John 16
1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be caused to stumble. 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killed you shall think that he offered service unto God.
3 And these things will they do, because they have not known the father, nor me.
4 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.
5 But now I go unto him that sent me; and none of you asked me, whither goes thou?
6 But because I have spoken these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
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 go, I will send him unto you.
8 And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 of righteousness, because I go to the father, and ye behold me no more;
11 of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged.
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you. 15 All things whatsoever the father hath are mine: therefore, said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you.
16 A little while, and ye behold me no more; and again, a little while, and ye shall see me.
17 Some of his disciples therefore said one to another, what is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye behold me not; and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the father?
18 They said therefore, what is this that he saith, A little while? We know not what he saith. 19 Jesus perceived that they were desirous to ask him, and he said unto them, do ye inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, A little while, and ye behold me not, and again a little while, and ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembered no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world.
22 And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you.
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. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full.
25 These things have I spoken unto you in dark sayings: the hour cometh, when I shall no longer speak unto you in dark sayings, but shall tell you plainly of the Father. 26 In that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father.
28 I came out from the father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go unto the father.
29 His disciples say, Lo, now speaks thou plainly, and speaks no dark saying. 30 Now know we that thou knowest all things, and needs not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou come forth from God.
31 Jesus answered them, do ye now believe?
32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the father is with me.
33 These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Hello everyone, I am kiki. Chinese name of our second phase of the program is “读经大讲堂”. The English name is “Bible study”.
We will adopt a relaxed also enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new learning world. Each time I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and problem discussions with everybody.
I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring new knowledge experience to you all. The following is my interview with my sister on related issues. Today is the twenty-sixth lecture on the Gospel of John.
Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion!
My summary of John twenty-sixth-time study:
Well, everybody! Firstly, is still my today’s personal study summary.
In John 16, Jesus is talking to His disciples about the tough things they’ll face after He leaves. He tells them that people will kick them out of synagogues and even think they’re doing the right thing by hurting or killing them.
Jesus explains that this will happen because those people don’t really know God or Him. He says that it’s important for Him to leave so that the Holy Spirit (the Comforter) can come to guide them and help them understand sin, righteousness, and judgment.
He also reassures His disciples that while they might feel sad now, their sadness will turn to joy when they see Him again. He uses the example of a woman in labor: she feels pain, but after the baby is born, she forgets the pain because of her happiness. Jesus tells them that when they ask for things in His name, God will give it to them, so their joy will be full.
Toward the end, the disciples are finally starting to understand what Jesus is saying. They believe He came from God. Jesus warns them that soon they’ll be scattered and leave Him, but even though He’ll be alone, God will be with Him. Finally, Jesus ends by telling them to be strong and peaceful, because even though the world is full of trouble, He has already overcome it.
Now let Ingrid sister make a go further summary.
Sister’s comment from my studying summary:
Hello everybody, you have already done a good job in your summary. Let us stay a moment more at the role of the Holy Spirit: He will comfort us, when we are sad because the people don t accept us as Christians.
The Holy Spirit will judge the world because of the sin, justice and the judgement.
What does that mean? In other parts of the bible, we read, that the Holy Spirit convinces people of sin. When the Holy Spirit is touching us, we become convinced that we need Jesus as our savior and we should repent from our sins.
But if we resist the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we are already judged because of the sin of unbelieve.
The judgement that Jesus did was, that the Prince of the World was judged through his death and we can come boldly to the fathers thrown.
Another role of the Holy Spirit is, to teach us all that Jesus has to say to us and he will glorify Jesus by taking the words from Jesus and explain them to us.
Q list part: base on John 16th items:
Okay. Base on above bible study content, now let me ask sister some related questions.
We hope the following questions can be helpful to our brothers and sisters who have just become Christians.
Why does Jesus say people will think they are serving God when they hurt the disciples?
We can take Paul (his further name was Saul) in the book of Acts as an example. He was a strong believing Pharisee and convinced that the Christian preachers commit a blasphemy when they tell, that Jesus was Gods son and has risen from the death. This is the reason, why he traveled with authority letters to Damaskus with the purpose to kill all Christians there.
But on the way to Damaskus, he got a revelation from Jesus Christ himself and converted to a Christian and a tool in the hand of the Lord.
Paul did not persecute the Christians anymore, but there were a lot of Jewish believers like him with the same believe, that Christianity is blasphemy and the Christians have to be killed.
Who is the “Comforter” that Jesus promises to send?
It is the Holy Spirit. We have one God, but in three persons. The Holy Spirit is the third person of God and he lives in everyone who has be born again by the Spirit and the Word of God.
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in helping believers understand sin, righteousness, and judgment?
Without the Holy Spirit we cannot understand that we are sinners, because everyone has a good opinion about himself.
The righteousness that is valid for God is having faith. Paul writes in the letter of Romans: The just will live by faith.
Judgement means, the prince of the earth – the devil – is judged and with him everyone else who refuses Jesus Christ as a savior.
Why does Jesus say it’s important for Him to go away?
It is important, because when he goes away, short time after the Holy Spirit comes down to the earth. Jesus could be only at one place, but as I mentioned, the Holy Spirit lives in everyone that believes.
How does Jesus explain the change from sorrow to joy using the example of childbirth?
The time we live on earth is a process and we cannot control it. The woman cannot control when the birth begins and when it has begun, there is no way back until the baby is born.
By the same way, the disciples cannot control the times of troubles and persecution, but the persecution will stop and then they will be happy. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians are the whole time persecuted while they are on earth and the happiness comes in heaven for them.
What does Jesus mean when He says, “In the world ye have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”?
It is normal for us, that for Christians the life in this world is not easy, because we are now Citizens of heaven and often, we feel like strangers here on earth.
But Jesus has overcame the prince of this world, the devil, who has the only intention, to make our life even more difficult by using every person that does not believe in Jesus like a hand doll against us.
What did the disciples finally understand about Jesus when He spoke plainly to them?
The disciples understood, that Jesus said, he came from the father to the world and he will leave the world and go to the father again.
Why does Jesus say the Father loves the disciples?
God father loves the disciples, because they love Jesus and they believe, that he came down from the father.
What does Jesus mean by saying the disciples will be scattered and leave Him alone, yet He’s not really alone?
When he was arrested, all disciples were running away. But God father always was with him.
How can believers find peace in Jesus even when the world brings troubles?
The peace of Jesus is different from the peace of the world. We have an inner peace, that is independent from utter circumstances. We know that he is with us all our days and that we go to heaven after death. So, we can relax in his presence and know, that we never are alone.
