John 16:4 - Exposition

But —the ἀλλὰ suggests a kind of pause, as if he had said, "I will go into no further details" (Meyer)— these things —these prophecies of approaching persecution— I have spoken to you, that (here ἵνα has its proper relic force) when [ their ] hour is come, ye may remember [ them ] how that I told you . £ This awkward form is that due to the perplexities of the position of αὐτῶν in the text. Frequently our Lord thus prepared his disciples for the future, called upon them to remember his predictions as pledges of his Divine mission, but still more as consolations and supply of strength when they would most of all need it. These things I told you not from the beginning ; not "at the beginning," ἐν ἀρχῆ , nor ἀπ ἀρχῆς , but ἐξ ἀρχῆς (cf. Isaiah 40:21 ; Isaiah 41:26 ; Isaiah 43:9 ), from the beginning of my ministry, and continuously throughout it. If "these things" are restricted to the prediction of cruel persecution, they are certainly contradicted by the language of Matthew 10:17 , Matthew 10:21 , Matthew 10:28 ; Luke 6:22 ; Matthew 5:10 , etc.; Matthew 21:36 ; Matthew 24:9 ; Luke 12:4 , etc. The numerous explanations of the commentators, that Christ had now given a more detailed, particular, and tragic outlook, cannot be sustained. Nor does the supposition that John is here the corrector of the synoptic narrative satisfy (Meyer); nor that of Godet, that Matthew, in his tenth chapter, was gathering together all that Christ had said of this nature, antedating instructions that the Lord had given, at all explain the corresponding passages in Luke's Gospel. The language of the last clause, because I was with you , throws more light upon it. This does not surely mean "because I was bearing for you the brunt of the opposition,"—it would be unnecessary altogether to say that. All along they must have bitterly felt the antagonism which their Lord encountered. The difficulty is removed by including in the ταῦτα of verse 4 what certainly is involved in the ταῦτα of verse 1; and the reference is to the whole of his instructions touching his departure and the coming of the other Paraclete, and the principle from which the hatred of the world would spring; the explanation of the anticipated hostility which he had now offered, and the way in which they might overcome it. So long as he was with them they could not be made to understand the Divine riches of the consolation which was now so near. From the beginning he had not given all this class of instruction, because he was with them. While at their side, it was premature to speak of the special help they would require in their bereaved condition.