John 16

Part of The Upper Room and Farewell Discourse📖 John introduction

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¹“I have said these things to you so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble. ✦ ²They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God. ✦ ³They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. ✦ ⁴But I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. ✦ ⁵But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ✦ ⁶But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. ✦ ⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ✦ ⁸When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment; ✦ ⁹about sin, because they don’t believe in me; ✦ ¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more; ✦ ¹¹about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged. ✦ ¹²“I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. ✦ ¹³However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. ✦ ¹⁴He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. ✦ ¹⁵All things whatever the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes of mine, and will declare it to you. ✦ ¹⁶A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me.” ✦ ¹⁷Some of his disciples therefore said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;’ and, ‘Because I go to the Father’?” ✦ ¹⁸They said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what he is saying.” ✦ ¹⁹Therefore Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, “Do you inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?’ ✦ ²⁰Most certainly I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. ✦ ²¹A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world. ✦ ²²Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. ✦ ²³“In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ✦ ²⁴Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. ✦ ²⁵I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. ✦ ²⁶In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you, that I will pray to the Father for you, ✦ ²⁷for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God. ✦ ²⁸I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.” ✦ ²⁹His disciples said to him, “Behold, now you speak plainly, and speak no figures of speech. ✦ ³⁰Now we know that you know all things, and don’t need for anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.” ✦ ³¹Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ✦ ³²Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. ✦ ³³I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.” ✦

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In this chapter

Concept The Spirit of Truth

Where this chapter connects

John 16 ·40 John 14 ·31 John 17 ·19 John 15 ·13 John 8 ·12 John 13 ·11 Acts 2 ·9 John 12 ·8

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 16YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 16David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 16Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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