JESUS HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD.
John 16:23-33.
JOHN 16:23a. “And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing.” In John 16:19, Jesus had known that “they were desirous to ask Him” about what He had just said. Now he assures us that at His second coming we won’t need to ask Him such things, because we would be ‘no longer seeing through a glass darkly, but face to face; no longer knowing in part, but now knowing, even as we are known’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12).
JOHN 16:23b. “Verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you.”
There are two entirely different words translated as “ask” in the two halves of this verse. Jesus has changed the subject from asking questions to asking in prayer.
If we ask the Father in the name of the Son, then our petitions will be in keeping with what we know to be His will. Which guarantees the response: “He will give it you.”
JOHN 16:24a. “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name.” This gives us permission to channel our petitions through the mediation of Jesus the Messiah.
JOHN 16:24b. “ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” That your joy may be filled up, or fulfilled.
JOHN 16:25a. “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs.”
Hitherto the Lord had spoken in “proverbs” or, as it is translated in John 10:6, ‘parables.’ Most recently He had used the parable of the woman in travail to demonstrate how the disciples’ sorrow would be turned to joy (cf. John 16:21).
JOHN 16:25b. “but the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father.”
The time for milk and baby food will soon pass. After His resurrection, Jesus, in His own physical Person, taught His Apostles ‘in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself’ (Luke 24:27; Luke 24:44). Jesus was seen of His disciples over the next forty days ‘and spoke of the things concerning the kingdom of God’ (cf. Acts 1:3). Just before His ascension He spoke of His power, and promised His continuing spiritual presence with them (cf. Matthew 28:18-20).
JOHN 16:26a. “At that day ye shall ask in My name.”
Jesus had already promised ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you’ (cf. John 16:23). And certainly from the ascension of Jesus onwards the church would learn to utilise the Mediatorship of Jesus, praying to the Father through Jesus the Son, and in keeping with His will and purpose.
JOHN 16:26b. “and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you.”
The early disciples may have asked Jesus when He was physically with them, ‘Pray for us.’ But the responsibility to pray is ours, both collectively and each one individually.
JOHN 16:27. “For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God.”
The Father loved us so much that ‘He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (cf. John 3:16). We love Jesus because He first loved us (cf. 1 John 4:19). Now we are told that “the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God.” The indication is that the Father is well-disposed to answer the prayers offered to Him in Jesus’ name.
JOHN 16:28. “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
Jesus affirmed the disciples’ belief that He ‘came out from God’ (cf. John 16:27). He pointed back to His incarnation, His humiliation, His coming into the world to be our Redeemer. Then He pointed forward beyond His death and resurrection to His ascension into heaven, to sit at the right hand of God ever-interceding for us.
JOHN 16:29. “His disciples said unto Him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.”
Jesus had just promised, ‘I shall no more speak to you in proverbs’ (cf. John 16:25). Now the disciples realised that, even as Jesus continued His speaking, he was already keeping that promise. Already, it seemed, He was not speaking in parables, but more plainly than ever before. We grow by stages, and now the disciples already understood better than they had ever before. But more was to come.
JOHN 16:30. “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.”
We can see the disciples growing in confidence as the conversation continues. They explain their belief as a realisation that Jesus is all-knowing: literally, “Now we know that you know all things.” In effect, You have told us plainly who you are, and now we are so convinced of it that we need question you no further.
JOHN 16:31. “Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?”
There is an irony in the question, as we see by the following verse. Even in believers there yet remains an evil root of fear and unbelief. This calls for self-examination: ‘Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief’ (cf. Mark 9:24). Help me get over my unbelief!
JOHN 16:32a. “Behold the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone.”
Very soon, that very night, this was going to happen. How little, sometimes, do we know our own hearts!
JOHN 16:32b. “and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”
Even when the Lord’s best friends would all desert Him, as He knew they would do, yet still He knew that He would have the presence of the Father with Him. Likewise are we “not alone” when we seem to stand alone for Christ.
JOHN 16:33a. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.”
This whole discourse is a call to rest our souls in Him, who ‘is our peace’ (cf. Ephesians 2:14).
JOHN 16:33b. “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus does not pretend that the Christian way is easy (cf. 2 Timothy 3:12), but He leaves us with the reassurance, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The Prince of Peace has defeated the prince of this world, so “be of good cheer;” and ‘let not your heart be troubled.’
