John 16:5

Joh 16:5. [Νῦν δὲ, but now) Now at the proper season, saith He, the fact is declared to you.—V. g.]—οὐδεὶς) None of you now proceeds to ask Me, whereas ye ought to do so especially. They had often asked questions on many subjects: and on this very subject in ch. Joh 13:36. But their question had more reference in their thoughts to His departure, than to the place, whither the Lord was going. Afterwards they ceased to ask the question. Therefore the Lord here teaches them even to ask, which if they had done of their own accord, it would have very much pleased Him.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_16:5-6. Now, however, this my μεθʼ ὑμᾶν εἶναι is past! Now I go away to Him who has sent me, and in what a mood of mind are you at the prospect of this my impending departure! None of you asks me: whither dost Thou go away? but because I have spoken this to you, namely, that after my departure such sufferings shall befall you, grief has filled your heart, so that you have become quite dumb from sorrow, and blunted to the higher interest which lies in my going home to Him who sent me. According to De Wette and Lücke, there is said to be a want of exactness in the entire presentation, resting on the fact that Joh_16:6 does not stand before καὶ οὐδείς. The incorrectness of this assumption, in itself quite unnecessary, lies in this, that the first proposition of Joh_16:5 is thus completed: But now at my departure I could not keep silence concerning it, by which the 6th verse is anticipated. According to Kuinoel and Olshausen, a full point should be placed after πέμψ. με, and a pause is to be assumed, in which Jesus in vain awaited a question, so that He continued subsequently with an interrogation: Nullusne vestrum me amplius interrogat, quo abiturus sim? But the assumption of pauses (others, including De Wette, make the pause after Joh_16:5) is, when the correlation of the conjunctions is so definitely progressive, unwarranted.

The fact that already in Joh_13:36 the question had been put by Peter ποῦ ὑπάγεις (comp. the question of Thomas, Joh_14:5), does not stand in contradiction with the present passage; but Jesus censures simply the degree of distress, which they had now reached, in which none among them fixed his eye on the goal of the departing One, and could come to a question for more definite information respecting it.

ἡ λύπη] simply, in abstracto: sadness.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 16:5 . νῦν δὲ , “but now,” in contrast to ἐξ ἀρχῆς , ὑπάγω , “I go away,” in contrast to μεθʼ ὑμῶν ἤμην , πρὸς … με , “to Him that sent me,” as one who has discharged the duty committed to Him. καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐξ ὑμῶν … ὑπάγεις , “and no one of you asks me, Where are you going?” They were so absorbed in the thought of His departure and its consequences of bereavement to themselves that they had failed to ascertain clearly where He was going. ἀλλʼ ὅτι … καρδίαν . The consequence of their absorption in one aspect of the crisis which He had been explaining to them was that grief had filled their heart to the exclusion of every other feeling. Cf Joh 14:28 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. 16:5-15.

Jesus now describes the victory which the disciples will gain over the world which has risen up against Him. He first connects with His departure the coming of the divine agent (already announced in Joh 15:26-27), who will gain the victory through them, Joh 16:5-7; He then describes the manner of this victory, Joh 16:8-11; finally, He speaks to the disciples of the interior operation of the Spirit, which is the condition of it, Joh 16:12-15.

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

Vv. 5-15.

1. Joh 16:5-6 form a transition passage, having a connection both with Joh 16:4 and Joh 16:7, the new section finding its proper beginning with the latter verse. The thought of Joh 16:5-6 is kindred to that of Joh 14:28 -instead of rejoicing in the thought of what was to come to Him, of the place to which He was going, they were filled with sorrow of heart in view of their own loss. This failure to think of His happiness is here indicated by the words, “And no one of you asks me, Whither art thou going?” This statement is not inconsistent with the implied question on this subject in Joh 14:5, for the words of Thomas there involve, at the most, only a request for information, while here Jesus is speaking of the interest of a friend in the joy which is to be bestowed upon one whom he deeply loves. The connection with Joh 16:4 is seen in the contrast of νῦν to ἐξ ἀρχῆς; but instead of going on to say, as we might have expected from the preceding, “Now I am going away, and I give you the needed prediction of what is to come,” He turns to the condition of mind of the disciples, and makes their sorrow at His separation from them an introduction to a renewed promise respecting the Spirit. “It is expedient for you that I go away, because upon my going away the coming of the new Helper, who will lead you in all the truth and give you permanent joy, is dependent.”

2. The work of the Spirit is set forth in this passage both in its relation to the world and to the disciples. The relation to the former is given in Joh 16:8-11. It will be noticed that the work which the Spirit will do is described by the verb ἐλέγξει, and has reference to three points: sin, righteousness and judgment. The verb presents the Spirit apparently as engaged in an argument or controversy with the world, and as convincing the world of the truth of His view of the matters in question and of the error of its view. This convincing is also, perhaps, to be regarded as a convicting and putting to shame. The three nouns which are connected with the verb are without the article or any defining word. This fact seems to indicate clearly that they are to be taken in the most general sense. This is true of all of them alike. The ὅτι clauses in Joh 16:9-11 give the ground on which the convincing or conviction is founded, and by means of which it is effected. The Spirit takes hold of the facts suggested in these ὅτι clauses, and uses them as proofs of His view with regard to sin, righteousness and judgment. The true interpretation of these sentences seems, accordingly, to be this: He shall convince the world with respect to sin—the truth of His view of it—by laying hold of and pressing the fact that they do not believe on Christ. This unbelief in Christ is the central sin, and all sin is that state of the heart which leads a man to refuse, when Christ is offered, to believe on Him. The world does not hold this view of sin, but the Spirit, by His testimony and His reasoning, convinces it that this is the true view. So of righteousness; the Spirit, while laying hold upon and pressing the fact that Christ goes away to the Father, so that He is seen no more—that is, the great consummation of His work in the ascension to heaven—will convince the world of His idea of righteousness: that righteousness consists in the union of the heart with God, the entrance to which is through faith. The world’s idea of righteousness is of something outward and perfunctory. His idea is of something inward: the conformity of the man in the inmost recesses of the soul to what he ought to be. And again of judgment; the Spirit convinces the world of the truth of His view with respect to this also. The word judgmenthere is to be taken as condemnatory judgment, because this is the judgment pronounced on the ruler of the world. The Spirit accomplishes His end here, as in the former cases, by laying hold upon and pressing the fact which is set forth in the ὅτι clause: namely, the fact that the ruler of the world is already condemned. He is condemned in the sense that Christ’s finished work has condemned his spirit and secured the final condemnation of himself and also his exclusion from his kingdom. That the work of Christ does this the Spirit impresses upon the world, and, by doing so, He shows the world that there is a condemnatory judgment awaiting its spirit and itself.

3. The work of the Spirit for the disciples is now set forth again, in contrast with that which He does for the world. The work for the world is that of convincing or convicting. The Spirit testifies and reasons and persuades. But in His work for the disciples, He only passes beyond the limitations which were necessarily imposed upon Jesus in His communications with them, by reason of the fact that they were as yet at the beginning and were comparatively unenlightened. He leads them in the whole sphere of the truth and announces to them the coming things. Godet says that Joh 14:26 contains the formula of inspiration of our Gospels, Joh 16:13 that of the Epistles and the Apocalypse. Whether this distinction can be properly made, and the statement of Godet pressed to the strictness of its letter, may be questioned. The “coming things” may, not improbably, include more than what are ordinarily spoken of as eschatological.

4. In doing this work for the disciples the Spirit will glorify Christ, for the announcements which He makes, whether of the general truth or of the things to come, will all be of what appertains to Christ—His system of teaching and His kingdom. This will and must be so, because all things which the Father has, and from which communications can be made to men, belong to Christ. The reference is, of course, to those things which fall within the sphere in which the whole thought is moving. Joh 16:14, says Alford, “is decisive against all additions and pretended revelations subsequent to and besides Christ, it being the work of the Spirit to testify to and declare the things of Christ, not anything new and beyond Him.” Alford also declares that Joh 16:15 “contains the plainest proof by inference of the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity.”

Vv. 5-7. “But now I go away to him who sent me; and no one of you asks me, Whither goest thou? 6. But, because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7. But I tell you the truth: it is expedient for you that I go away; for, if I go not away, the support will not come to you; but when I shall have gone away, I will send him to you.”

The idea of the departure in Joh 16:5-6 is naturally connected with the last words of Joh 16:4 : “because I was with you.” It forms the transition to the promise of the Paraclete in Joh 16:7, since the departure of Jesus is the condition of the sending of the Holy Spirit. De Wette and Lucke have needlessly proposed to place Joh 16:6 between the two clauses of Joh 16:5.

The connection is clear; from the great conflict Jesus passes to the great promise. Jesus is grieved at seeing His disciples preoccupied only with the separation which is approaching, and not at all with the glorious goal to which this departure will lead Him. Love should impel them to ask Him respecting that new state into which He is about to enter (Joh 14:28). Instead of this, He sees them preoccupied only with the desolate condition in which His departure is to leave them, and plunged thereby into a gloomy dejection. Weiss thinks that Jesus means: “You do not ask me further because now you understand.” But the light does not come into their minds until later (Joh 16:29-30). There is evidently in the words: “No one of you asks me,” a friendly reproach. As Hengstenberg says: “Jesus would have been glad to find in them at this moment the joyous enthusiasm of hearts which open themselves to the prospects of a new epoch, and which do not unceasingly continue to put presumptuous questions respecting what it promised them.” The questions of Peter, Thomas and Philip did not bear upon this luminous side of His near departure, and besides, at the moment when Jesus was speaking, they were already quite at a distant point of the conversation.

The words: Because I have said these things to you (Joh 16:6), signify, as following upon Joh 16:5 : Because I have spoken to you of separation, of conflict, of sufferings. In Joh 16:7 Jesus makes appeal first, as in Joh 14:2, to the conviction which they have of His veracity. The ἐγώ, I, at the beginning, emphasizes in opposition to their ignorance the knowledge which He Himself possesses of the true state of things. Then He announces to them spontaneously a part of these joyful things which they were not eager to ask of Him. This departure is His re-establishment in the divine state, and the latter is the condition of the sending of the Spirit which He will secure for them. We find here again the idea of Joh 7:39 : “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” That He may on their behalf dispose of this supreme agent, it is necessary that He should be Himself restored to the divine state. This mission implies, therefore, the complete glorification of His humanity.

He does not, in this passage, make any mention of the sacrifice of the cross and of the reconciliation of the world, that first condition of the gift of the Spirit. This silence is explained by the declaration of Joh 16:12 : “I have yet many things to say to you; but you cannot bear them.” John explains himself very distinctly on this point in his Epistle (Joh 2:1-2,Joh 5:6; Joh 5:8); which proves, indeed, that he has not allowed himself to make Jesus speak here after his own fancy. Besides, Reuss is himself obliged, indeed, to acknowledge that this part of the discourse is addressed expressly to the Eleven, and not, as he always affirms, to the readers of the evangelist, and he tries in vain to escape the consequence which follows from this fact in favor of the historical truth of these discourses.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But now I go my way to him that sent me--While He was with them, the world's hatred was directed chiefly against Himself; but His departure would bring it down upon them as His representatives.

and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?--They had done so in a sort (Joh 13:36; Joh 14:5); but He wished more intelligent and eager inquiry on the subject.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?] In Joh 13:3, Peter had asked, Lord, thither goest thou? - and Thomas much the same in Joh 14:5, both of whom had received an answer. But now, at the time when Jesus was speaking this, none of them asked this question, because their hearts were filled with sorrow: Joh 16:6.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. And now I go to him who sent me. By a very excellent consolation he assuages the grief which they might feel on account of his departure, and this was highly necessary. They who had hitherto been allowed to remain at their ease, were called to severe and arduous battles for the future. What then, would have become of them, if they had not known that Christ was in heaven, as the guardian of their salvation? For to go to the Father is nothing else than to be received into the heavenly glory, in order to possess the highest authority. This is held out to them, therefore, as a solace and remedy of grief, that, though Christ be absent from them in body, yet he will sit at the right hand of the Father, to protect believers by his power.

Here Christ reproves the apostles for two faults; first, that they were too much attached to the visible presence of his flesh; and, secondly, that, when this had been taken away, they were seized with grief, and did not lift their eyes to a higher region. The same thing happens to us; for we always hold Christ bound by our senses, and then, if he do not appear to us according: to our desire, we contrive for ourselves a ground of despair.

And none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? It may appear to be an unfounded charge against the apostles, that they did not ask whether their Master was going; for they had formerly inquired at him on this subject with great earnestness. But the answer is easy. When they inquired, they did not raise their minds to confidence, and this was the chief duty which they were bound to perform. The meaning therefore is, as soon as you hear of my departure, you become alarmed, and do not consider whither I am going, or for what purpose I go away.”

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(5) But now I go my way to him that sent me.—(Comp. Joh_13:1; Joh_14:12.) The work of His apostleship on earth was drawing to its close, and He was about to return to the Father from whom He had received it. This was to Him matter of joy, and if they had really loved Him would have been so to them. They would have thought of the future before Him, as He was then thinking, in the fulness of His love, of the future before them.

And none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?—Peter had asked this very question (Joh_13:36), and Thomas had implied it (Joh_14:5), but what the words here mean is, “None of you are out of love for Me asking about the place whither I am going. Your thoughts are not with Me. It is to you as nothing that I am returning to Him that sent Me.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. I go my way to] Or, I go away unto; the notion is that of withdrawal (see on Joh_16:7). Hitherto He has been with them to protect them and to be the main object of attack: soon they will have to bear the brunt without Him. This is all that they feel at present,—how His departure affects themselves, not how it affects Him. And yet this latter point is all important even as regards themselves, for He is going in order to send the Paraclete.

none of you asketh] As far as words go S. Peter had asked this very question (Joh_13:36) and S. Thomas had suggested it (Joh_14:5); but altogether in a different spirit from what is meant here. They were looking only at their own loss instead of at His gain.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But now I go my way to him that sent me,.... These words seem to belong to Joh 16:4, and to contain a reason why Christ spoke of the trials and afflictions of his disciples now, because he was going away from them to his Father; when as they would be at the head of his affairs in this world, so they would the more become the butt of the rage of men:

and none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? Peter indeed asked the question, Joh 13:36; but his meaning was, what part of the country he was going to? what private and inaccessible place he was about to betake himself to? he had no notion of his going out of the world, or to heaven to his Father, and therefore inquired nothing about it; and when Christ had suggested to his disciples, that he was going to his Father's house, to prepare mansions for them, they did not seem to understand him, Joh 14:2. Nor did they ask what he meant by his Father's house, or what those mansions were he was going to prepare; and what the glory was he was going to possess for himself and them; they ask neither about the place he was going to, nor the way to it, nor the happiness to be enjoyed there.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?

Ver. 5. None of you asketh me, &c.] This they had asked him, but not as well paid of his going; this he would have of them, and of us, when we part with friends that die in the Lord, say as he, Tulisti liberos quos ipse dederas; non contristor, quod recepisti; ago gratias, quod dedisti. (Jerome ad Julian.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now I go my way - Now I am about to die and leave you, and it is proper to announce all these things to you.

None of you asketh me ... - They gave themselves up to grief instead of inquiring why he was about to leave them. Had they made the inquiry, he was ready to answer them and to comfort them. When we are afflicted we should not yield ourselves to excessive grief. We should inquire why it is that God thus tries us; and we should never doubt that if we come to him, and spread out our sorrows before him, he will give us consolation.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

None of you asketh me, whither goest thou? St. Peter had put this question, chap. xiii. 36. and Thomas, chap xiv. 5. The meaning, then, of Christ’s words here, seems to be, that having told you, I am going to leave you, and also going to him that sent me, you do not ask, says St. Cyril, to be fully and thoroughly informed about it. (Witham) --- You suffer yourselves to be entirely overcome with grief; and none of you inquire of me, whither I am going. You look on my departure as an eternal separation between us, and take leave of me, as if we were never to meet again. But be persuaded; my absence will only be for a short continuance; and this absence will be honourable and glorious for me, and extremely advantageous for you. If you were fully persuaded of this, you would inquire how long I should be absent, and whither I was going; as one friend in the act of parting, is always accustomed to ask another. But you only torture your minds with the pain and grief you will have to suffer at my loss. (Menochius, Tirinus, &c.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Though I did not tell you this from the beginning, for many wise reasons; yet I now tell you, that I must die, but shall rise again from the dead, and go to my Father who sent me into the world to finish that work which I now have done, and so am returning from whence I came. And though indeed some of you have cursorily asked me whither I go, (as Peter Joh 13:36), yet none of you seems to understand, or so seriously as you ought to inquire, whither I go, or so much to be busied in the thoughts of that.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. None… asketh… whither—In the table discourse (chap. Joh_14:5-7) they had so asked; but now, as he stands uttering his farewell, and unfolding to them their apparent abandonment to the most limitless persecution, with none but a spiritual Comforter, a Comforter little, now, by them appreciated, they had forgotten all question as to his whither.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 5, 6. Now at this very momentI go away to him that sent me. I have completed his work, and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? This seems at variance with Peter"s inquiry, Whither goest thou ?", (Joh_13:36) and with Thomas"s question, (Joh_14:5) "We know not whither thou goest," etc.? yet they are only opposed in appearance. Peter"s question had obviously turned the whole matter back upon himself, and the way in which the Lord"s departure affected his own duties and position; and the same may be said of Thomas. They had both lost sight of the "whither" in the pain and anguish of the departure. Our Lord had great difficulty in inducing them to realize the blessedness that would befall themselves from his own exaltation, and even now, after all that he had said about this great power and glory which awaited him, he added, Because I have spoken these things to you since all along you are taking the dark side, and looking on the anguish of my departure and desolateness of your own condition, instead of the grandeur of the new kingdom and dispensation of which you will be witnesses and organs sorrow hath filled your heart; the one heart which I throughout have been seeking to comfort. You are not looking on the end of my departure, or on the fullness of my glory, or on the addition to your own blessedness, but on your own loss, disappointment, and chagrin.

Vers. 5-11. The rectory of the disciples.

Jesus now describes the power which will gain their victory over the world.

I THE POWER WHICH WILL GIVE THE VICTORY.

1. The disciples were too absorbed by the sorrows of the approaching separation to think of anything but themselves. "But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? Bat because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.

(1) They were so absorbed with the thought of their own immediate loss that they missed the meaning of his departure for themselves.

(2) They ought not to have so greatly lamented his bodily absence and overlooked all the spiritual advantages that would accrue to themselves from his ascension to heaven and his participation in his Father"s glory.

2. The expediency of his departure from the world. "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

(1) Our Lord"s departure the Church"s gain. It would lead to truer conceptions of Christ"s Person and work.

(a) A great man"s greatness is usually increased by death. The removal of Christ would dissolve the illusion of familiarity. He could only be truly understood after he was gone.

(b) The souls of the apostles were greatly quickened after his departure. Their faith, hope, charity, were increased after Pentecost.

(2) Our Lord"s departure was the condition of the Spirit"s advent.

(a) He left the earth to return as a quickening Spirit. Christ after the flesh must disappear, to make way for Christ after the Spirit.

(b) The vicarious sacrifice of Christ stands to the mission of the Comforter in the relation of cause and effect.

(c) The dispensation of the Spirit is superior to the dispensation of "Christ come in the flesh," for the following reasons:

(i) Jesus in the flesh could not be present in every place or in all the households of the world; but Christ by his Spirit can dwell in the hearts of millions at the same moment of time as the Hope of glory.

(ii) If Christ were still in the flesh, his presence would only be temporary and occasional; but Christ by his Spirit can be always everywhere at the same moment of time.

(iii) As a matter of fact, he was never but in one spot of earth Palestine and never out of it. We revere Palestine as the home of our Lord, but we must rise above the mere sentiment of local association in the experience of communion with an everywhere-present Lord.

(iv) Mere contact with Christ in the flesh would have no necessarily saving efficacy. The Jews were not converted by seeing him in the flesh.

(3) Practical conclusions.

(a) Let us rejoice in our Lord"s exaltation.

(b) Let us guard against the worship of the outward.

(c) Let us learn that the Lord never takes away one blessing bat he leaves a greater in its place.

II THE EFFECTS OF THE SPIRIT"S COMING. And when he is come, he will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

1. The Spirit wilt convict the world of the sin of unbelief. "Because they believe not on me." The sin of the Jews was essentially unbelief; for

a. they withstood all the evidence of ancient prophecy;

b. they withstood the evidence of his remarkable life,

c. his remarkable discourses,

d. his remarkable miracles.

2. He will convict the world of righteousness. "Because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.

(1) His sufferings and death were the pathway by which he returned to his Father.

(2) By righteousness our Lord understands, not the mere justice of his cause, but the righteousness which he wrought out in his atoning death for his people. He regards his death as the true righteousness of his people. His incarnation and death were designed to bring in this everlasting righteousness.

3. He will convict the world of judgment. "Because the prince of this world is judged.

(1) He does not refer to any judgment on Satan for his primordial fall, nor for his deceptive temptations so fatally exercised against man.

(2) He refers to the subversion of Satan"s empire, to the abrogation of his usurped rights over man. The death of Christ effected this result in the following way.

(a) As sin was put away by the sacrifice of himself, (Heb_9:26) the supreme Judge discharged the guilty.

(b) The accuser of the brethren could not demand their condemnation. (Rom_8:1)

(c) Christ broke the power of death "by destroying him that had the power of death". (Heb_2:14)

Vers. 5, 6. The absorbing power of sorrow.

There was sympathy between our Lord and his apostles, but that sympathy was not perfect. Even in the latest of the quiet conversations between the Master and the disciples, it is evident that the perception of the learners was now and again very dull, and that their response to his communication was very inadequate. There is a tone of expostulation, almost of upbraiding, in this as in other portions of the recorded discourse.

I THE CHARACTER OF THE REVELATIONS WHICH CHRIST HERE REFERS TO.

1. Concerning himself. Jesus had uttered language which both perplexed and distressed his friends. He had spoken of his approaching departure a prospect which could not but grieve, and which clearly did depress his hearers. Their life was bound up in his life, and separation could not be faced without sinking of heart.

2. Concerning them, the Lord had opened up a prospect which dismayed, or at least disconcerted, them. He had plainly told them that they should be both hated and persecuted. Such an outlook as this was very gloomy. They were not prepared to endure such tribulation, especially when deprived of the presence and support, visible and tangible, of their Chief.

II THE EFFECT OF THESE REVELATIONS UPON THE MINDS OF THE APOSTLES. "Sorrow," said Jesus, "hath filled your heart." He had opened the conversation by bidding them trust in him, and dismiss fear and trouble from their mind. And he had given them reasons for confidence, grounds for hope, motives to peace. But they were conscious of their feebleness, their dependence. They had accordingly no thought but for themselves. As they looked one at another, they must have felt that there was among them no ore upon whom they could lean in the absence of their Lord. And he was going, and going soon. How were they to keep together? And if they should keep together, what was there for them to do? Had not the Master done everything? Without him, where would be the meaning of their fellowship the purpose of their life? It is a proof of the reality of their attachment to Jesus, of the bitterness of their disappointment at his departure, that in this hour their souls should he burdened, and all but overwhelmed with grief.

III THE EFFECT OF SORROW TO TURN AWAY THE MIND FROM INQUIRIES WHICH MAY LEAD TO CONSOLATION. The apostles were absorbed in their own grief and trouble. Hence they were prevented by their own depression from inquiring further into the Lord"s departure. Not that they were altogether incurious and careless concerning this; some of them had put questions suggested by the Lord"s words. But they sank back at once upon their own condition and prospects. If they had turned away from their own loss, if they had followed Christ"s declarations concerning himself with interest and faith, if they had asked for further revelations, they would both have forgotten their personal distress, and they would have received inspiration and fortitude as they realized the victory which should follow the Savior"s humiliation, and as they understood that in that victory they themselves should share.

IV THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE IS THUS REACHED, THAT THE BEST AND MOST HELPFUL HABIT OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE IS THE CONCENTRATION OF THOUGHT AND FEELING RATHER UPON OUR SAVIOR THAN UPON OURSELVES. Experience has shown that it is a most deleterious practice to direct thought too much inwardly upon our own sorrows and perplexities, or even upon our joys and comforts. Religious progress is made by fixing the gaze of the heart upon him who is infinite Excellence and infinite Faithfulness. Let our chief interest, our most earnest questioning, our most ardent affection, be directed towards him; and then sorrow will vanish and peace will reign. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

None of you asketh me - Now when it is most seasonable. Peter did ask this before, Chap. xiii, 36.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The comfort of Christ’s going away:

v. 5. But now I go My way to Him that sent Me; and none of you asketh Me, Whither goest Thou?

v. 6. But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.

v. 7. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.

So long has Jesus been with them as Guide and Protector; but now the time for departure has come. But instead of provoking all manner of inquiries on their part, the announcement has stunned them with sorrow. The Lord has discharged the mission for which He was sent, and, in a manner of speaking, goes to report on a duty properly performed. But His words concerning His leaving find no interest on the part of the disciples as to His future welfare. Their attitude savors strongly of selfishness at the loss of the Master and grief at His departure. They are insensible to the real issue involved. And therefore He gives them the comforting, cheering assurance that His going away is expedient for them, that it will accrue to their advantage, that they will reap only benefit from it. If He should stay in their midst with His bodily presence, then the other, greater event would be rendered impossible: the Comforter would not come. The sending of the Spirit depended upon the fact that Christ should enter into the glory of His Father according to His human nature. As the exalted Son of Man He would have and make use of the power to send them the Comforter. "This is the meaning of these words: If I go not away, that is, if I do not die and be removed from this corporeal essence and life, nothing is gained, but you remain where you are now, and everything will remain in the old way as it was formerly and still is: the Jews under the Law of Moses, the heathen in their blindness; all under sin and death, and no one can be delivered there from nor be saved. Thus no scripture would be fulfilled and I should have come in vain, and all would be useless, both what the holy fathers before you and you yourselves believed and hoped. But if I depart and die and carry out what God has decided in His counsel to perform through Me, then the Holy Ghost will come to you, and work in you, and give you such courage that you will become My officers and coregents, change the whole world, abrogate the Law, or Jewry, destroy the heathen idolatry, and rebuke and change the whole world, so that your doctrine will remain and penetrate everlastingly, though it will displease the devil and the whole world. That is the gift and the glory which My going away brings to you. " Note: It appears from these words of Christ that we Christians of the present time have more benefit from the work of the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, than the disciples had of the personal, visible presence of the Lord when He dwelt among them in the form of a servant.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, how our Saviour again intimates to his disciples his speedy departure from them, and reproves them for being so saddened at it, and concerned for it, without considering the end and design of it, and the benefit and advantage they were to receive by it.

Here we see how the disciples’ thoughts were wholly taken up about themselves, what they should do for want of Christ’s bodily presence, without being instant with him, to know whither he was going, and what benefit he should reap, and they might expect, from his departure.

Learn hence, that Christ’s disciples ought not so much to have lamented the loss of his bodily presence, and to have rejoiced in his glorious exaltation, and in their own advantages by his death, resurrection, and ascension; None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But sorrow hath filled your heart.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5, 6. Now I go my way to him that sent me. To the Father, by way of the Cross, the Sepulcher, the Resurrection and the Ascension. None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? They had asked this question, but in the stupefaction of their sorrow they had ceased to ask.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

sadness has filled your heart

Here "heart" is a metonym for a person's inner being. AT: "you are now very sad" (See: Metonymy)

if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you

You can translate this in a positive form. AT: "the Comforter will come to you only if I go away" (See: Double Negatives)

Comforter

This is a title for the Holy Spirit who will be with the disciples after Jesus goes away. See how you translated this in John 14:26.

translationWords

heart

true

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

5. ὑπάγω πρός. I go away unto: the notion is that of withdrawal (see on Joh 16:7). Hitherto He has been with them to protect them and to be the main object of attack: soon they will have to bear the brunt without Him. This is all that they feel at present,—how His departure affects themselves, not how it affects Him. And yet this latter point is all important even as regards themselves, for He is going in order to send the Paraclete. As to Ποῦ ὑπάγεις, as far as words go S. Peter had asked this very question (Joh 13:36) and S. Thomas had suggested it (Joh 14:5); but altogether in a different spirit from what is meant here. They were looking only at their own loss instead of at His gain. Sorrow has so filled their hearts that there is no room for thoughts of His glory and their future consolation.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5.] This is occasioned by the foregoing, but in fact begins the new subject, the condition of the Comforter’s coming.

καὶ οὐδ.] They had (see ch. 13:36; 14:5) asked this verbally before: our Lord therefore cites the question here in some other and deeper sense than they had used it there. I believe the meaning to be: ‘None of you enquires into the nature (ποῦ being emphatic) of My departure, so as to appear anxious to know what advantages are to be derived from it; but (ver. 6) you are all given up to grief on account of what I have said, “expavescitis, neque reputatis quo discedam aut in quem finem.” Calvin.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πέμψαντά με, repeated verbally from 7:33, where see note on ὑπάγειν. Cf. vv. 10, 17, 28, and 14:12.

καὶ οὐδείς κτλ. καί is used for ἀλλά, as often in Jn.: see note on 1:10. These words show that 13:36, 14:5 came after the present chapter in their original setting (see Introd., p. xx); for ποῦ ὑπάγεις; is the question put by Peter directly, and indirectly by Thomas at 14:5. At the point which the discourse has now reached, the disciples were thinking rather of themselves and of the dangers in front of them (15:21, 16:2, 3), than of the issue of their Master’s mission.

For the Johannine use of ἐρωτᾶν, primarily meaning “to ask a question,” see on 11:22.

The “going” of Jesus “to the Father” throughout this chapter refers directly to His Death, when He re-entered the world of spirit (cf. Luk 23:46). This was the moment when His mission was completed: τετέλεσται (19:30). Jn. lays no stress on the Ascension as distinct from the Resurrection of Christ (although he makes allusion to the Ascension as a specific event, 6:62). See 20:17. For him the hour of the “glorification” of Jesus was the hour of His Passion (cf. 13:31 and 14:7).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.