ter, — " Lord, didst not Thou say, Be of good cheer ? Lord, do as Thou hast said, and cheer us to the end."
Notes. John xvi. 25 — ^^33.
25. — {^These t7dngs...proverhs.] Our Lord seems here to begin windiug up and concluding His discourse. The expression " these things,'* seems to nie to apply to all that He had been saying since Judas went out, and He was alone with the elev- en. " All tliese things I have been saying to you in language which you have not been able fully to understand, insomuch that I seem to have been speaking to you in parables or pro- verbs." The Greek word rendered " proverb " is only used five times in the New Testament, and in John x. 6 is translated par- able.
Besser observes here, " From the very first words of our Lord's farewell discourse, — ' In my Father's house are many mansions,' — up to the words concerning the travailing woman, the heavenly purport of the discourse is enwrapped in various similes and parables."
Do we not learn here that ministers must not refrain from telling their hearers many truths, which at the time they do not fully comprehend, in the hope that they will seek more knowledge, and comprehend afterwards the meaning of the things taught ?
[But the time cometh...Father^ I believe the " time " here mentioned must be the time between our Lord's resurrection and ascension, the great forty days when He taught the eleven disciples more fully than He had taught them before, and spoke more openly of the things of His Father. — I say this with diifidence. But I can see no other time to which oar Lord could refer excepting this. It is evidently some personal inptruction that He means, and not instruction by the invisible agency of the Holy Ghost. *• The time is very close at hand, when my sacrifice on the cross having been accomplished, and my resurrection having taken place, I will show you openly and plainly the things concerning my Father, who I am, and what my relation to Him, and will no longer use parables and figures to convey my meaning."
The promise may possibly include the continual teaching of the Holy Spirit, which our Lord would give His disciples after His ascension ; but the language seems rather to point to di- rect teaching from our Lord's own mouth. Moreover, it is an " hour " that cometh. in the Greek, and not a continuous period of time. iSo in ver. 32, " the hour " means a time close at hand.
26. — [At that day. ..ask in my name.] I believe this sentence must mean, " In the day following my resurrection, when the full nature of my mission and office is at last understood, you
JOHN, CHAP. XVI. 2g3
■will begin to pray and ask in my name. Hitlierto you have not done it. When I have risen from the dead, and opened your understandings, you will begin to do it."
I see insuperable objection to any other view. The "day" spoken of c.mnot be the day of Christ's second advent, because prayer will not be needed then. Nor yet can it be the whole period of time between Christ's first and second advent, because the passage which it is here bound up with belongs specially to the Apostles. (See ver. 27.) There remains, in my judgment, no reasonable explanation except the one already given.
[A7id Isay not ..'pray...Father...you.'\ The meaning of this sentence seems to be, " It is not necessary to say that 1 will pray the Father to hear you and grant your requests. Not only shall I of course do this, but my Father also will willing- ly hear your prayer." This is the most natural meaning of the passage, in my judgment.
It is singular that the Greek word rendered " pray " at the end of the verse, is the same that is used to signify " ask ques- tions," or " make inquiry," in ver. 23. But it is worth notice that the word seems specially used when our Lord is described as " praying " to the Father. (See John xvii. 9 ; xv. 20.)
27. — \^For the Father Himself, etc.^ This verse is a continuation of the encouragement contained in the verse before. " You need not doubt the Father doing for you all that you ask in my name, because he loveth you for having loved Me, and believed
, my divine mission. He loves all who love Me, and believe on Me." (See John xiv. 23.)
Anton paraphrases the verse, " ye need not so think of my intercession as if the Father were not Himself well disposed, but must first be coerced into kindness. No ! He Himself loveth you, and Himself ordained my intercession."
We should notice here how graciously our Lord acknowledges the grace there was in the disciples, with all their weakness. When myriads of Jews regarded Jesus as an impostor, the eleven loved Him and believed in Him. Jesus never forgets to honor true grace, however much it may be mingled with in firmity.
28. — \^I came forth, etc ^ This verse seems a farewell summary of the true nature of our Lord's office and mission. It grows out of the last clause of the preceding verse. " You have be- lieved that I came out from God. In so believing you have done well, for so it is. For the last time I repeat that my mis- sion is divine. I came forth from the Father, and came into the world to be man's Redeemer ; and now, my work being fin- ished, I am about to leave the world, and to go back again to my Father." This deep sentence contains more than at first sight appears. It points backward to our Lord's persecution ; it points forward to His resurrection and ascension into glory.