Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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John
Book: John
Chapter: 16
Overview:
Persecution foretold.
(1-6) The promise of the Holy
Spirit,
and his office.
(7-15) Christ's departure and return.
(16-22)
Encouragement to
Prayer.
(23-27) Christ's discoveries of
himself.
(28-33)
1-6 Our
Lord Jesus,
By giving his disciples notice of trouble,
designed that the terror might not be a surprise to them. It is
possible for those who are real enemies to
God's service, to
pretend zeal for it. This does not lessen the
Sin of the
persecutors; villainies will never be changed
By putting the name
of
God to them. As
Jesus in his sufferings,
So his followers in
theirs, should look to the fulfilling of
Scripture. He did not
tell them sooner, because he was with them to teach, guide, and
comfort them; they needed not then this promise of the Holy
Spirit's presence. It will silence us to ask, Whence troubles
come? It will satisfy us to ask, Whither go they? for we know
they work for good. It is the common fault and folly of
melancholy Christians to look only
On the dark side of the
Cloud, and to turn a deaf
Ear to the voice of joy and gladness.
That which filled the disciples' hearts with sorrow, was too
great
Affection for this present
Life. Nothing more hinders our
joy in
God, than the
Love of the world, and the sorrow of the
world which comes from it.
7-15 Christ's departure was necessary to the
Comforter's
coming. Sending the
Spirit was to be the
Fruit of
Christ's
Death, which was his going away. His bodily presence could be
only in one place at one time, but his
Spirit is every where, in
all places, at all times, wherever two or three are gathered
together in his name. See here the office of the
Spirit, first
to reprove, or to convince. Convincing work is the
Spirit's
work; he can do it effectually, and none but he. It is the
method the Holy
Spirit takes, first to convince, and then to
comfort. The
Spirit shall convince the world, of
Sin; not merely
tell them of it. The
Spirit convinces of the fact of
Sin; of the
fault of
Sin; of the folly of
Sin; of the filth of
Sin, that
By
it we are become hateful to
God; of the
Fountain of
Sin, the
corrupt nature; and lastly, of the
Fruit of
Sin, that the
End
thereof is
Death. The Holy
Spirit proves that all the world is
guilty before
God. He convinces the world of
Righteousness; that
Jesus of
Nazareth was
Christ the righteous. Also, of
Christ's
Righteousness, imparted to us for
Justification and
Salvation.
He will show them where it is to be had, and how they may be
accepted as righteous in
God's sight.
Christ's
Ascension proves
the
Ransom was accepted, and the
Righteousness finished, through
which believers were to be justified. Of
Judgment, because the
Prince of this world is judged. All will be
Well, when his power
is broken, who made all the mischief. As
Satan is subdued
By
Christ, this gives us confidence, for
No other power can stand
before him. And of the
Day of
Judgment. The coming of the
Spirit
would be of unspeakable advantage to the disciples. The Holy
Spirit is our Guide, not only to show us the way, but to go with
us
By continued aids and influences. To be led into a
Truth is
more than barely to know it; it is not only to have the notion
of it in our heads, but the relish, and savour, and power of it
in our hearts. He shall teach all
Truth, and keep back nothing
profitable, for he will show things to come. All the
Gifts and
graces of the
Spirit, all the preaching, and all the
Writing of
the apostles, under the influence of the
Spirit, all the
Tongues, and miracles, were to
Glorify Christ. It behooves every
one to ask, whether the Holy
Spirit has begun a good work in his
Heart? Without clear discovery of our guilt and danger, we never
shall understand the value of
Christ's
Salvation; but when
brought to know ourselves aright, we begin to see the value of
the
Redeemer. We should have
Fuller views of the
Redeemer, and
more lively affections to him, if we more prayed for, and
depended
On the Holy
Spirit.
16-22 It is good to consider how near our
Seasons of
Grace are
to an
End, that we may be quickened to improve them. But the
sorrows of the disciples would soon be turned into joy; as those
of a mother, at the sight of her infant. The Holy
Spirit would
be their
Comforter, and neither men nor devils, neither
sufferings in
Life nor in
Death, would ever deprive them of
their joy. Believers have joy or sorrow, according to their
sight of
Christ, and the tokens of his presence. Sorrow is
coming
On the ungodly, which nothing can lessen; the believer is
an
Heir to joy which
No one can take away. Where now is the joy
of the murderers of our
Lord, and the sorrow of his friends?
23-27 Asking of the
Father shows a sense of spiritual wants,
and a desire of spiritual blessings, with conviction that they
are to be had from
God only. Asking in
Christ's name, is
acknowledging our unworthiness to receive any favours from
God,
and shows full dependence upon
Christ as the
Lord our
Righteousness. Our
Lord had hitherto spoken in short and weighty
sentences, or in parables, the import of which the disciples did
not fully understand, but after his resurrection he intended
plainly to teach them such things as related to the
Father and
the way to him, through his intercession. And the frequency with
which our
Lord enforces
Offering up petitions in his name, shows
that the great
End of the mediation of
Christ is to impress us
with a
Deep sense of our sinfulness, and of the merit and power
of his
Death, whereby we have access to
God. And let us ever
remember, that to address the
Father in the name of
Christ, or
to address the Son as
God dwelling in human nature, and
reconciling the world to himself, are the same, as the
Father
and Son are one.
28-33 Here is a
Plain declaration of
Christ's coming from the
Father, and his return to him. The
Redeemer, in his entrance,
was
God manifest in the
Flesh, and in his departure was received
up into
Glory.
By this saying the disciples improved in
knowledge. Also in
Faith; "Now are we sure." Alas! they knew not
their own weakness. The Divine nature did not
Desert the human
nature, but supported it, and
Put comfort and value into
Christ's sufferings. And while we have
God's favourable
presence, we are happy, and ought to be easy, though all the
world forsake us. Peace in
Christ is the only true peace, in him
alone believers have it. Through him we have peace with
God, and
So in him we have peace in our own minds. We ought to be
encouraged, because
Christ has overcome the world before us. But
while we think we stand, let us take heed lest we fall. We know
not how we should act if brought into
Temptation; let us watch
and pray without ceasing, that we may not be left to ourselves.