John Calvin Commentary John 16:2

"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God." — John 16:2 (ASV)

They will drive you out of the synagogues. This was no light offense, enough to disturb their minds: that they were to be banished like wicked men from the assembly of the godly, or at least, from those who boasted that they were the people of God and gloried in the title of The Church. For believers are subject not only to persecutions, but also to disgrace and reproaches, as Paul tells us (1 Corinthians 4:12, 18). But Christ urges them to stand firm against this attack because, though they are banished from the synagogues, they still remain within the kingdom of God. His statement amounts to this: that we should not be dismayed by the perverse judgments of men, but should boldly endure the reproach of the cross of Christ, satisfied with this single consideration: that our cause, which men unjustly and wickedly condemn, is approved by God.

From this we also infer that the ministers of the Gospel are not only mistreated by the open enemies of the faith, but sometimes also endure the greatest reproaches from those who appear to belong to the Church and who are even regarded as its pillars. The scribes and priests, by whom the apostles were condemned, boasted that they were appointed by God to be judges of the Church. Indeed, the ordinary government of the Church was in their hands, and their office of judging was from God, not from men. But by their tyranny, they had corrupted the whole of that order which God had appointed. The consequence was that the power given to them for edification was nothing else than a cruel oppression of God’s servants; and excommunication, which should have been a medicine for purifying the Church, was turned to an opposite purpose: to drive the fear of God away from it.

Since the apostles knew this by experience in their own age, we have no reason to be greatly alarmed at the Pope’s excommunications, with which he thunders against us because of the testimony of the Gospel. For we should not fear that they will do us any more injury than those ancient excommunications made against the apostles. Furthermore, nothing is more desirable than to be driven out of that assembly from which Christ is banished. Yet let us observe that, though the abuse of excommunication was so blatant, it still did not bring about the destruction of that discipline which God had appointed in his Church from the beginning. For, though Satan devotes his utmost efforts to corrupt all God’s ordinances, we must not yield to him by taking away, because of corruptions, what God has appointed to be perpetual. Excommunication, therefore, no less than Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, must be brought back, by the correction of abuses, to its pure and lawful use.

But the hour cometh. Christ elaborates further on this offense: that the enemies of the Gospel claim so much authority that they think they are offering sacrifices to God when they slay believers. It is hard enough in itself that innocent people should be cruelly tormented, but it is far more grievous and distressing that those outrages, which wicked men commit against God’s children, should be considered punishments justly due to them because of their crimes. But we should be so fully assured of the protection of a good conscience as to patiently endure being oppressed for a time, until Christ appears from heaven to defend his cause and ours.

It may be thought strange, however, that the enemies of the truth—though conscious of their own wickedness—not only deceive men but even, in God’s presence, claim praise for their unjust cruelty. I reply, hypocrites, though their conscience accuses them, always resort to flatteries to deceive themselves. They are ambitious, cruel, and proud, but they cover all these vices with the cloak of zeal so that they may indulge in them without restraint. To this is added what may be called a furious drunkenness, after having tasted the blood of martyrs.