John 16:30, commentary and pictures

In His farewell words in the upper room after Judas withdrew, Christ spoke privately to His faithful little flock to comfort and prepare them for His betrayal, crucifixion and departure. There His disciples confessed their confidence that He knows all things, needs no questioning, came forth from God and speaks the Father's words. Their confession was still incomplete, for they lacked clear understanding until after the resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit made plain what had been spoken in proverbs. Those words of encouragement and hope were imprinted on their hearts to stay them in disappointment and trial, and have spread to give courage, peace and strength to believers through all ages. That teaching plainly expresses God's will for unity and love among His people, which lived out cures dissension, joins believers with one another and with Christ, and stands as an impregnable wall against Satan in the shaking time.

Setting and Meaning

This belongs to Jesus' farewell conversation with His faithful disciples in the upper room, in the upper chamber after Judas withdrew, when the peace of heaven returned to Him and the oppressive shadow lifted, spoken just before His betrayal and crucifixion and departure. Their confidence that He knows all things and came forth from God rests on what He has taught them in that final instruction before He left them. That instruction in John 6 and John 13 through John 17 plainly expresses God's will for His people.

It was not spoken for the multitude who could not understand such sacred truth, but privately, to faithful followers alone, for His own little flock soon to be left without a shepherd. It was words of comfort, counsel, and prayer, preparing the disciples for His departure and their future work. It was meant to strengthen them for the trials and temptations ahead and to keep His love in mind in their work and counsel. He knew every experience and conflict they would face, and the trials ahead, and prepared them for them.

In the verse the disciples confess their confidence that He knows all things, needs no one to question Him, and came forth from God. They recognize that His words came from the Father and that He came from God. Yet their many questions revealed that they still lacked a clear understanding of God and of their own interests. Christ wanted to make the Father better known to them, which knowledge, which He alone gives, is the highest education.

Even the disciples could not fully understand these truths of comfort, counsel and prayer until after the resurrection had taken place. Their recognition was understood and fully appreciated after the resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit. What He had spoken in proverbs became clear to them when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. Complete understanding will come later, when Christ acknowledges His faithful workers and they see God face to face.

The saying was imprinted on their minds and hearts and was repeated again and again to stay their sinking hearts in great disappointment and trial. They later repeated these words to strengthen one another in trial. Those truths uttered there have spread over all lands and will live through all ages to comfort the desponding and give comfort, peace and hope to thousands who believe.

In this final instruction He gave them clear lessons about the future. He assured them that He would not leave them ignorant of His purposes and plans. He showed His love for them to keep them in their work and counsel, reflecting His complete knowledge of every experience, conflict and trial they would face.

Instruction for Believers

John 16 is instruction preparing the disciples for Christ's departure and for their future work, teaching that their ministry must be built on Christ and must depend on divine power working through human effort. It belongs to His words of encouragement and hope to His disciples, which give believers courage and strength to stand firm through trials. It is part of His final instruction before He left them, giving them clear lessons about the future, assuring them that He would not leave them ignorant of His purposes and plans, and showing His love for them. That instruction was meant to strengthen them for the trials and temptations ahead and to keep His love in mind in their work and counsel.

The discourse is instruction for all who claim to be Christians and a message for every home about how to receive Christ's grace. Its conditions must be followed, and refusing them leaves people unworthy to belong to His people when He comes in glory. The instruction in John 14-17 is to be understood with new enlightenment through the Spirit of God and applied as promises to believe. Those promises include the Father's promise to give what is asked in Jesus' name and Jesus' promise to come as Comforter.

John 16 supplies sure evidence from Christ's works and words to present to people with a Thus saith the Lord. Its lesson must be studied and the words He commanded must be willingly taken and given, and then the evidence of His abiding presence even to the end of the world comes to the people. Young people should arise to obtain this knowledge of the Word and its converting power, the same power that brought three thousand converts at Pentecost. The verse belongs to the teaching in John 6 and John 13-17 that plainly expresses God's will for His people concerning the unity and love they are to live, given just before His betrayal and crucifixion. That instruction is to be lived out in practical life, and living it cures dissension and self-seeking, produces unity with one another and with Christ and the love shown in His prayer, forms an impregnable wall against Satan's attacks and ensnaring efforts, and enables standing the test in the shaking time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken.