John 16

John 16:1

Hours before His crucifixion, Jesus is in the Upper Room. After investing three years of His life in His disciples, He’s sharing final instructions with them when suddenly He says, “Verily, I say unto you, one of you shall betray Me” (Joh_13:21). “Ask Him which of us it is,” whispered Peter to John. And Jesus said, “The one to whom I hand this bread is the one who will betray Me.” He then handed the bread to Judas Iscariot and said, “What you do, do quickly.” But the disciples didn’t get it. They thought Judas was going to buy more food for their celebration. Here Jesus had clearly said the one to whom He gave bread would betray Himyet no one in the room caught on. Why couldn’t they see? Then Jesus said, “I’m going away and you can’t come with Me for a while.” Peter pipes up and says, “What do You mean we can’t come with You? I’m going to go wherever You go. I’m going to die if necessary to be with You” (see Joh_13:37). “Oh, Peter,” Jesus said, “before the rooster crows, you will have denied Me three times. But let not your heart be troubled. In My Father’s house are many mansions. I’m going to prepare a place for you.” It was then Thomas’s turn to interject, “Lord, we don’t know where You’re going,” (see Joh_14:5). Hadn’t Jesus just said, “I’m going to My Father’s house”? Jesus went on to say, “If you had known Me, you should have known My Father also.” But in the very next verse, Philip says, “Show us the Father” (see Joh_14:8). Jesus had just said, “You’re seeing the Father when you see Me.” But Philip still said, “Show us the Father.” I wonder if at this point Jesus was thinking, “What have I gotten Myself into with these numskulls?” Still, He continued on. “When the Spirit comes,” He said, “He will abide in you, and the world will know I am living. I will manifest Myself to the world when My Spirit dwells in you.” But Judas (not Iscariot) said, “How are You going to manifest Yourself to us and not to the world?” (see Joh_14:22). At this point, if I were in Jesus’ sandals, I would have fired them all. I would have said, “This is our final session together, and you guys don’t have a clue about anything I’m sharing. How could you be so thick-headed. How could you be so blind?” And maybe that’s the way you feel about your unbelieving wife, your teenage daughter who’s straying, your friend who’s just not seeing. But watch what Jesus does. As chapter 16 opens, He continues to teach them, confident in due time that the Spirit will put it all together. Although the disciples were not grasping what Jesus was saying, He knew that, due to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, they would understand eventually. Thus, He could continue to teach His disciples with confidencenot confidence in them, but confidence in the Spirit soon to come.

John 16:7

“It’s expedient I go away in order that the Spirit might come to you,” Jesus said. How does He work? Read on.

John 16:8

What does the Spirit do to the blinded eye, to the hardened heart? He convicts it of sin, of righteousness, of judgment.

John 16:9

The one and only sin the Holy Spirit will convict an unbeliever of is that of not believing in Jesus. He doesn’t convict people of smoking. He doesn’t speak to them about their swearing, drinking or partyingonly of their unbelief in Jesus. And this is what makes being a believer, a minister, so incredible. We get to share with people the good news that no matter what they’ve done or where they’ve been, if they believe in Jesus, they are forgiven of all sin (Mat_12:31). Doesn’t the Holy Spirit convict us of sin once we’re Christians? Yes, He does. But the conviction of the Spirit does not drive us away from God. On the contrary, it draws us to God. It’s the condemnation of Satan that makes us ashamed to talk to the Father. You can always tell the difference between the Spirit convicting you and Satan condemning you because if it’s Satan condemning you, you won’t want to pray, and you won’t want to spend time in the Word. You’ll just hang out in a hole and hide your head. But if it’s the Spirit convicting you, you’ll hear, “Come unto Me all that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest,“and you’ll be drawn back to Jesus.

John 16:10

The Spirit also convicts of righteousness by pointing to the only righteous One. “Because I go to My Father, you see Me no more,” said Jesus. “I’m okay,” you say. “I belong to Rotary. I volunteer for the American Cancer Society. I’m pretty righteous.” Oh? Righteous enough that death can’t hold you? So righteous that when you die you’ll rise again? Did Ghandi? Did Mohammed? Did Confucius? Did Buddha? Unlike any other figure in history, Jesus Christ alone rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. Thus, He is the only Righteous One to whom the Spirit points, of whom the Spirit convicts.

John 16:11

When Jesus died on the Cross, the ruler of this world was judged and his power permanently broken. It’s not we who were judged. No, the one who held you in his grasp, the one who made you miserable, the one who caused you problems has been judged. That’s good news!

John 16:12

Jesus here is wrapping up His teaching. But is He doing so worried and frustrated that none of His disciples understand what He’s saying? No. Look at the next verse…

John 16:14

Jesus is not worriedand neither should you be about your son, daughter, wife, brother, neighbor, friend. “But they’re not seeing it,” you protest. “I’m talking to them. I’m sending tapes to them. I’m lining up counseling for themand they’re still not getting it.” Jesus said, “I know you can’t understand what I’m saying. But I also know that when the Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth.” Truly, it’s not by excellent argumentation or through a powerful presentation that the light goes on and the heart opens up. It’s only by the work of the Spirit that people who are blind begin to see. Jesus knew this. That’s why He didn’t worry. And neither should you.

John 16:16

This, of course, is a reference to the fact that Jesus’ disciples would see Him again in heaven. But they didn’t understand this. Unable to figure out what Jesus was saying, they discussed it among themselves.

John 16:18

Here the disciples are discussing things about Jesus, while He is in the room with them. They were talking about Him when they should have been talking to Him. How often that’s true of you and me as well. “What’s going on?” we say. “What does this mean?” or “Why did that happen?” we one another rather than talking directly to the Lord. I’m always amazed at how ready I am to talk to another personwhen it is the Lord alone who knows the solution.

John 16:19

Keep in mind that the disciples listening to this discourse had left everything to follow Jesus. Friends, family, and business positionsthey had left it all to put their stock in Him. They had hitched their wagons to Him and followed after Him for three years. And now, in this Upper Room, He tells them He would no longer be with them. Thus, understanding their confusion, Jesus gives His disciples three elements that would replace their depression with joy… First, He gives them a principle to hold on to. The principle is simply this: The object of your pain presently will produce great joy eventually. To illustrate, He spoke of a woman going through labor. Yes, there’s pain and struggle, perspiration and anguish. But yet it’s the very object that produced the pain that provides the joy when the baby is finally born. In other words, Jesus says, “My leaving, My being crucified, My death is going to cause you great joy when you see Me again in heaven, when you finally understand it was necessary for Me to go to Calvary in order that your sins could be forgiven completely.” When you go through pain, the Lord does not take away that which caused the pain and replace it with something else to bring joy. It is not substitution, but transformation as He produces joy with the very thing that once caused pain. Joseph was thrown into a pit by his envious older brothers. But, picked up by some merchants in a passing caravan, he ended up in Egypt. Sold as a slave into the house of Potiphar, he worked his way up in Potiphar’s household until suddenly things turned sour when Potiphar’s wife wrongly accused him of sexual assault. Cast into prison, Joseph languished there day after month after year until God miraculously worked through a series of incredible events to release him from prison and elevate him to the position of Prime Minister of Egypt. Thus, the very things that produced the painrejection by his brothers, the pit, the prisonwere transformed not only to work out for his own good, but to save his entire family in the day of famine (Gen_50:20).

John 16:23

Second, Jesus gives His disciples a power to plug in to. The power to transform that which produces sorrow into that which provides joy is the power of prayer. “You’ve asked nothing in My name,” Jesus says. “Ask and you shall receive that your joy might be made full.” Notice Jesus says we must ask in His name. What does this mean? Two things: authority and conformity. Short on cash, I decide to cash a check at Valley Bank in California. As I hand the teller my check, however, she says, “This check is out of state. We can’t cash it.” “Look at the name on the top,” I say. And as she does, she quickly apologizes and cashes my check immediately. It’s greatbut it has nothing to do with me. You see, my dad is President of Valley Bank, so I am treated well because of his name. So, too, when I approach the Father in heaven, I don’t come saying, “Did You see how long I prayed last week, Father? Fourteen hours logged in, eighteen chapters read, twenty-two verses memorized. On that basis, I come to You with these requests, and I’m sure You’ll give them to me.” No, I come simply on the authority of the name I’ve been given to use: Jesus’ name. Third, Jesus give His disciples a name to conform to. If I went into that same Valley Bank, pulled out a gun, and said to the teller, “I’m Jon Courson. Now, give me all your money, or I’m blasting your brains out,” she might perhaps start loading my bag with moneybut she would also hit a silent alarm, for although I would be using the name of Courson, I would not be acting in conformity with that name, with the nature of my dad. So, too, when we ask in the name of Jesus, we must do so not only in His authority, but in conformity to His nature. Consequently, if someone cuts me off as I’m driving and I pray, “Father, in Jesus’ name, help that guy to drive off the road"it’s not going to happen because that’s not in conformity with His nature. Oftentimes, we ask for things that are out of harmony with the nature of our Lordand we wonder why our prayers aren’t answered. That’s why, for me, a real secret in prevailing prayer is to be in the Word constantly, studying the life of Christ specifically, so that the things I pray for are in conformity with His character.

John 16:29

After Jesus gave this word about childbearing, prayer, and joy, the disciples thought, Okay. We get it now. But they really didn’t…

John 16:31

The implication is that they really didn’t.

John 16:32

“You don’t get it,” Jesus is saying. “In fact, the hour is coming when your unbelief in My words will cause you to scatter from My side.”

John 16:33

Fourth, Jesus gives His disciples a position to lay claim to. “I have overcome,” Jesus said. “And you are in Me. So even if you do scatter, even if you do stumble, even if you do failbe of good cheer. I have overcome the world. I lived a life in which the world did not seduce Me, in which Satan could not conquer Me, in which sin never tainted Me. I have overcome and you are in Me. Therefore, you will overcome as well.” With Goliath towering over him, David goes to the brook and grabs five stones. Why five? Five is the number of grace. Besides, Goliath had four brothers, and I believe David was ready to take on the whole family if necessary. He slings one stone in the air, and Goliath is down for the count. And because Goliath was defeated, all of the Philistines fled. And the men of Israel who were previously reluctant to take on the giant, now all share in the victory won by a shepherd boy singularly. So, too, our Championthe Good Shepherd, the Son of David, Jesus Christtook on the Goliath of my sin and failure, of Satan and the world systemand He beat them. And I just enjoy the victory. The Christian race is the only race in the world that begins at the finish line. We don’t fight for victory. We fight from victory. The battle’s already won. Jesus has already overcome. No wonder He says, “Be of good cheer.”