Charles Ellicott Commentary John 16:31

"Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?" — John 16:31 (ASV)

Jesus answered them, Do you now believe.—Compare the note on John 1:50. Here, as there, the words do not necessarily ask a question; and, although many expositors prefer to take them interrogatively, a sense more in harmony with the context is found by understanding them as an assertion.

Our Lord did not doubt their present faith (John 17:8); but He knew that the hour of their full illumination had not yet come, firmly as they believed it had.

Their present light was as the flash of the meteor—brilliant, but passing away. The clear and steadfast light of day was in the future, of which He has spoken to them.

They think the hour of full knowledge has come. He sees the time close at hand when they shall all be scattered and leave Him alone. It is this thought which He expresses to them—“Now you do believe: Behold, the hour cometh . . .”