Charles Ellicott 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)

These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs.—Better, as indicated in the margin, ... in parables. This is also the case in the second clause of the verse and in John 16:29. (Compare the note on John 10:6.) “These things” refers specifically to what He had just said from John 16:16 and following. There is a sense in which this is necessarily true of all Christ’s teaching, and of all teaching in words. They are merely parables until the truth they contain has been thought out by the one who hears them. For the disciples, much of Christ’s teaching remained in a parabolic form until the Spirit brought all things He had said to their minds and stimulated their minds so that they could grasp its meaning. (Compare, for example, John 2:20–22.)

But the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs.—For “proverbs,” understand parables, as in the preceding verse. For the time referred to, compare John 16:16; John 16:23. In that time He will be present with them in the Advocate, and will no longer need parables or words, but will, to the depth of their spirit, communicate to them in all fullness and clarity the eternal truth of the Father (John 16:13 and following).