John 16:23-30 - Homiletics

The consequences of Christ's ascension to the Father.

I. Pulpiness OF KNOWLEDGE . "And in that day ye shall no more question me in anything."

1. Our Lord was always ready , in the days of his flesh , to answer the questions of his disciples . Yet their questions often showed

2. Hereafter there would be no need for further questioning ; for the Holy Spirit would solve all their difficulties.

II. FULLNESS OF POWER . "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full." The power of prayer would give them a participatior in omnipotence itself.

1. The apostles could not pray in Christ ' s Name while he was still with them in the flesh. They had often prayed to him, but never in his Name.

2. His return to heaven would restore the broken link between earth and heaven . The way would be henceforth and for ever open for the down-pouring of heavenly blessing.

3. The command of Jesus— " ask " —

4. The ultimate result of the prayer . "That your joy may be made full." There is no spiritual joy apart from the exercise of spiritual prayer.

III. THE CLEARER REVELATION WILL LEAD TO GREATER CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER .

1. Jesus had hitherto imparted much knowledge by proverbs , on account of the weakness of their receptive capacity.

2. Hereafter the Spirit would impart truth in all its plainness . The clearer insight came to the disciples after Pentecost.

3. The truth was mainly concerning their relation to the Father as his adopted children .

4. Their confidence would rest , not upon his own intercession so much as upon their direct connection with the Father .

(a) It is a blessed truth that " if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous" ( 1 John 2:1 , 1 John 2:2 ).

(b) Yet it would not be necessary, as he here says, to inquire ( ἐρωτᾷν ) what was the Father's will, with the view of laying the case before him.

(a) The Father's love is connected with the disciples' love to Jesus. "He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father" ( John 14:21 ).

(b) Their love was connected with their faith. They believed

( α ) in Christ's Divine mission, as well as in

( β ) the unity of his essence with the Father. "I came out from God."

( γ ) Jesus assures them of his approaching ascension. "I leave the world, and go to the Father." The Ascension is explained by the Incarnation. Four facts are plainly revealed—his mission, incarnation, death, ascension.

IV. THE SATISFACTION OF THE DISCIPLES . "Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb."

1. They recognize his Divine mission in their experience of his omniscience . "Now we know that thou knowest all things."

2. This experience was enough for their want ; for the Lord would satisfy it in his own time and way.