Joh 16:2-3 | KingComments | STEP | In the previous chapter the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples about their testimony in the world and the hatred this will evoke. He did this to keep them from stumbling. To stumble means that the hate they will experience from the side of the world will go so far that they are in danger of giving up their confession and say farewell to faith in Him. The Lord knows this danger and has beforehand warned His disciples to prepare themselves for it. The true disciple’s path shows the radical separation that exists between the world and those who belong to Christ. If then the hatred of the world will manifest itself, it will not surprise them. He then points to a manifestation of hatred that is revealed particularly from the religious side. They will experience resistance and enmity from religious people with whom they, before believing in Christ, adhered to the same religion. By this the Lord does not just mean a false religion, some form of idolatry, but the religion originally given by Him Himself. His people, however, turned away from the one, true God and became unfaithful to Him. What God had given for their good, they have appropriated for themselves. They have become proud of their religion. Therefore, God had to surrender His people to judgment. The dominion of the Romans is the result of this. The leaders are blind to this. Anything that calls them back to the one, true God, is met with great and bitter resistance, in which the leaders are at the forefront. Therefore, the stumbling for which the Lord warns has to do with a falling back into that religion that is judged by God. We must realize that the believing heart of the pious Jew, like that of the disciples, does not count on grief and shame and bottomless hatred being part of those who follow the Messiah. Therefore, the Lord encourages them that persecution will serve to strengthen their faith and that the Holy Spirit will add His testimony to theirs. The hatred will take terrifying proportions. The places where they used to confess and practice their religion will be closed to them. And it will not stop there. Any Jew will see them as an enemy of God and will try to kill them, even thinking that they are pleasing God. Saul of Tarsus is a clear example of this. He later speaks and writes about how diligent he was in persecuting the church ( ; ; ). The Lord tells His disciples what causes the hatred of the Jews against them. It has to do with the Jews’ view of God as a God Who is one ( ). They held on to this as a tradition that lifted them up above the other nations. As a result, they remained unfamiliar with the Father and the Son. Thus, it was not just a theological matter, but their hatred toward the disciples also stemmed from the fact that their religion gave them a certain status. What God had given them, they had claimed for themselves. The law had made them important ( ). They believed to possess the truth, but the truth had not taken possession of them. Through the coming of the Son, the revelation of God in the flesh, their arrogance and pride was manifested and judged. Their depravity and resistance were revealed at the highest level by the Son of God. But under no circumstances do they want to accept His judgment, for they do not want to lose their position. Likewise it is with the enmity of the roman-catholic church. She claims to be the one true church and denies the work of the one Spirit and the one body. The words of the Lord will be an encouragement once suffering comes over the disciples. He prepares them for that time to come, so that it does not come by surprise. In this way, everything He spoke before will be fulfilled, including His assistance and the promised blessings. He did not have to speak about this when He was still with them, because then He protected them. It was not necessary for Him to say this earlier, because he looked after them as long as He was with them. He had been their Shield and Helper, their Advocate. That is how He intervened for them every time the religious leaders wanted to argue with them. In the same way, He will shortly say: “If you seek Me, let these go their way” ( ). But when He will be gone, His words will help them. This ends the subject of witnessing.

‏ John 16:2-3

The Lord Predicts Persecutions

In the previous chapter the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples about their testimony in the world and the hatred this will evoke. He did this to keep them from stumbling. To stumble means that the hate they will experience from the side of the world will go so far that they are in danger of giving up their confession and say farewell to faith in Him.

The Lord knows this danger and has beforehand warned His disciples to prepare themselves for it. The true disciple’s path shows the radical separation that exists between the world and those who belong to Christ. If then the hatred of the world will manifest itself, it will not surprise them.

He then points to a manifestation of hatred that is revealed particularly from the religious side. They will experience resistance and enmity from religious people with whom they, before believing in Christ, adhered to the same religion. By this the Lord does not just mean a false religion, some form of idolatry, but the religion originally given by Him Himself.

His people, however, turned away from the one, true God and became unfaithful to Him. What God had given for their good, they have appropriated for themselves. They have become proud of their religion. Therefore, God had to surrender His people to judgment. The dominion of the Romans is the result of this. The leaders are blind to this. Anything that calls them back to the one, true God, is met with great and bitter resistance, in which the leaders are at the forefront.

Therefore, the stumbling for which the Lord warns has to do with a falling back into that religion that is judged by God. We must realize that the believing heart of the pious Jew, like that of the disciples, does not count on grief and shame and bottomless hatred being part of those who follow the Messiah. Therefore, the Lord encourages them that persecution will serve to strengthen their faith and that the Holy Spirit will add His testimony to theirs.

The hatred will take terrifying proportions. The places where they used to confess and practice their religion will be closed to them. And it will not stop there. Any Jew will see them as an enemy of God and will try to kill them, even thinking that they are pleasing God. Saul of Tarsus is a clear example of this. He later speaks and writes about how diligent he was in persecuting the church (Acts 26:9; Gal 1:13; Phil 3:6).

The Lord tells His disciples what causes the hatred of the Jews against them. It has to do with the Jews’ view of God as a God Who is one (Deu 6:4). They held on to this as a tradition that lifted them up above the other nations. As a result, they remained unfamiliar with the Father and the Son. Thus, it was not just a theological matter, but their hatred toward the disciples also stemmed from the fact that their religion gave them a certain status. What God had given them, they had claimed for themselves. The law had made them important (Rom 2:17-20). They believed to possess the truth, but the truth had not taken possession of them.

Through the coming of the Son, the revelation of God in the flesh, their arrogance and pride was manifested and judged. Their depravity and resistance were revealed at the highest level by the Son of God. But under no circumstances do they want to accept His judgment, for they do not want to lose their position. Likewise it is with the enmity of the roman-catholic church. She claims to be the one true church and denies the work of the one Spirit and the one body.

The words of the Lord will be an encouragement once suffering comes over the disciples. He prepares them for that time to come, so that it does not come by surprise. In this way, everything He spoke before will be fulfilled, including His assistance and the promised blessings. He did not have to speak about this when He was still with them, because then He protected them. It was not necessary for Him to say this earlier, because he looked after them as long as He was with them. He had been their Shield and Helper, their Advocate.

That is how He intervened for them every time the religious leaders wanted to argue with them. In the same way, He will shortly say: “If you seek Me, let these go their way” (Jn 18:8). But when He will be gone, His words will help them. This ends the subject of witnessing.