Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 16

In ch. 16, Jesus reveals to his disciples what they must know to prepare them for their coming mission. He links it with the preceding section of his final discourse by sharpening the warning he has already given them concerning the hatred of the world. He applies this revelation particularly to their local conditions and predicts that they will suffer excommunication from the synagogue and even death (cf. the blind man in 9:22, 34). While Jesus was with the disciples, he could shelter and direct them. They must realize, however, that even his resurrection will not be sufficient to convince his enemies to remove the hatred that exists between them and Jesus’ followers.

In ch. 16, Jesus reveals to his disciples what they must know to prepare them for their coming mission. He links it with the preceding section of his final discourse by sharpening the warning he has already given them concerning the hatred of the world. He applies this revelation particularly to their local conditions and predicts that they will suffer excommunication from the synagogue and even death (cf. the blind man in 9:22, 34). While Jesus was with the disciples, he could shelter and direct them. They must realize, however, that even his resurrection will not be sufficient to convince his enemies to remove the hatred that exists between them and Jesus’ followers.

Jesus attributes the action of his foes to ignorance—not the ignorance of intellectual knowledge, but the lack of a personal experience of God and Christ . Their attitude is determined by who they think Jesus is and by who they think God is, rather than by actual contact with either. So warped has that attitude become that their contact with Jesus has generated hate for both himself and the Father (15:24; cf. Matthew 6:23).

It may well be that this particular utterance of Jesus was reported by John because of the pressing need for courage in the church of his day. The Apocalypse indicates a wide break between the church and the synagogue at the end of the first century (Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9); those who professed faith in Jesus were completely disowned by their Jewish compatriots.

The statement “none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ” seems incongruous in the context of Peter’s question in the earlier part of the discourse (13:36). At that point Peter’s question was casual, and neither he nor the other disciples pressed the issue to ascertain what Jesus’ plans really were. The same thing is true here. There is little concern about Jesus’ future; they are interested mainly in their own future. They are sorrowful because they will lose him, so they make no inquiry about the reasons for his departure nor about the objectives he might wish to attain.