Albert Barnes Commentary John 16:25

"These things have I spoken unto you in dark sayings: the hour cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in dark sayings, but shall tell you plainly of the Father." — John 16:25 (ASV)

In proverbs. This means in a manner that seems obscure, enigmatic, and difficult to understand. It is noteworthy that although His declarations in these chapters about His death and resurrection seem plain to us, yet to the apostles, filled with Jewish prejudices and unwilling to believe that He was about to die, they would have seemed exceedingly obscure and perplexing. The plainest declarations on the subject would have seemed mysterious to them.

The time cometh. This refers, doubtless, to the time after His ascension to heaven, when He would send the Holy Spirit to teach them the great truths of religion. It does not seem that He Himself, after His resurrection, gave them any clearer or fuller instruction than He had given before.

I shall show you plainly. Since Jesus said that He would send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7), and since the Spirit came to carry forward the work of Christ, it may be said that the teachings of the Holy Spirit were the teachings of Christ Himself.

Of the Father. This concerns the will and plan of the Father, particularly His plan in the establishment and spread of the Christian religion, and in organizing the church. See Acts 10:26.