A Study of John 16:1-4a

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.”

John 16:1-4a ESV

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

Jesus said what He said in the previous chapter, warning of persecution for following Him, to keep His disciples from falling away. The religious leaders would expel them from the synagogues, and they would even be killed by people who think they are serving God in doing so. Such people will do these things because they do not know God the Father or Jesus, God the Son. But Jesus said this ahead of time so the disciples would remember He said it when persecution comes.

Textual Analysis and Implication (what is being said and what does this mean?):

At the end of the previous chapter, Jesus warned the disciples that the world would hate them because the world hates Him. But He also promised to send the Spirit of the Truth, God the Holy Spirit, to bear witness to them and enable them to witness to the world. Now, in these first few verses of chapter 16, Jesus expands on this warning to prepare the disciples for what is coming, starting in verse 1, where He says, “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.”

Here we learn the greatest danger disciples of Jesus will face when encountering opposition from the world is not bodily harm, but rather, apostasy. The reason Jesus “said all these things” was to prevent His followers from falling away when they encounter them. As we live in this world that is in moral rebellion against God, we will not be loved for following Him. We will instead be hated (John 15:18-19). But we must not be surprised by this. Just as Jesus was persecuted by the world, He warned us ahead of time that we would be too. Opposition as we follow Jesus is to be expected.

Next, in verse 2, Jesus said, “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” For these disciples Jesus spoke to in the first century the initial threat would come from within their own Jewish community, i.e. they would be expelled from the synagogue, which was the center of Jewish society. The “hour is coming” language refers to the time soon to come after Jesus’ death and resurrection when the focus of the world’s hatred for Jesus would be directed at His followers. The exaltation of Jesus in His death, resurrection and ascension was the initiation of His kingdom on Earth and it continues to grow in the hearts of men and women around the world as they come to believe in Him. And this initiation of His kingdom also signalled the beginning of the world’s persecution of all who are a part of His kingdom that rivals and has conquered the kingdom of this world.

The first violent opposition Christians faced came from the Jews because Christianity came out of a Jewish context. Paul received the thirty-nine lashes, which was a punishment performed by synagogue authorities, 5 times (2 Cor. 11:24). And the book of Acts recounts many instances of persecution led by the Jewish authorities. In the first century, while Christianity was still quite small, many parts of Judaism felt threatened by its growth, and there is evidence that rabbinic authorities believed killing heretics was an act of worship (Numbers Rabbah 21.3 (191a) [with reference to Nu. 25:13]; Mishnah Sanhedrin 9:6 (as cited by Carson)).

Jesus ascribed this violent opposition to sincere, religious motives on the part of the persecutors. This does not excuse what they did or alleviate the suffering they caused, but it does describe their motives accurately. These people truly thought they were offering service to God, just as Paul did in his pre-Christian days of persecuting the Church. This description of their motives does nothing to help the situation though. Misguided, religious zealots, and zealots of other ideologies often do far more harm than indifferent pagans. For example, there was even a sermon preached as the English, Christian reformer Thomas Cranmer was burned at the stake in the 16th century. And throughout the centuries, Christians have faced violent persecution from those who claimed to do so in service to Yahweh, Allah, Karl Marx, and even in the name of Jesus Himself.

Whatever the situation may be, John, in quoting Jesus, presents these religious persecutors with extreme irony. They all think they are “offering service” (worship, spiritual service) to God. They are all entirely wrong and their actions are unequivocally evil, but at the same time the irony is Christians harmed and killed by persecution are an offering to God. Those who God allows to be violently persecuted for His Name sake, and who endure faithfully, bring glory to Jesus, and their reward will be great in Heaven. This irony echoes that of John 11:49-52 where the opposers of Christ spoke better than they knew.

Continuing on, in verse 3, Jesus said, “And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.” Here Jesus explains whether their ideology is theistic, atheistic or otherwise, the real reason at the root of their opposition is they do not know Him (God the Son) or God the Father. Jesus also references the Jews who persecuted the Church in the first century in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 where He refers to them and their place of worship as a “synagogue of satan”. If they knew and recognized God the Son, as God, they would know the Father. To know Jesus is to know God, and to know and believe in God is to have eternal life. However to reject Jesus is to reject God, and this rejection breeds hostility to those who do know God.

Lastly for this opening section of John 16, in verse 4a Jesus again gives the reason why He told the disciples this, saying, “But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.” Just as in verse 1, Jesus told the disciples He was  warning them about the coming persecution so they would not be surprised and fall away in unbelief. It may come as a shock that a gospel so glorious as this would bring hostility from the world, so all who follow Jesus need to understand ahead of time this is to be expected. Just as the world hated Jesus, it will hate His followers. But with this warning from Jesus we can face it knowing none of it is outside of His knowledge or control, it will be used by Him to bring about greater and eternal good, and it will end one day forever.

Their “hour” to persecute Jesus’ Church is fleeting. At the time it may seem the persecutors of Christ’s followers are winning, but their efforts to stamp out the Church only serve to further God’s plan, just as the crucifixion of Christ was in fact the moment of His victory over sin and death that accomplished our salvation. In the moment when they who oppose Christ appear to be winning, they are in fact agents in their own defeat. The hour or persecution will end and it will give way to eternal life, overflowing joy, an unending pleasure. The best is yet to come for all who trust Christ.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

Jesus cares a great deal about the suffering of His followers, and He will bring it to an end one day, but He is far more concerned that we do not fall away into unbelief and eternal ruin because of temporary suffering in this world. The kingdom of this world is in active, hateful rebellion against Him, and as such it violently opposes Him and those who follow Him. We will not all be called to face violent persecution, but many Christians will. However, all Christians will face some amount of opposition for the sake of Christ. For some it will mean only mocking or exclusion in society, but for others will mean death. It is important we understand this as we follow Jesus.

Opposition in a world opposed to Him is to be expected, but it will not last. Jesus can, has and will continue to bring about eternal good from the suffering He and His followers endure in this world, and one day it will be brought to a sudden and swift end forever. By the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we must hold fast to Him Who holds fast to us. The best is yet to come.

Self Reflection:

1. What sort of opposition have I encountered because I follow Jesus?
2. Has this opposition caused me to waver in either my faith or obedience to Christ?
3. Knowing Jesus is gracious and forgives all my past failings, how does this passage that says He knows we will face opposition, and others that say His Spirit is with me in all circumstances, give me confidence to endure all manner of opposition in the future?