16 “I have spoken these things to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. 2 They will throw you out of the synagogues. Yes, an hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 They will do these things because they have never known the Father or Me. 4 But I have spoken these things to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.”
The Ruach Reveals Truth
5 “But now I am going to the One who sent Me, and not one of you is asking Me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Because I have spoken these things to you, grief has filled your heart. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away! For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
8 “When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
12 “I still have much more to tell you, but you cannot handle it just now. 13 But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; but whatever He hears, He will tell you. And He will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is Mine. For this reason I said the Ruach will take from what is Mine and declare it to you.”
Death and Resurrection Foretold
16 “A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again in a little while, you will see Me.”
17 Then some of His disciples said to one another, “What does He mean by telling us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again in a little while, you will see Me’? And, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”
18 They kept on saying, “What’s this He’s saying, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what He’s talking about!”
19 Yeshua knew that they wanted to question Him, so He said to them, “Are you asking each other about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again in a little while, you will see Me’? 20 Amen, amen I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will celebrate. You will be filled with sorrow, but your sorrow will turn to joy!
21 “When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come.[a] But when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, because of the joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you!
23 “In that day, you will ask Me nothing. Amen, amen I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. 24 Up to now, you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be full.
25 “These things I have spoken to you in metaphors. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in metaphors, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day, you will ask in My name—and I’m not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from God. 28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
29 His disciples say, “See, now You’re speaking plainly and not in metaphors. 30 Now we know that You know everything and have no need to be asked anything. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”
31 Yeshua answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Look, the hour is coming—indeed has come—when you will be scattered, each to his own, and you will abandon Me. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have shalom. In the world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world!”
Footnotes
- John 16:21 cf. Isa. 26:17; Mic. 4:9-10.