1"All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.
5"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
16"In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."
17Some of his disciples said to one another, "What does he mean by saying, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" 18They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand what he is saying."
19Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, "Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me'? 20I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
25"Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."
29Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God."
31"You believe at last!" Jesus answered. 32"But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Interesting points of Discussion:
- [See v.2] 'put you out of the synagogue...think he is offering a service to God'- Jesus forewarns his disciples of a time that is coming when they will be persecuted and thrown out of their own spiritual communities and families and even possibly killed- by the very religious leaders of the synagogues who claim to be followers of God
- [See v.3] 'They will do such things'- this persecution and killing of fellow Christians will be done for political reasons which have nothing to do with the purposes of God or Jesus Christ
- Serving God is not about following our own interests and condemning others
- Many people today are "culturally Christian" and seem to think they know God or Jesus Christ just because they celebrate Easter or Christmas
- [See v.7] 'It is for your good that I am going away'- as a result of Jesus' departure from the world we are not going to be left alone, but rather we will be sent a messenger- the 'Counselor', the Holy Spirit
- The Holy Spirit will play an important role in our faith by correcting our hearts, which begins with being convicted of our sins, righteousness and judgement [see v.8]
- [See v.9] 'because men do not believe in me'- the world desperately wants to forget that Jesus came and lived among us because he was too perfect for our standards; many want to just accept the lie that they are naturally good human beings trying their best to make things work out in a complicated world
- [See v.10] 'where you can see me no longer'- although the world can no longer see Jesus, the Holy Spirit will teach us that there is a clear-cut right and wrong (good and evil) even when the world tries to convince people that there is no absolute truth or right and wrong way to live life
- [See v.11] 'prince of this world now stands condemned'- the world will see judgement one day, namely upon those who do not believe in Jesus; yet for those who do believe, signs of this judgement are already apparent in their lives where the power of Satan is broken and furthermore they are empowered by work of the Holy Spirit
- [See v.12] 'more than you can now bear'- Hints at the crucifixion and how Jesus knows that they won't be able to bear the act of salvation he will perform, maybe because they are not ready to comprehend or accept his sacrifice
- [See v.16] Jesus tells the disciples that he will be gone for a bit but then that he will be back again soon
- Even though Jesus came back to see the disciples after his resurrection, the truth in today's world is that most of us will never see Jesus in this world; but seeing Jesus is less important than establishing a spiritual relationship and walking by faith, not sight
- [See v.23] 'will give you whatever you ask in my name'- we need to ask before we are to receive from God; prayer causes things to happen and has the power to directly influence things in this world
- [See v.26] 'In that day you will ask in my name'- the disciples will pray in Jesus' name after his death and resurrection
- [See v.32] 'you will be scattered...will leave me all alone'- Jesus refers to when he will take up the cross to make the ultimate sacrifice for all of humankind and specifically how the disciples will not follow him but instead go home and "chicken out"; it's almost like they will act like they don't know Jesus
- In the same way to follow Jesus we must be courageous and bold when it comes to standing up for what we believe in and to remember all that he has taught us and to never abandon Jesus no matter what the cost
