Church Fathers Commentary John 16:1-4

"These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be caused to stumble. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God. And these things will they do, because they have not known the Father, nor me. 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 16:1-4 (ASV)

St. Augustine of Hippo: After the promise of the Holy Spirit, who would inspire them with strength to bear witness, He rightly adds, These things have I spoken to you, that you should not fall away. For when the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us (Romans 5:5), then great peace have they that love God’s law, and they are not offended at it (Psalm 118). What they were about to suffer follows next: They shall put you out of the synagogues.

St. John Chrysostom: For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed He was the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But what harm was it to the Apostles to be put out of the Jewish synagogues, which they would have left anyway, even if no one had expelled them? Our Lord wished to make it clear to them that the Jews were not going to receive Him, while the Apostles, on the other hand, were not going to desert Him. There was no other people of God besides the seed of Abraham; if they had acknowledged Christ, the Churches of Christ would have been nothing other than the synagogues of the Jews. But since they refused to acknowledge Him, the only thing left for them to do was to put out of the synagogue those who would not forsake Christ.

He adds: But the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he does God service. Was this intended as a consolation, as if they would be so heartbroken by their expulsion from the synagogues that death would be a positive relief to them afterward? God forbid that those who sought God’s glory, not that of men, should be so disturbed.

The meaning of the words is this: They will put you out of the synagogue, but do not be afraid of being left alone. Separated from their assemblies, you will gather so many in my name that they, fearing the temple and the rites of the old law will be deserted, will kill you and think to do God service by doing so, having a zeal for God but not according to knowledge.

These who kill are the same as those who put you out of the synagogues, namely, the Jews. For Gentiles would not have thought they were offering service to God by killing Christ’s witnesses, but rather to their own false gods. In contrast, every one of the Jews who killed a preacher of Christ thought he was offering service to God, believing that whoever converted to Christ had deserted the God of Israel.

St. John Chrysostom: Then He consoles them: And all these things will they do to you, because they have not known the Father nor Me. It is as if He said, “Let this consolation be sufficient for you.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: He mentions these things beforehand because trials, however soon they pass, are very overwhelming when they come upon people who are unprepared for them. This is why He says, But these things have I told you, that when the hour shall come, you may remember that I told you of them. He is speaking of the hour—the hour of darkness, the hour of night. But the night of the Jews was not allowed to mix with or darken the day of the Christians.

St. John Chrysostom: He also predicted these trials for another reason: so that they could not say He had failed to foresee them, or that He had only spoken to please them and offer false hope. His purpose is in the words, That you may remember that I told you of them.

He then adds the reason why He did not reveal these things sooner: And these things I said not to you at the beginning, because I was with you. This was because you were under My protection, could ask Me whenever you wished, and the entire battle rested on Me. There was no need, then, to tell you these things at first, even though I knew them Myself.

St. Augustine of Hippo: In the other three Gospels, these predictions occur before the supper, but John gives them after. Still, if they relate them as being given very near His Passion, that is enough to explain His statement, These things I said not to you at the beginning. Matthew, however, relates these prophecies as being given long before His Passion, on the occasion of His choosing the twelve. How do we reconcile this with our Lord’s words?

We reconcile it by supposing that His words apply to the promise of the Holy Spirit and the testimony He would give amid their suffering. This was what He had not told them at the beginning, because He was with them, and His presence was a sufficient consolation. But as He was about to depart, it was fitting that He should tell them of the Spirit's coming, through whom the love of God would be poured into their hearts, enabling them to preach the word of God with boldness.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, He had foretold that they would suffer scourgings, but not that their deaths could be considered an act of service to God—which was the most shocking thing of all. Or, in the other accounts, He told them what they would suffer from the Gentiles, while here He tells them what they would suffer from the Jews.