Albert Barnes Commentary John 16:4

"But these things have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come, ye may remember them, how that I told you. And these things I said not unto you from the beginning, because I was with you." — John 16:4 (ASV)

These things which are about to happen (John 16:1–2). He had foretold them that they would take place.

You may remember, etc. By calling to mind that He had foretold these things, they would perceive that He was omniscient, and would also remember the consolations He had afforded them and the instructions He had given them. Had these calamities come upon them without their having been foretold, their faith might have failed; they might have been tempted to suppose that Jesus was not aware of them, and therefore that He was not the Messiah. God does not permit his people to fall into trials without giving them sufficient warning, and without giving all the grace that is necessary to bear them.

At the beginning. In the early part of the ministry of Jesus. The expression these things here refers, probably, to all the topics contained in these chapters. He had, in the early part of His ministry, forewarned them of calamities and persecutions (Matthew 10:16; Matthew 5:10–12; Matthew 9:15), but He had not so fully acquainted them with the nature, design, and sources of their trials; He had not so fully apprised them of the fact, the circumstances, and the object of His death and of His ascension to heaven; He had not revealed to them so clearly that the Holy Spirit would descend, and sanctify, and guide them; and especially He had not, in one continued discourse, grouped all these things together, and placed their sorrows and consolations so fully before their minds. All these are included, it is supposed, in the expression "these things."

Because I was with you. This is the reason He gives why He had not at first made known to them clearly the certainty of their calamities and their joys; and it implies:

1. That it was not necessary to do it at once, as He was to be with them for more than three years, and could have abundant opportunity gradually to teach these things, and to prepare them for the fuller announcement when He was about to leave them.
2. That while He was with them, He would go before them, and the weight of calamities would fall on Him; consequently, they did not then need the presence and aid of the Holy Spirit as much as they would when He was gone.
3. That His presence was to them what the presence of the Holy Spirit would be after His death (John 16:7).

He could teach them all necessary truth. He could console and guide them. Now that He was to leave them, He fully apprised them of what was before them, and of the descent of the Holy Spirit to do for them what He had done when with them.