John Calvin Commentary John 16:23

"And in that day ye shall ask me no question. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name." — John 16:23 (ASV)

And in that day you will ask me nothing. After having promised the disciples that they would derive joy from their unshaken firmness and courage, He now speaks of another grace of the Spirit that would be given to them: they would receive such great light of understanding as would raise them on high to heavenly mysteries.

They were at that time so slow that the slightest difficulty of any kind made them hesitate. For, as children who are learning the alphabet cannot read a single verse without pausing frequently, so almost every word of Christ gave them some sort of offense, and this hindered their progress. But soon afterwards, having been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, they no longer had anything to prevent them from becoming familiarly acquainted with the wisdom of God, so as to move amidst the mysteries of God without stumbling.

True, the apostles did not cease to ask Christ Himself, even when they had been elevated to the highest degree of wisdom. But this is only a comparison between the two conditions, as if Christ had said that their ignorance would be corrected, so that, instead of being stopped—as they now were—by the smallest obstructions, they would penetrate into the deepest mysteries without any difficulty. Such is the meaning of that passage in Jeremiah:

No longer shall every man teach his neighbor, saying, Know the Lord for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest, saith the Lord (Jeremiah 31:34).

The prophet certainly does not take away or set aside instruction, which must be in its most vigorous state in the kingdom of Christ. But he affirms that, when all shall be taught by God, there will no longer be any room for this gross ignorance, which holds the minds of men, until Christ, the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2), shall enlighten them by the rays of His Spirit. Besides, though the apostles were exceedingly like children, or rather, were more like stocks of wood than men, we know well what they suddenly became after they had experienced the teaching of the Holy Spirit.

Whatever you shall ask the Father in my name. He shows from where they will obtain this new ability: it is because they will be able to draw freely from God, the fountain of wisdom, as much as they need.

It is as if He had said, “You must not fear that you will be deprived of the gift of understanding, for my Father will be ready, with all the abundance of blessings, to enrich you bountifully.” Furthermore, by these words He informs them that the Spirit is not promised in such a way that those to whom He is promised should wait for Him in sloth and inactivity; on the contrary, they should be earnestly engaged in seeking the grace that is offered. In short, He declares that He will at that time fulfill the office of Mediator, so that whatever they shall ask, He will obtain for them from the Father abundantly, and even beyond their prayers.

But here a difficult question arises: Was this the first time that men began to call on God in the name of Christ? For God could never be reconciled to men in any other way than for the sake of the Mediator. Christ describes the future time when the Heavenly Father will give the disciples whatever they shall ask in His name. If this is a new and unusual favor, it would seem that we can infer from it that, as long as Christ dwelt on earth, He did not yet exercise the office of Advocate, through whom the prayers of believers might be acceptable to God. This is expressed even more clearly by what immediately follows.