John 16:6

But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. BUT BECAUSE I HAVE SAID THESE THINGS UNTO YOU, SORROW HATH FILLED YOUR HEART. And how, it may be asked, could it be otherwise? But this sorrow had too much paralyzed them, and He would rouse their energies....

1-6 Our Lord Jesus, by giving his disciples notice of trouble, designed that the terror might not be a surprise to them. It is possible for those who are real enemies to God's service, to pretend zeal for it. This does not lessen the sin of the persecutors; villanies will never be changed by putting the name of God to them. As Jesus in his sufferings, so his followers in theirs, should look to the fulfilling of Scripture. He did not tell them sooner, because he was with them to teach, guide, and comfort them; they needed not then this promise of the Holy Spirit's presence. It will silence us to ask, Whence troubles come? It will satisfy us to ask, Whither go they? for we know they work for good. It is the common fault and folly of melancholy Christians to look only on the dark side of the cloud, and to turn a deaf ear to the voice of joy and gladness. That which filled the disciples' he...

NOW I GO MY WAY - Now I am about to die and leave you, and it is proper to announce all these things to you. NONE OF YOU ASKETH ME ... - They gave themselves up to grief instead of inquiring why he was about to leave them. Had they made the inquiry, he was ready to answer them and to comfort them. When we are afflicted we should not yield ourselves to excessive grief. We should inquire why it is that God thus tries us; and we should never doubt that if we come to him, and spread out our sorrows before him, he will give us consolation....

EXPOSITION JOHN 16:1 (c) _The bitter issues of the hostility of the world_. JOHN 16:1 THESE THINGS. What things? Primarily the explanation he had given of the opposition and hatred of the world, and the vast consolation which he had promised in the identification of the disciples with himself, and the witness which would be borne by the Paraclete; but not exclusively, for they include all the preparatory instructions based on his own Person, his going to the Father, his return in the power of the Spirit. HAVE I SPOKEN TO YOU, THAT YE SHOULD NOT BE OFFENDED; that you should not be made to fall over the stumbling block of persecution, and the refusal of the people to hear your message concerning me. For the mome

BUT BECAUSE I HAVE SAID THESE THINGS TO YOU,.... Of being hated and persecuted by the Jews, of being put out of their synagogues, and of losing of their lives; and particularly of his departure from them, or the loss of his bodily presence: SORROW HATH FILLED YOUR HEART; sorrow for his absence so possessed their minds, seized on all the powers and faculties of their souls, and engrossed all their thoughts, that it never entered into the heart of any of them, to inquire about the place he was going to, or the state he should enter upon; which had they had any right notions of, would have greatly contributed to have abated their sorrow, quieted their minds, made them easy under, and reconciled them unto, his departure from them....

John 16:1. _These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me._ True followers of Christ must not reckon upon having the world's commendation. At first, the Jews persecuted the Christians; then the Romans took up the cruel work, and others have continued it, in some form or other, even to this day, for the persecution of the saints has not yet ceased. There are many who still have hard times, and have to endure trials of cruel mockings for Christ's sake. If you resolve to follow Christ men will be sure to call you old-fashioned, ridiculous, Puritanic, and I know not what besides, yet what does it matter to you if they do? Your Master foretold that it woul

CHAPTER 16 1. Persecutions Predicted. (John 16:1 .) 2. The Comforter and His Demonstration. (John 16:7 .) 3. Sorrow and joy. (John 16:16 .) 4. The Father Himself Loveth You. (John 16:23 .) 5. His Final Word before His Prayer. (John 16:28 .) Again He announced coming persecutions. The world is the same today as then, and before this age ends these predictions of our Lord will be again fulfilled, during the great tribulation. The coming of the Comforter is once more announced by Him. He could not come unless the Lord departed.

JOHN 16. There is no break between chs. 15 and 16. Jesus has told them beforehand, so that His death and their suffering may not daunt their faith, as the Baptist was offended by the course of the ministry, which did not correspond to his Messianic expectation. They must expect actual excommunication. Their execution will be thought an acceptable sacrifice to God (_cf._ the Jewish comment on Numbers 25:13, He who sheds the blood of a transgressor should be thought of as if he had offered an offering). There is no reference in John 16:2 to the rebellion of Bar-Kochba (John 5:43 *). This hostile attitude will be due to men's ignorance of God and His Messenger. In after time they will remember His warning. It was not necessary to giv

NOW. GO MY WAY TO HIM THAT SENT ME. To the Father, by way of the Cross, the Sepulcher, the Resurrection and the Ascension. NONE OF YOU ASKETH ME, WHITHER GOEST THOU? They had asked this question, but in the stupefaction of their sorrow they had ceased to ask. Their thoughts were fixed more upon their own disappointment and bereavement than upon what was before their departing Lord. He desires to turn their thoughts to the grand results that are to be accomplished "because he goes to the Father." They had, however, failed to look into these matters because SORROW HAD FILLED THEIR HEART....

WARNING AND CHALLENGE (John 16:1-4)...