The Gospel of John 16, Part 4

 Verse 16-22

  The Gethsemane Discourse,
Part 35 & 36

Chapter 16 Outline:

• Vs. 1-6, The Importance of Preparedness. Persecution Foretold. Pt. 33
• Vs. 7-15, Further Instructions Regarding the Holy Spirit. The Promise of the Holy Spirit, and His Office. Pt. 34
• Vs. 16-18, Christ’s Death, Resurrection and Ascension Reemphasized. Pt. 35
• Vs. 19-22, The Happiness of God as a Result of Jesus’ Resurrection. Pt. 36
• Vs. 23-28, Summary on the Power Available to Us Through Prayer. Encouragement to Prayer. Pt. 37
• Vs. 29-33, Final Words of Encouragement. Christ’s Discoveries of Himself. Pt. 38

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We now turn to the next section of the discourse where Jesus is repeating the announcement of His departure due to the Cross and His subsequent resurrection. But just as before, the disciples do not understand what He is saying.

John 16:16, “A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.  ¹⁷Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?  ¹⁸So they were saying, “What is this [that He says,] ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”

The Greek reads: 

“¹⁶ Μικρὸν καὶ οὐκέτι θεωρεῖτέ με, καὶ πάλιν μικρὸν καὶ ὄψεσθέm με; ὅτι ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα. ¹⁷Εἶπαν οὖν ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἀλλήλους Τί ἐστιν τοῦτο ὃ λέγει ἡμῖν Μκρὸν καὶ οὐ θεωρεῖτέ με, καὶ πάλιν μικρὸν καὶ ὄψεσθέ με; καί Ὅτιὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν Πατέ; ¹⁸ἔλεγον οὖν Τοῦτο τί ἐστιν [ὃ λέγει] τὸ μικρόν; οὐκ οἴδαμεν τί λαλεῖ.”

Transliterated it reads: 

“¹⁶ MIKRON KAI OUKETI THEOREITE ME, KAI PALIN MIKRON KAI OPSESTHE ME. ¹⁷EIPAN OUN EK TON MATHETON AUTOU PROS ALLELOUS, TI ESTIN TOUTO HO LEGEI HUMIN, MIKRON KAI OU THEOREITE ME, KAI PALIN MIKRON KAI OPSESTHE ME; HOTI HUPAGO PROS TON PATERA; ¹⁸ELEGON OUN, TI ESTIN TOUTO [HO LEGEI] TO MIKRON; OUK OIDAMEN TI LALEI.”

In Verse 18, the words, “that He says” - “HO LEGEI” are in brackets indicating that they are not in all Greek manuscripts.

In Verse 16, the phrase, “a little while” is used twice as it is in Verse 17, and once in Verse 18. It is the Pronominal Adjective MIKROS in the Accusative, Neuter, Singular that means, “small or little.” It is used as an Adverb to express a very short period of time, usually over a few hours but under 24, though it can be several days. Here it refers to the time between the termination of the Gethsemane Discourse and the crucifixion the next day, as in John 7:33; 13:33; 14:19.

The phrase “you will no longer behold Me” is OUKETI THEOREO ME.

“No longer” is the Adverb OUKETI (OUK, not + ETI, still or yet) and it means, “no longer, no more, no further.”

“Behold” is the Verb THEOREO in the Present, Active, Indicative, Second Person, Plural. It comes from THEOROS – θεωρέω (theh-o-reh'-o) that means, “an envoy or spectator: Where THEOREO comes to mean, “to look at or gaze.” We had this verb in John 14:19 and 16:10, and it is used in Verse 16, 17 & 19. The other Greek word for “see” is HORAO which is also used in Verses 16 & 17 in the last part of those verses. It means a panoramic view. The word THEOREO used here, means,” to observe something as a spectator.” They were in the presence of Christ for 3+ years.

“Me” is the Greek Pronoun EGO, (I or Me), in the Accusative, First Person, Singular.

So, we have here eleven disciples who are spectators. But unfortunately, they are out of it mentally at this time; they are not able to bear the doctrine at this time; therefore, they do not understand what He is telling them.

The corrected translation is: “A little while and you will observe Me no more.”

This is a reference to the crucifixion which involves the two deaths of Christ on the Cross. As a result of the physical death of Christ, they will no longer see Him on the earth.

Then we have, “And again” which is the Conjunction KAI “and,” plus the Adverb PALIN which means, “again,” and it introduces the paradox where they won’t see Him and then they will see Him again.

“A little while” is the Adverb MIKRON once again. This time it is a different elapse of time. It is indicating the time between the death and resurrection of Christ, three days.

“You shall see” is the Verb HORAO in the Future, Middle Deponent, Indicative, Second Person, Plural. This is the panoramic view. Once Christ is raised from the dead, they have a panoramic view. Before He died on the Cross, it was THEOREO, as spectators.

The Future Tense: The resurrection is future from the moment He is speaking, and at that time, they will see Him once again.

The Middle Deponent Voice in the Second Person Plural: They themselves will be witnesses to His resurrection and the forty days He remains on earth.

The Indicative Mood is the reality of the resurrection and their witness of Christ in resurrection form. They will have the panoramic view of the resurrection.

Our translation of John 16:16, “A little while and you will observe Me no more, and again a little while and you will see Me.”

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John 16:17, “Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’? 

In Verse 17, the disciples appear to be a little sheepish at this time, because they have a feeling they should have learned these things over the past three years. They were taught these things but were unable to recall them at this time. So, they are talking among themselves, and they have so little doctrine between them, it is obvious they are not going to come up with answers.

Jesus then continues with the phrase, “Because I go to the Father,” as He repeats what He told them in Verse 5, 7, 10, as He did in John 14:3, 12, 28.

“I go” is HUPAGO, a Verb in the Present, Active, Indicative, First Person, Singular. Christ goes away in the sense of leaving the earth, so this is used for the ascension.

The Futuristic Present Tense indicates the ascension of Jesus Christ as a future event with the connotation of immediacy and certainty.

“To the Father” is the Preposition PROS, plus the Accusative, Masculine, Singular of the Article HO, and the noun PATER that means, “the Father” referring to God the Father. So, combined it is, “face to face with the Father.” That is the session of Christ; Christ seated at the right hand of the Father.

“And because” are the Conjunctions - KAI, “and,” plus HOTI, “because” that indicate the fact that the resurrection must precede the ascension of Christ, given the order of this verse.

• “A little while you will not observe me” - The Cross.
• “A little while and you will see Me” - His resurrection and 40 days on earth.
• “Because I go” - His ascension.
• “To the Father” - His session seated at the right hand of the Father.

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John 16:18, “So they were saying, “What is this [that He says,] ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”

Now, in verse 18, we have, “And so they were saying.”

“Saying” is the Verb LEGO in the Imperfect, Active, Indicative, Third Person, Plural.

As an Iterative Imperfect, it means, “they kept asking” which indicates that considerable dialogue took place among the disciples without their arriving at an answer.

They could not reconcile Jesus’ statements because He said:

• In a short time, they would not observe Him,
• They would see Him, and
• He was going to the Father.

Only His death, resurrection, post-resurrection ministry, ascension, and session would make it all clear.

Then we have, “we do not know what He is talking about.” The questions to Jesus cease, and the disciples frankly confess to each other their own ignorance.

“We do not know” is the Negative Particle OUK for, “not or absolutely not,” plus the Verb OIDA in the Perfect, Active, Indicative, First Person, Plural. OIDA comes from the root word HORAO - ὁράω (hor-ah'-o) and means, “to have seen or perceived, hence to know or knowledge.”

The Perfect with a Present Force Tense is for completed past action where the results continue to the present. The emphasis is on the present results of not knowing what the heck Jesus was talking about; even though they had been with Him for 3 ½ years, and He told them this very same thing many times. So, we will say, “we absolutely do not know.”

“What he is talking about” is the Pronominal Interrogative Adjective TIS in the Accusative, Neuter, Singular that means, “who? which? what? or what sort of?” It introduces the subject that they do not understand.

With this is the Verb LALEO in the Present, Active, Indicative, Third Person, Singular, which means, “to speak, talk, say; preach, proclaim, etc.,” that is, “to communicate.” We will say, “He is talking about.”

So, we have, “we (the disciples - absolutely) do not know what He is talking about.”

Principles:

• He had told them He was going to the Father's house, and that He would prepare a place for them so that they might be with Him. Yet, now He spoke as if they would not see Him, but afterward they would see Him. They were perplexed just as you are perplexed the first or second or even third time you learn something new from the Scriptures.

• It takes a panoramic view from having a broad understanding of Scriptures to comprehend the challenging concepts of God’s Word.

• As we have noted, the disciples were greatly disturbed and discouraged because Christ was going to leave them. So, Jesus tells them of four important events, (His death, resurrection, ascension, and session), for the consolation of the disciples; yet, they were stated in such a manner that, in their circumstances and with their prejudices, it was difficult for them to understand Him.

• That is why we need to look at life objectively through the lens of Bible Doctrine and not our circumstances or situation or background.

• Verse 16 seems to be a paradox: “You will see Me, because I go to the Father.” Christ seemed to be saying, “Because I am going away, you will see Me again!” This brought confusion, because He did not include the specific words of Cross, Resurrection, Ascension, and Session.

• Through the Filling of the Holy Spirit, a panoramic knowledge of Bible Doctrine and objective thinking, you will be able to discern the various principles of Jesus’ thinking.

• Upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they would better understand the meaning of these statements. They would not only see Him physically, but see Him spiritually through the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

• Today, believers “see Jesus,” Heb 2:9 through the Spirits teaching of the Word of God.

Heb 2:9, "But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

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John 16 - Vs. 19-22, The Happiness of God as a Result of Jesus’ Resurrection. Pt. 36

We now turn to the second part of the “a little while” (MIKROS) message in John 16:19-22. Here He is clarifying the phrase He just made.

John 16:19, “Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? ²⁰“Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. ²¹“Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. ²²“Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

John 16:19, “Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?

The Greek reads: 

“¹⁹ἔγνω [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς ὅτι ἤθελον αὐτὸν ἐρωτᾶν, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Περὶ τούτου ζητεῖτε μετ’ ἀλλήλων ὅτι εἶπον Μικρὸν καὶ οὐ θεωρεῖτέ με, καὶ πάλιν μικρὸν καὶ ὄψεσθέ με;”

The brackets in Verse 19 indicate debated Greek texts.

Transliterated it reads, 

“¹⁹EGNO [HO] IESOUS HOTI ETHELON AUTON EROTAN, KAI EIPEN AUTOIS, PERI TOUTOU ZETEITE MET ALLELON HOTI EIPON, MIKRON KAI OU THEOREITE ME, KAI PALIN MIKRON KAI OPSESTHE ME;”

“Jesus knew” is IESOUS EGNO. EGNO is the verb GINOSKO – γινώσκω (ghin-oce'-ko) in the Aorist, Active, Indicative, Third Person, Singular.

The Third Person is in relation to the writer, the Apostle John. It means to know from the experience of observation.

“They wished” is ETHELON the Verb THELO – θέλω (eth-el'-o) in the Imperfect, Active, Indicative, Third Person, Plural that means, “to will, wish, desire, want, etc.”

In the Iterative Imperfect Tense, it means, “they kept on wishing.”

“To question Him” is the Pronoun AUTON, “him,” plus EROTAN, which is the Verb 

EROTAO - ἐρωτάω (er-o-tah'-o) in the Present, Active, Infinitive. It means, “to ask, request, beg, request urgently, urge, or simply to question.”

The Present Tense is Linear Aktionsart: They wanted to keep asking questions so that they could get it, which means they wanted to interrogate Him.

The Active Voice: They were now interested in understanding what He was saying.

The Infinitive indicates their purpose, to question Him.”

“Are you deliberating” is ZETEITE which is the Verb, ZETEO – ζητέω (dzay-teh'-o) in the Present, Active, Indicative, Second Person, Plural that means, “seek, search, or look for; try, attempt, strive for, strive for one’s own interest or advantage; want, ask, ask for; demand, require, expect; consider, deliberate, examine, investigate. Here it means, “they kept on deliberating.”

“Together” is the Genitive Preposition META, “with” and the Pronoun ALLELON in the Genitive Masculine, Second Person, Plural that means, “one another.”

“That I said” is the Conjunction HOTI, “that,” plus EIPON the Verb LEGO – λέγω (leg'-o) in the Aorist, Active, Indicative, First Person, Singular, meaning, “I said.”

In other words, “Do you have an insatiable desire to know something that I said?”

Their embarrassment was manifest after four previous inquiries by Peter, Thomas, Philip, and Judas not Iscariot. So, Jesus takes the initiative here to step in.

Jesus then quotes again what He had said in Verse 16-18. This is the third time the statement had been quoted, and it is obvious that the disciples have failed to absorb doctrine. This particular phrase is a paradox, but it is a paradox resolved by doctrine.

Next, He starts out with a simple explanation in Verse 20 & 21a. He is, first of all, going to describe their reactions when the first MIKRON, “little while” occurs. As we have noted, the first time is between Gethsemane and the Cross; the second time is between the Cross and the resurrection.

In the first period, they are going to weep and wail; in the second period, they are going to rejoice.

The first is going to be tough on them, because they are minus doctrine. The second is going to be great, because they are carried along by a victory in which they actually had no part whatsoever, and there is eventually going to be grace orientation and a desire for doctrine, at which time, this prophecy of their (+H = Happiness of God) will come true.

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So, in John 16:20 we have, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.”

The Greek reads: 

“ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι κλαύσετε καὶ θρηνήσετε ὑμεῖς, ὁ δὲ κόσμος χαρήσεται· ὑμεῖς λυπηθήσεσθε, ἀλλ’ ἡ λύπη ὑμῶν εἰς χαρὰν γενήσεται.”

Transliterated it reads: 

“AMEN, AMEN LEGO HUMIN HOTI KLAUSETE KAI THRENESETE HUMEIS, HO DE KOSMOS CHARESETAI; HUMEIS LUPETHESESTHE, ALL HE LUPE HUMON EIS CHARAN GENESETAI.”

“Truly, truly” indicates a point of doctrine and is “AMEN, AMEN” in the Greek taken from the Hebrew.

“I say” is the Verb LEGO in the Present, Active, Indicative, First Person, Singular, plus HUMIN the Pronoun SU - σύ (soo) “you,” in the Dative of Advantage, Second Person, Plural. He is simply going to tell them. “I say to you all.”

“You will weep” is KLAUSETE the Verb KLAIO - κλαίω (klah'-yo) in the Future, Active, Indicative, Second Person, Plural. KLAIO means, “to weep or cry.”

This is operation cry-baby, disorientation, frustration, and an expression of a terrible mental attitude, as a result of not being occupied with the Person or Christ or the Plan of God.

“And lament” is THRENESETE from the Verb THRENEO – θρηνέω (thray-neh'-o) in the Future, Active, Indicative, Second Person, Plural that means, “to mourn, cry, or lament.”

Lament means, “to show publicly you feel sad or disappointed, which can also be expressed in singing, a song, or poem.” It is an expression of strong despondency or depression. 

Ultimately, it means to sing a funeral dirge, or it means to be depressed by death.

The reason that they are going to be discouraged and depressed is because they are minus doctrine in their souls and have scar tissue on the soul. All the disciples at this point have some scar tissue on the soul, some more and some less.  So, they have to express their frustration through the word THRENEO; a terrible despondency.   It is disorientation to a crisis simply because of a lack of Bible doctrine circulating in their souls at this time.

The interesting thing is that we have two pictures of the Cross:

• We have the disciples under the concept of THRENEO, and
• We have Jesus under the concept of CHARA, joy: Heb 12:2, “Who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.”

He “stayed under” (HUPOMENO - stayed behind, endured) our sins. And what did He have when He did so? He had CHARA because of His (ECS – Edification Complex of the Soul), based upon residual Bible Doctrine in His human soul, and that carried Him on the Cross.

The disciples fell apart; they were minus Bible doctrine, they had THRENEO.

Then we have the Conjunction DE, “but,” showing a contrast, not between Jesus and the Disciples, but between the disciples and the world.

“The world” is HO KOSMOS. So, what is the world going to do? It happens every time. The world is a part of Satan’s system, the KOSMOS.

The world of unbelievers is going to CHARESETAI which is the Verb CHAIRO – χαίρω (khah'-ee-ro) in the Future, Middle Deponent, Indicative, Third Person, Singular. CHAIRO means, “to rejoice or be glad.”

So, while the disciples are THRENEO, the world will be rejoicing. This is operation upside down. While the Disciples with knowledge of Bible Doctrine should be rejoicing at the victory of our Lord at the Cross, they are instead feeling sorry for themselves and lamenting. 

At the same time, while the world should be sorrowful because of their rejection of the Messiah, instead they are rejoicing because they got rid of the rabble rouser.

A similar event is going to happen during the Tribulation, Rev 11:1-10.

The world’s rejoicing is simply an inner stimulation of the soul as an attitude (however very brief), because apparently the world system assumes that the death of Christ is their victory. But through the resurrection, they discover that the death of Christ is their defeat, just as the world does in Rev 11:11-14. Likewise, the spiritual death of Christ is our salvation.

“You will be sorrowful” is HUMEIS the Nominative, Pronoun SU – σύ (soo), “you all,” plus LUPETHESESTHE the verb LUPEO – λυπέω (loo-peh'-o) that means, “to distress, to grieve, to have sorrow.” It is in the Future, Passive, Indicative, Second Person, Plural.

The Passive Voice: The disciples will receive this grief in their soul, because they lacked doctrine and as a result of emotional revolt of the soul. It also indicates inner distress in their souls as a result of disorientation to God’s plan. “You all will have sorrow.”

Then we have, “but” again, yet this time it is ALLA, “but, rather, on the contrary.” It is a Conjunction of Contrast between the disorientation and discouragement of the disciples, based on their ignorance of doctrine and scar tissue. It is going to be changed now.

“Your sorrow (LUPE the noun) will be turned into joy (EIS CHARA GINOMAI).”

“Joy,” CHARAN is the Noun CHARA – χαρά (khar-ah') in the Accusative, Feminine, Singular meaning, “joy or inner happiness, +H, the happiness of God.”

GENESETAI is the Verb GINOMAI – γίνομαι (ghin'-om-ahee) in the Future, Middle Deponent, Indicative, Third Person, Singular.  That means, “to come into being, to happen, or to become.” It means to become something you were not.

The Middle Deponent Voice:  The action of joy is the result of a change of heart in the disciples, due to Doctrine circulating in their souls, as a result of their positive volition.

The Future Tense: They will have doctrine in the soul in the future, and they will have the happiness of God in the future as a result.

So, we have, “Your sorrow will become joy (+H).”

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Then in John 16:21 we have the parable, “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.”

The Greek reads: 

“ἡ γυνὴ ὅταν τίκτῃ λύπην ἔχει, ὅτι ἦλθεν ἡ ὥρα αὐτῆς· ὅταν δὲ γεννήσῃ τὸ παιδίον, οὐκέτι μνημονεύει τῆς θλίψεως διὰ τὴν χαρὰν ὅτι ἐγεννήθη ἄνθρωπος εἰς τὸν κόσμον.”

Transliterated it reads: 
“HE GUNE HOTAN TIKTE LUPEN ECHEI, HOTI ELTHEN HE HORA AUTES; HOTAN DE GENNESE TO PAIDION, OUKETI MNEMONEUEI TES THLIPSEOS DIA TEN CHARAN HOTI EGENNETH ANTHROPOS EIS TON KOSMON.”

This is an illustration used for the disorientation of the disciples because of their ignorance of Bible doctrine at this time.

“Labor or travail,” TIKTE the verb TIKTO – τίκτω (tik'-to) in the Present, Active, Subjunctive, Third Person, Singular that means, “to beget, bring forth, bear, give birth, being in Labor.”

The Subjunctive Mood with HOTAN, “whenever” is for potential. “Whenever a Woman (GUNE) may be in labor”

“Has,” ECHEI is the Verb ECHO - ἔχω (ekh'-o) in the Present, Active, Indicative, Third Person, Singular that means, “to have and to hold.”

The Iterative Present Tense speaks of the time of her giving birth, “she keeps on having.”

“Sorrow,” LUPEN is the Noun LUPE – λύπη (loo'-pay) again; this time in the Accusative, Feminine, Singular for, “She has sorrow.”

“Because her hour has come” is HOTI ELTHEN HE HORA AUTES, which literally is, “because has come the hour of her.”

“But when” is the Conjunction DE, “but,” plus the Adverb HOTAN, which means, “but whenever or at the point of.”

“She gives birth to the child” is GENNESE TO PAIDION.

GENNESE is the Verb GENNAO – γεννάω (ghen-nah'-o) in the Aorist, Active, Subjunctive, Third Person, Singular that means, “to bear or give birth.”

PAIDON is a Noun in the Accusative, Neuter, Singular that means, “child or infant.”

“She remembers” is MNEMONEUEI, the Verb MENMONEUO – μνημονεύω (mnay-mon-yoo'-o) in the Present, Active, Indicative, Third Person, Singular that means, “remember, keep in mind, or think of.” In other words, she forgets the pain she once had, or does not think about it any longer.

“The anguish no more” is interesting because the word here changes from LUPE, “sorrow” to THLIPSEOS the Noun THLIPSIS - θλῖψις (thlip'-sis) in the Genitive, Feminine, Singular. THLIPSIS means, “trouble, distress, hard circumstances, suffering, tribulation, or affliction.” Its root word is THLIBO - θλίβω (thlee'-bo) that means, “to press or afflict.” So, THILPSIS comes to mean “pressure,” in describing the giving birth.

“For,” DIA in the Accusative is, “because of.”

“The joy” is CHARA once again.

“That” is HOTI.

“A Child” is ANTHROPOS which means, “man, human being, or person.” Because of the context we say, “a child.”

“Is born” is EGENNETH, the Verb GENNAO – γεννάω (ghen-nah'-o) once again, but in the Aorist, Passive, Indicative, Third Person, Singular. So, we say, “was born.”

“Into the world,” is EIS TON KOSMON.

Of this last portion we translate it, “… whenever she gives birth to the child she no longer remembers the pressure because of the joy that a child was born into the world.”

The analogy is that knowledge of Bible doctrine removes scar tissue for the soul. The disciples had scar tissue, but they are going to inhale doctrine, and they are going to exhale doctrine. That wears down the scar tissue, which results in having the Happiness of God (+H) in your soul.

That was the analogy by parable, now we have the application.

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John 16:22, “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

The Greek reads: 
“καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν νῦν μὲν λύπην ἔχετε· πάλιν δὲ ὄψομαι ὑμᾶς, καὶ χαρήσεται ὑμῶν ἡ καρδία, καὶ τὴν χαρὰν ὑμῶν οὐδεὶς αἴρει ἀφ’ ὑμῶν.”

Transliterated it reads: 
“KAI HUMEIS OUN NUN MEN LUPEN ECHETE; PALIN DE OPSOMAI HUMAS, KAI CHARESETAI HUMON HE KARDIA, KAI TEN CHARAN HUMON OUDEIS AIREI APH HUMON.”

“Therefore you too now” is KAI HUMEIS OUN NUN MEN, which is, “and you therefore now on the one hand.”

“Have grief / sorrow,” LUPEN – LUPE -  λύπη (loo'-pay), plus ECHETE which is the Verb ECHO - ἔχω (ekh'-o) in the Instantaneous Present, Active, Indicative, Second Person, Plural, “you all have grief.”

“But I will see you again” is PALIN DE OPSOMAI HUMAS.

PALIN means, “again.”

DE is the conjunction working with MEN in the first phrase of Verse 22 and is “on the other hand.”  

“See” is OPSOMAI the Verb, HORAO - ὁράω (hor-ah'-o) in the Future, Middle Deponent, Indicative, First Person, Singular for, “I myself (Jesus) will see.”

HUMAS is Pronoun SU – σύ (soo), in the Accusative, Second Person, Plural, “you all.”

So, we have “on the other hand, I myself will see you all again.”

So far, we have, “And therefore on the one hand you now have grief, on the other hand I myself will see you all again.” This is referring to His resurrection.

“And (when I see you again) your heart” is KAI HUMON KARDIA (heart), which is not the blood pumping organ in your chest, but refers to the right lobe of the soul, where we store, retain, and apply Bible Doctrine.

“Will rejoice” is CHARESETAI which is the Verb CHAIRO - χαίρω (khah'-ee-ro) in the Future, Middle Deponent, Indicative, Third Person, Singular. CHAIRO means, “to rejoice or be glad,” and is the verb for inner happiness (+H).

“And no one will take your joy away from you” is KAI TEN CHARAN HUMON OUDEIS AIREI APH HUMON, which literally is, “and the joy of you no one takes from you.”

“Takes” is AIREI the verb AIRO - αἴρω (ah'-ee-ro) in the Present, Active, Indicative, Third Person, Singular that means, “to lift up and take away, carry away, remove, etc.”

“From you” is AP the Genitive Preposition APO - ἀπό (apo') that means, “from or away from,” Plus HUMON, “you all.” So, no one takes away from the ultimate source, the ultimate source of you.

Once you have it (joy), as a result of the ECS, there is no way that anyone can remove it.

Christ compares the events of His suffering to the birth of a child: Where travail (hard labor) is followed by joy. Isaiah 53:11 states, “He shall see of the travail of His soul.”

Isa 53:11, “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.”

The disciples did weep and lament, but their sorrow was changed to joy. We today have sorrow and suffering, but with the Word of God and Filling of the Holy Spirit, that sorrow is turned into +H.

Likewise, when Christ returns, all our sorrows will be turned into joy. Christ gives the kind of joy that the world cannot take away, Rev 21:4.

Rev 21:4, “And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

He is saying, “You will not only rejoice at My resurrection, but even my death, now the object of so much grief to you, will be to you a source of unspeakable joy. It will procure for you peace and pardon in this life, and eternal joy in the world to come.”

As we know, the Holy Spirit would be their Comforter, and neither men nor demons, neither sufferings in life nor in death, would ever deprive them of their joy (+H).

Believers have joy or sorrow, according to their knowledge 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.

Our Lord then proceeds immediately to tell them, what He had often apprised them of, “That they would be subject to great persecutions and trials. He was also Himself about to be removed by death. They were to go into an unfriendly world.” All these things were in themselves greatly fitted to shake their faith, and to expose them to the danger of apostasy. Compare Luke 24:21.

Luke 24:21, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.”

When we think only about death or the removal of someone from our fellowship, we have sorrow, but in the light of resurrection and eternal life, our sorrow is turned into joy.

The disciples were only seeing one side of the coin at this time, but later they would see the other side, life and eternal happiness, just as we should have +H knowing of our loved one’s position in the Lord.

Principles:

• If Christians were left to themselves, they would fall away and perish.

• God affords means and helps beforehand to keep us in the path of duty.

• The instructions of the Bible and the help of the Holy Spirit are all granted to keep us from apostasy.

• Jesus beforehand secures our loyalty and makes sure of our continuance in faith, seeing all our dangers and knowing all our enemies. And we should be persuaded that, “He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day,” 2 Tim 1:12.

• As a Master Teacher, Jesus understood the confusion among His students. He did not clarify His teaching; He knew it would all come into focus with the passage of time and with the aid of the Spirit’s teaching ministry, just as it does for us today.

• Therefore, in our afflictions, if we could see the whole case, we would rejoice. As it is, when they appear dark and mysterious, we are to trust in the promise of God that they will be for our welfare.

• The apparent triumphs of the wicked, though they may produce grief at present in the minds of believers, will be yet overruled for good, Rom 8:28.

• Likewise, their joy will be turned into mourning, and the mourning of Christians into joy, Psa 76:10.

Psa 76:10, “For the wrath of man shall praise You; with a remnant of wrath You will gird Yourself.”

• It is evident that after His ascension not one of the apostles ever doubted for a moment that He had risen from the dead. As a result, no persecution or trial was able to shake their faith; and thus, amid all their afflictions, they had an unshaken source of joy, just as we should have today having witnessed these things through our knowledge of the Scriptures.

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Completed Translation of the Gospel of John 16:16-22

John 16:16, “A little while and you will observe Me no more, and again a little while and you will see Me.”

John 16:17, “Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not observe Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go face to face with the Father’?"

John 16:18, “So they kept asking, “What is this [that He says,] ‘A little while’? We (the disciples) absolutely do not know what He is talking about.”

John 16:19, “Jesus knew from the experience of observation they kept on wishing to question Him, and He said to them, “Do you have an insatiable desire to know something that I said?”, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?"

John 16:20, “Truly, truly (Amen, Amen), I say to you all, that you will weep and lament, but the world (Kosmos) will rejoice; You all will have sorrow but Your sorrow will become joy (+H).”

John 16:21, “Whenever a woman (GUNE) may be in labor, she keeps on having pain, because her hour has come; but whenever she gives birth to the child she no longer remembers the pressure because of the joy that a child was born into the world.”

John 16:22, “And therefore on the one hand you now have grief, one the other hand I myself will see you all again, and (when I see you again) your heart will rejoice (+H) and the joy of you no one takes from you.”

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In Part 5 of The Gospel of John, Chapter 16, we will study:

Vs. 23-28, Summary on the Power Available to Us Through Prayer; Encouragement to Prayer.

Including: 

• The Exegesis

• Principles of Joy, Inner Happiness, +H:

• Principles on the Power and Effectiveness of Pray.

• Luke 11:9-10 compared to Mat 7:7-8 - The logical progression of how our prayers are answered by God:  Ask, Seek, Knock - Receive, Find, Open.

• Doctrine of Ascension and Session Related to Our Prayer Life.

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Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor Jim Rickard                                 

23 Messenger St., Ste 3
Plainville, MA 02762

gracedoctrine.org

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