus hath introduced the subject of the coming of the Holy Ghost, and how Jesus before his departure brought them into an acquaintance with his person, and nature, and offices. We have seen how minutely the Lord Jesus hath dwelt upon the many distinguishing testimonies of character, by which the Holy Ghost should be known. And we have discovered at the close of our Lord’s discourse on this most interesting subject, that so much grace from the Lord accompanied his divine instruction on the same, that the Apostles entered into a perfect apprehension both of the person and coming of the Holy Ghost. Here then I would beg the Reader to pause, and before we pass away from our review of the same sermon of Christ, which was made so blessed to them; I would very affectionately ask the Reader, as I desire to put the same question to my own heart, with what sentiments do we close the Lord’s discourse, concerning the same momentous truths of God, in our apprehensions of God the Holy Ghost?
Behold him in the eternity of his, nature, and essence, and God-head. One of the Holy undivided Three, which bear record in heaven. 1Jn 5:7 . Contemplate Him in the numberless, undeniable testimonies, which have been brought before you of his Person, through both volumes of Scripture. Mark well his special offices, in his covenant character as relating to the Church. And here most eminently, and indeed as comprehending every other, in the great work of regeneration; which sovereign and Almighty act becomes so essential to every child of God to partake in, that not a single spiritual mercy can we lay claim to, until this is wrought, and when done, Christ with all his blessings and benefits are ours. For so it is written in the scripture. To them, (saith the Apostle,) that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied; according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue; being made partakers of the divine nature. 2Pe 1:1-4 .
And when this gracious act is wrought in the soul of him, who is the highly favoured object of Jehovah’s love, in his Threefold character of Person; all the after manifestations of the Holy Ghost, as might be expected, are made to maintain and carry on that divine nature, of which, as the Holy Ghost by the Apostle hath said, the regenerated are made partakers. From this commencement of the renewed life, when quickened by the Spirit in the souls of those who were before dead in trespasses and sins, Eph 2:1 .
Reader! what saith your experience to these things! Are the Apostles conclusions our conclusions? their views of the Holy Ghost our views of the Holy Ghost? Or, after all, the Lord Jesus hath said in this most blessed Chapter concerning Him, do we say of Jesus, as they did of the Prophet’s Sermon, Ah, Lord God! doth he not speak parables ? Eze 20:49 .
29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
Ver. 29. His disciples said unto him ] How apt are we to overween our little nothing of knowledge or holiness, to swell with big conceits of our own sufficiency! and, when we see never so little, to say presently, with her in the poet, Consilii satis est in me mihi? (Araehne ap. Ovid;) to think we understand (as St Paul hath it) “all mysteries, and all knowledge!” 1Co 13:1 . How truly may it now be said of many, as Quintilian saith of some in his time, that they might have proven excellent scholars, if they had not been so persuaded of themselves already “Conceitedness cuts off all hope of proficiency,” .
29, 30 ] The stress is on : q. d. why announce that as future , which Thou art doing now? The hour was not yet come for the : so that we must understand the disciples’ remark to be made in weakness, however true their persuasion, and heartfelt their confession. “Usque adeo non intelligunt, ut nec saltem se non intelligere intelligant. Parvuli enim erant.” Aug [227] Tract. ciii. 1. “Dolent, se a Magistro pro imperitis haberi, qui conciones ejus non intelligant, alioque doctore, promisso Spiritu, indigeant. Quare eo usque progrediuntur, ut Christo contradicant, et clarissima ejus verba invertant, eumque parmiastice locutum esse negent.” Lampe, vol. iii. 350. But by they probably only mean, in Joh 16:26-28 .
[227] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430
Joh 16:29-33 . Last words .
Joh 16:29 . The Lord’s last utterance, Joh 16:25-28 , the disciples find much more explicit than His previous words: , “Behold, now (at length) Thou speakest plainly,” explicitly, , “and utterest no obscure saying,” Joh 16:25 . Almost universally , in Joh 16:29-30 , is understood to denote the present time in contrast to the future promised in Joh 16:25 . As if the disciples meant: “Already Thou speakest plainly; we do not need to wait for that future time”. It seems simpler to take it as signifying a contrast to the past time in which He had spoken in dark sayings.
John
GLAD CONFESSION AND SAD WARNING
Joh 16:29 – Joh 16:32 The first words of these wonderful discourses were, ‘Let not your heart be troubled.’ They struck the key-note of the whole. The aim of all was to bring peace and confidence unto the disciples’ spirits. And this joyful burst of confession which wells up so spontaneously and irrepressibly from their hearts, shows that the aim has been reached. For a moment sorrow, bewilderment, dullness of apprehension, had all passed away, and the foolish questioners and non-receptive listeners had been lifted into a higher region, and possessed insight, courage, confidence. The last sublime utterance of our Lord had gathered all the scattered rays into a beam so bright that the blindest could not but see, and the coldest could not but be warmed.
But yet the calm, clear eye of Christ sees something not wholly satisfactory in this outpouring of the disciples’ confidence. He does not reject their imperfect faith, but He warns them, as if seeing the impending hour of denial which was so terribly to contradict the rapture of that moment. And then, with most pathetic suddenness, He passes from them to Himself; and in a singularly blended utterance lets us get a glimpse into His deep solitude and the companions that shared it.
My words now make no attempt at anything more than is involved in following the course of thought in the words before us.
I. Note the disciples’ joyful confession.
They begin with what they believed to be a fact, His clear utterance. Then follows a conviction which has allusion to His previous words. ‘Now’, say they, ‘we know that Thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask Thee.’ He had said to them, ‘In that day ye shall ask Me nothing’; and from the fact that he had interpreted their unspoken words, and had anticipated their desire to ask what they durst not ask, they draw, and rightly draw, the conclusion of His divine Omniscience. They think that therein, in His answer to their question before it is asked, is the fulfilment of that great promise. Was that all that He meant? Certainly not. Did He merely mean to say, ‘You will ask Me nothing, because I shall know what you want to know, without your asking’? No! But He meant, ‘Ye shall ask Me nothing, because in that day you will have with you an illuminating Spirit who will solve all your difficulties.’ So, again, a shallow interpretation empties the words which they accept of their deepest and most precious meaning.
And then they take yet a further step. First, they begin with a fact; then from that they infer a conviction; and now, upon the basis of the inferred conviction, they rear a faith, ‘We believe that Thou camest forth from God.’ But what they meant by ‘coming forth from God’ fell far short of the greatness of what He meant by the declaration, and they stand, in this final, articulate confession of their faith, but a little in advance of Nicodemus the Rabbi, and behind Peter the Apostle when he said: ‘Thou art the Son of the living God.’
So their confession is a strangely mingled warp and woof of insight and of ignorance. And they may stand for us both as examples to teach us what we ought to be, and as beacons teaching us what we should not be.
Let me note just one or two lessons drawn from the disciples’ demeanour and confession.
The first remark that I would make is that here we learn what it is that gives life to a creed-experience. These men had, over and over again, in our Lord’s earlier utterances, heard the declaration that ‘He came forth from God’; and in a sort of fashion they believed it. But, as so many of our convictions do, it lay dormant and half dead in their souls. But now, rightly or wrongly, experience had brought them into contact, as they thought, with a manifest proof of His divine Omniscience, and the torpid conviction flashed all up at once into vitality. The smouldering fire of a mere piece of abstract belief was kindled at once into a glow that shed warmth through their whole hearts; and although they had professed to believe long ago that He came from God, now, for the first time, they grasp it as a living reality. Why? Because experience had taught it to them. It is the only teacher that teaches us the articles of our creed in a way worth learning them. Every one of us carries professed beliefs, which lie there inoperative, bedridden, in the hospital and dormitory of our souls, until some great necessity or sudden circumstance comes that flings a beam of light upon them, and then they start and waken. We do not know the use of the sword until we are in battle. Until the shipwreck comes, no man puts on the lifebelt in his cabin. Every one of as has large tracts of Christian truth which we think we most surely believe, but which need experience to quicken them, and need us to grow up into the possession of them. Of all our teachers who turn beliefs assented to into beliefs really believed none is so mighty as Sorrow; for that makes a man lay a firm hold on the deep things of God’s Word.
Then another lesson that I draw from this glad confession is-the bold avowal that always accompanies certitude. These men’s stammering tongues are loosed. They have a fact to base themselves upon. They have a piece of assured knowledge inferred from the fact. They have a faith built upon the certitude of what they know. Having this, out it all comes in a gush. No man that believes with all his heart can help speaking. You silent Christians are so, because you do not more than half grasp the truth that you say you hold. ‘Thy word, when shut up in my bones, was like a fire’; and it ate its way through all the dead matter that enclosed it, until at last it flamed out heaven high. Can you say, ‘We know and we believe,’ with unfaltering confidence? Not ‘we argue’; not ‘we humbly venture to think that on the whole’; not ‘we are inclined rather to believe’; but ‘we know-that Thou knowest all things, and that Thou hast come from God.’ Seek for that blessed certitude of knowledge, based upon the facts of individual experience, which ‘makes the tongue of the dumb sing,’ and changes all the deadness of an outward profession of Christianity into a living, rejoicing power.
Then, further, I draw this lesson. Take care of indolently supposing that you understand the depths of God’s truth. These Apostles fancied that they had grasped the whole meaning of the Master’s words, and were glad in them. They fed on them, and got something out of them; but how far they were from the true perception of their meaning! This generation abhors mystery, and demands that the deepest truths of the highest subject, which is religion, shall be so broken down into mincemeat that the ‘man in the street’ can understand them in the intervals of reading the newspaper. There are only too many of us who are disposed to grasp at the most superficial interpretation of Christian truth, and lazily to rest ourselves in that. A creed which has no depth in it is like a picture which has no distance. It is flat and unnatural, and self-condemned by the very fact. It is better that we should feel that the smallest word that comes from God is like some little leaf of a water plant on the surface of a pond; if you lift that you draw a whole trail after it, and nobody knows how far off and how deep down are the roots. It is better that we should feel how Infinity and Eternity press in upon us on all sides, and should take as ours the temper that recognises that till the end we are but learners, seeing ‘in a glass, in a riddle,’ and therefore patiently waiting for light and strenuously striving to stretch our souls to the width of the infinite truth of God.
II. So, then, look, in the second place, at the sad questions and forebodings of the Master.
So let us learn two or three simple lessons. One is that the dear Lord accepts imperfect surrender, ignorant faith and love, of which He knows that it will soon turn to denial. Oh! if He did not, what would become of us all? We reject half hearts; we will not have a friendship on which we cannot rely. The sweetness of vows is all sucked out of them to our apprehension, if we have reason to believe that they will be falsified in an hour. But the patient Master was willing to put up with what you and I will not put up with; and to accept what we reject; and be pleased that they gave Him even that. His ‘charity suffereth long, and is kind.’ Let us not be afraid to bring even imperfect consecration-
‘A little faith all undisproved’-
to His merciful feet.
Another lesson that I draw is, trust no emotions, no religious experiences, but only Him to whom they turn.
These men were perfectly sincere, and there was a glow of gladness in their hearts, and a real though imperfect faith when they spoke. In an hours time where were they?
We often deal far too hard measure to these poor disciples, in our estimate of their conduct at that critical moment. We talk about them as cowards. Well, they were better and they were worse than cowards; for their courage failed second, but their faith had failed first. The Cross made them dastards because it destroyed their confidence in Jesus Christ.
‘We trusted.’ Ah! what a world of sorrow there is in those two final letters of that word! ‘We trusted that it had been He who should have redeemed Israel.’ But they do not trust it any more, and so why should they put themselves in peril for One on whom their faith can no longer build?
Would we have been any better if we had been there? Suppose you had stood afar off and seen Jesus die on the cross, would your faith have lived? Do we not know what it is to be a great deal more exuberant in our professions of faith-and real faith it is, no doubt-in some quiet hour when we are with Him by ourselves, than when swords are flashing and we are in the presence of His antagonists? Do we not know what it is to grasp conviction at one moment, and the next to find it gone like a handful of mist from our clutch? Is our Christian life always lived upon one high uniform level? Have we no experience of hours of exhaustion coming after deep religious emotion? ‘Let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone’; there will not be many stones flung if that law be applied. Let us all, recognising our own weakness, trust to nothing, either in our convictions or our emotions, but only to Him, and cry, ‘Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe!’
III. Lastly, note the lonely Christ and His companion.
Jesus was the loneliest man that ever lived. All other forms of human solitude were concentrated in His. He knew the pain of unappreciated aims, unaccepted love, unbelieved teachings, a heart thrown back upon itself. No man understood Him, no man knew Him, no man deeply and thoroughly loved Him or sympathised with Him, and He dwelt apart. He felt the pain of solitude more sharply than sinful men do. Perfect purity is keenly susceptible; a heart fully charged with love is wounded sore when the love is thrown back, and all the more sorely the more unselfish it is.
Solitude was no small part of the pain of Christ’s passion. Remember the pitiful appeal in Gethsemane, ‘Tarry ye here and watch with Me!’ Remember the threefold vain return to the sleepers in the hope of finding some sympathy from them. Remember the emphasis with which, more than once in His life, He foretold the loneliness of His death. And then let us understand how the bitterness of the cup that He drank had for not the least bitter of its ingredients the sense that He drank it alone.
Now, dear friends! some of us, no doubt, have to live outwardly solitary lives. We all of us live alone after all fellowship and communion. Physicists tell us that in the most solid bodies the atoms do not touch. Hearts come closer than atoms, but yet, after all, we die alone, and in the depths of our souls we all live alone. So let us be thankful that the Master knows the bitterness of solitude, and has Himself trod that path.
Then we have here the calm consciousness of unbroken communion. Jesus Christ’s sense of union with the Father was deep, close, constant, in manner and measure altogether transcending any experience of ours. But still He sets before us a pattern of what we should aim at in these great words. They show the path of comfort for every lonely heart. ‘I am not alone, for the Father is with Me.’ If earth be dark, let us look to Heaven. If the world with its millions seems to have no friend in it for us, let us turn to Him who never leaves us. If dear ones are torn from our grasp, let us grasp God. Solitude is bitter; but, like other bitters, it is a tonic. It is not all loss if the trees which with their leafy beauty shut out the sky from us are felled, and so we see the blue.
Christ’s company is to us what the Father’s fellowship was to Christ. He has borne solitude that He might be the companion of all the lonely, and the same voice which said, ‘Ye shall leave Me alone,’ said also, ‘I am with you always, even to the end of the world.’
But that communion of Christ with the Father was broken, in that awful hour when He cried: ‘My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ We tread there on the verge of mysteries, beyond our comprehension; but this we know-that it was our sin and the world’s, made His by His willing identifying of Himself with us, which built up that black wall of separation. That hour of utter desolation, forsaken by God, deserted by men, was the hour of the world’s redemption. And Jesus Christ was forsaken by God and deserted by men, that you and I might never be either the one or the other, but might find in His sweet and constant companionship at once the society of man and the presence of God.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh 16:29-33
29His disciples said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech. 30Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.” 31Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32Behold, an hour is coming and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Joh 16:29 “speaking plainly” See Special Topic: Boldness (Parrhsia) at Joh 7:4.
Joh 16:30 This sentence must be understood in light of Jesus’ knowing the disciples’ question of Joh 16:19. This statement by them reflects their growing, but still incomplete, faith. They had seen and heard so much; did this event (cf. Joh 16:19) really function as a major turning point in their understanding? To me this sounds like one of Peter’s well-intentioned but exaggerated statements (see The Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 456).
Joh 16:31 “Do you now believe” This can be a question or a statement. Most modern English translations understand it as a question. Even at this crucial period, the faith of the Apostles was not complete. Modern believers’ initial, but weak, faith is also accepted by God when they respond to Jesus based on the light that they have. The disciples lack of faith will be evident in their deserting Jesus during His trials and crucifixion.
Joh 16:32 “you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone” Apparently only John was present at the trials and crucifixion (cf. Mat 26:31, from Zec 13:7). Joh 21:1-3 suggests that several of the Apostles had gone back to fishing as a vocation.
Jesus was bereft of human companionship (cf. Mat 26:38; Mat 26:40-41; Mat 26:43; Mat 26:45), but never divine companionship (cf. Joh 8:16; Joh 8:29) until the crucifixion, when He bore the sin of all the world (cf. Mat 27:45-46).
NASB”to his own home”
NKJV”to his own”
NRSV”to his home”
NJB”his own way”
TEV”your own home”
REB, NET,
NIV”to his own home”
The NKJV is literal. Most English translations assume it refers to ones home. Bultmann asserts it refers to “property” or “possessions” (NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 839), referring to Jesus as the creator (i.e., Joh 1:3; 1Co 8:6; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2).
Joh 16:33 “in Me you may have peace” This is a present active subjunctive (cf. Joh 14:27). Both objective and subjective peace is found and maintained in Christ. See Special Topic: Peace at Joh 14:27.
“the world” John uses “world” in this context as human society organized and functioning apart from God. See Special Topic: Kosmos at Joh 14:17.
“you have tribulation” The persecution that Jesus faced, they will face (cf. Joh 15:18-25; Mat 5:10-12; Act 14:22; 1Th 3:3). The persecution (i.e., thlipsis) is a way to reveal Jesus’ true followers.
In Revelation there is a theological distinction between “wrath” and “persecution.” God’s wrath never falls on believers, but non-believers’ anger falls on believers. The world reveals itself as the children of Satan by their attacks on “the light of the world” (cf. Joh 1:1-18; Joh 3:17-21)!
“take courage” This is a present active imperative (cf. Mat 9:2; Mat 9:22; Mat 14:27; Mar 6:50; Mar 10:49; Act 23:11). It sounds like YHWH’s words to Joshua (cf. Jos 1:6; Jos 1:9; Jos 1:18; Jos 10:25).
“I have overcome the world” This is a perfect active indicative. Victory is assured even before Gethsemane, before Calvary, before the empty tomb (cf. Rom 8:37; 1Co 15:57; 2Co 2:14; 2Co 4:7-15)! There is no ultimate dualism. God is in control.
As Jesus overcame the world by love and obedience to the Father, believers are also overcomers through Him (cf. 1Jn 2:13-14; 1Jn 4:4; 1Jn 5:4-5; Rev 3:21; Rev 12:11).
said = say. The texts omit “unto Him”.
Lo. Greek. ide. App-133.
no. Greek. oudeis.
29, 30] The stress is on : q. d. why announce that as future, which Thou art doing now? The hour was not yet come for the : so that we must understand the disciples remark to be made in weakness, however true their persuasion, and heartfelt their confession. Usque adeo non intelligunt, ut nec saltem se non intelligere intelligant. Parvuli enim erant. Aug[227] Tract. ciii. 1. Dolent, se a Magistro pro imperitis haberi, qui conciones ejus non intelligant, alioque doctore, promisso Spiritu, indigeant. Quare eo usque progrediuntur, ut Christo contradicant, et clarissima ejus verba invertant, eumque parmiastice locutum esse negent. Lampe, vol. iii. 350. But by they probably only mean, in Joh 16:26-28.
[227] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430
Joh 16:29. , now) They have not to wait for another hour: Joh 16:25, The hour () cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs. They see that Jesus fulfilled His promise more speedily than He would have been thought likely to have made the promise.
Joh 16:29
Joh 16:29
His disciples say, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no dark saying.-They thought they comprehended his plain statement and so claimed; but it is very doubtful if they grasped its meaning, or if they did, it slipped from them, for after his crucifixion they still did not understand that he was to die, be buried, and rise again.
proverb: or, parable, Joh 16:25
Reciprocal: Jdg 14:12 – a riddle Mat 10:27 – I tell Mat 15:15 – Declare Mar 8:32 – openly Mar 9:10 – what Joh 11:14 – plainly 2Co 3:12 – we use
9
The apostles grasped the meaning of the words of Jesus, and they admitted that he had already ful-filled the prediction made in verse 25, to speak to them in direct language, and not depend upon figures of speech.
Joh 16:29-30. His disciples say, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and sayest no proverb: now we know that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any one should ask thee questions: by this we believe that thou earnest forth from God. Two entirely different views may be taken of the feelings and language of the disciples as here described. Either they are really led into a sudden knowledge of the truth, thus affording a striking illustration of darkness dispelled and of heavenly light shining into the heart from the teaching of Jesus, while He again joyfully recognises their faith and beholds in it an earnest of completed victory: or the disciples misunderstand themselves, and confess their faith in a manner which, though sincere, is so imperfect that Jesus is constrained to speak to them in words of warning. The latter view is that which deserves acceptance. The disciples words, now we know, contrasting with the promise of Joh 16:23, a promise relating to the future, are obviously hasty; there was nothing clearer in the latest words of Jesus than in words often uttered by Him before; and, above all, the confession proves itself by its very terms to be imperfect, inadequate, inferior to that of a true faith. From God, the disciples say in Joh 16:30;not the from of either Joh 16:27 or Joh 16:28, but one expressing a less intimate relationship with the Father than that of which Jesus had just spoken. The disciples think that they believe, but they do not believe in such a way as will alone enable them to stand in the midst of coming trial. They are not content to take Jesus at His word, that by and by their faith will be experimental, deep, victorious. They persuade themselves that even now it is all that it need be; and they must be warned and reproved.
Joh 16:29-32. His disciples Struck with the correspondence of what he said to what was secretly passing in their own minds; said, Lo, now speakest thou plainly We acknowledge that now thou speakest in such a manner as we can easily understand; and speakest no proverb Usest no obscure form of expression; now we are sure that thou knowest all things Now, by this further token, even by discerning our inmost doubts on this subject, we are persuaded that nothing is hid from thee; and thou needest not that any man should ask thee By the things which thou hast now spoken to us we clearly perceive, that thou so perfectly knowest the hearts of men, that in conversing with them thou hast no need that they should tell thee their thoughts, by asking any question. For, although no question is asked thee, thou answerest the thoughts of every one. In short, thy knowledge of our hearts fully convinces us that thou art come from God. It seems, through the whole of this discourse, Jesus had obviated the objections and answered the questions which his apostles were going to propose, or would gladly have proposed to him. Jesus answered, Do ye now believe Are ye now at length fully persuaded that I am the promised Messiah? Be on your guard. Your faith in me is not so firm but it may be shaken. Behold the hour cometh that ye shall be scattered, &c. The time is coming, nay, is come already, when every one of you shall desert me, fleeing wherever you think to be in safety from approaching danger; so that I shall be left singly to encounter mine enemies. Nevertheless, I am not alone, because my Father is with me continually.
Vv. 29, 30. His disciples say to him, Lo, now thou speakest plainly, and dost use no similitude; 30. now we know that thou knowest all things and hast no need that any one should ask thee; for this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
On hearing this simple and precise recapitulation of all the mysteries of His past, present and future existence, the disciples are, as it were, surrounded by an unexpected brightness; a unanimous and spontaneous confession comes from their lips; the doubts which were tormenting them from the beginning of their conversations are scattered; it seems to them that they have nothing more to desire in the matter of illumination, and that they have already arrived at the day of that perfect knowledge which Jesus has just promised to them. Not that they have the folly to mean to affirm, contrary to the word of Him whose omniscience they are proclaiming at this very moment, that the time is already come which has just been promised them as yet to come; but the light is so clear that they know not how to conceive of a more brilliant one.
By answering so directly the thoughts which were agitating them in the centre of their hearts, Jesus has given them the measure of the truth of His words in general and of the certainty of all His promises. They have just had, like Nathanael at the beginning, experience of His omniscience, and, like him, they infer from it His divine character.
The relation of the words: Thou hast no need that any one should ask thee, to those of Joh 16:19 : Jesus knew that they wished to ask him, is beyond dispute; only this relation must be understood in a broad sense and one worthy of this solemn scene (in answer to Meyer).
In the confession of the disciples, as in the expression Son of God, 1.50, the two ideas of divine mission () and origin () are mingled.
16:29 {9} His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
(9) Faith and foolish security differ greatly.
The disciples now felt that Jesus had answered their questions about where He was going clearly. This revelation helped them believe that Jesus knew what He was talking about when He taught them about God and His ways. It also helped them believe that Jesus had indeed come from God. However they did not yet understand the full meaning and significance of what Jesus had said, though they may have thought they did. Jesus had just said that they would not understand His meaning fully until a future time (Joh 16:25-26).
"Had the disciples really possessed the understanding they claim, they would have reacted very differently when the crisis came." [Note: Morris, p. 631.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)