Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Sixteen

                                                                                                                                               Verses 23-27

Jesus informed His disciples that when they would see Him again after His resurrection, they would become so overwhelmed with joy that they would forget to ask Him about anything that they should do or believe. Jesus instructed His disciples, and His Church, that their joy would become even greater if they would only think to ask their Father in Jesus' name for whatever they needed. Jesus told them that if they did so, His Father would give them detailed instructions and information about exactly how Jesus had saved them by His grace, how His Holy Spirit would sanctify them, and how His Church should conduct itself in the world. In other words, Jesus prophesied again that His Holy Spirit would inspire the writing of the New Testament.

Jesus admitted that He had often taught them by His use of "proverbs," by which He meant that He had often used stories and metaphors. Jesus knew that at that time His disciples simply did not have the spiritual ability to understand, in detail, who He was and what He had come to earth to do for them. They believed in Him in their hearts because they loved Him, but their minds could not fully understand much of what He had taught them. The Holy Spirit can directly preach the gospel to a person who is ignorant of the Word of God and cause that person to believe in Christ in their hearts, and yet, their minds will not understand exactly what happened to them. Colossians 1:6; Colossians 1:23. But Jesus prophesied to His disciples, and to His Church, that a time would come when He would provide them with plain instructions about what His Father expected from them. Jesus referred again to the coming of the Church Age and the writing of the New Testament. The Holy Spirit speaks more plainly to believers from the New Testament than Jesus did while He was in the world.

Jesus assured His disciples, and His Church, that His Father loved them because they loved Him and believed that He came from God. By this statement, Jesus actually informed His disciples and His future believers that they did not have to understand with their minds exactly what He had done for them as long as they loved Him and believed in Him in their hearts. Nevertheless, God has a mission for His Church to fulfill, and His Church would need detailed instructions and teachings from the Holy Spirit to carry out that mission in an effective way. The Church would need the written New Testament. Matthew 28:18-20.