16:25 "These things I have spoken unto you"(NASB) indicates another transition in the discourse (cf. 14:25; 16:1, 4, 33; 17:1). Jesus acknowledged that He had not been giving direct answers to His disciples' questions. He had been speaking enigmatically or cryptically. The Greek phrase en paroimiashas this meaning elsewhere (cf. 10:6). Jesus was referring to His entire discourse, not just His illustration about the woman (v. 21). He evidently did this to avoid presenting what lay ahead in such stark reality that the disciples could not accept it (v. 12).
The coming hour when Jesus would no longer speak figuratively to them but clearly (Gr. parresia, cf. 10:24; 11:14) probably refers to the time following His resurrection and ascension. Then He and the Spirit would help the disciples understand the meaning of what He had said earlier (cf. Acts 1:3).
Jesus used parables to teach the multitudes because they were not ready to receive clear teaching (Mark 4:33-34). He interpreted some of His parables for the disciples because they could receive some clear teaching. However, He also used enigmatic language with the disciples because even they were not ready to understand some things yet.
16:26-27 After Jesus' ascension, the disciples would pray in Jesus' name to the Father (cf. 14:13-14, 26; 16:23-24). The Father would grant their request--in the context it is a request for understanding of Jesus' former teachings--because the Father loved them in a special sense. They had loved His Son and had believed on Jesus. This is a second reason the disciples could take comfort in Jesus' promise that they would understand better in the future. The first reason was that the Father would grant them answers to their prayers because they prayed in Jesus' name.
Jesus was not denying that He would intercede for His disciples with the Father (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; cf. 1 John 2:1). His point was that the Father's love for them would move Him to grant their petitions, as well as Jesus' intercession and sponsorship (cf. 15:9-16). Believers have a direct relationship with the Father as well as with the Son and the Spirit (cf. Rom. 5:2).
16:28 This was Jesus' clearest statement yet about where He was going. What Jesus explained here should by now have become clear to the reader of this Gospel (cf. 1:10-11, 14; 3:16-17; 14:19). However to the disciples who first heard these words they were fresh, clear revelation. This statement really summarized Jesus' mission from the Incarnation to the Ascension.
16:29-30 The disciples now felt that Jesus had answered their questions about where He was going clearly. This revelation helped them believe that Jesus knew what He was talking about when He taught them about God and His ways. It also helped them believe that Jesus had indeed come from God. However they did not yet understand the full meaning and significance of what Jesus had said, though they thought they did. Jesus had just said that they would not understand His meaning fully until a future time (vv. 25-26).
"Had the disciples really possessed the understanding they claim, they would have reacted very differently when the crisis came."512
16:31-32 Jesus questioned the fact that the disciples now believed fully because of what He had just explained. The NIV translation, "You believe at last!"is an interpretation that the reader should understand as ironical. The events surrounding Jesus' arrest and crucifixion would show that their faith was still weak. They would desert Him in His hour of testing. That hour was coming very soon, but Jesus could speak of it as already present because Judas was even then negotiating with the religious leaders for His arrest. Jesus' confidence in His Father comes through in that He found consolation in the fact that the Father would not desert Him even though the disciples would. Jesus gave this gentle rebuke because the disciples again overestimated themselves (cf. 13:38).
It is true that Peter and probably John followed Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. It is also true that John stood near Jesus' cross during His crucifixion (18:15; 19:26-27). Nevertheless all the disciples abandoned Jesus at His arrest and returned to their own things temporarily (Matt. 26:56; Mark 14:50; John 18:17, 25-26; 21:3). It is also true that the Father abandoned Jesus on the cross (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). However that was only temporary too. The Father remained with Jesus throughout all His trials and only departed from Him when He judged sin, which Jesus took on Himself as our substitute (2 Cor. 5:21).
16:33 The structural marker "these things I have spoken to you"(cf. 14:25; 16:1, 4, 25; 17:1) identifies the conclusion of this section of the discourse. The ultimate reason for Jesus' revelations about His departure, as far as His immediate disciples were concerned, was that they might experience peace in their relationship with Him (cf. 14:27). "In me"probably harks back to the vine and branches intimacy that Jesus revealed in chapter 15. Their relationship with the world would result in turmoil because of the opposition that would come on them from unbelievers. However the proof that the peace that Jesus would give them would overcome the turmoil that the world would create was Jesus' victory over the world in the Cross (12:31; 1 Cor. 15:57; 1 John 2:13-14; 4:4; 5:4-5). This was probably another statement that the disciples did not understand immediately.
Jesus closed this discourse with a word of encouragement. The Greek word thareso, translated "take courage"or "take heart,"is one that only Jesus used in the New Testament (cf. Matt. 9:2, 22; 14:27; Mark 6:50; 10:49; John 16:33; Acts 23:11). Jesus was the great encourager. The Holy Spirit continues His ministry in us today.
The tension that the victory of Christ and the opposition of the world pose for the Christian is not one that we can escape in this life. Notwithstanding it is possible for us to be more peaceful than distressed as we realize and believe that Jesus has already won the victory (v. 11; cf. Rom. 8:37).
The Upper Room Discourse ends here (13:31-16:33). The rest of Jesus' private ministry (chs. 13-17) consisted of prayer.
