John 16:16-22 Once again Jesus returns to the topic of His coming
passion. Whether He does so because the disciples still didn't understand
(which seems evident from their questions) or because He knew they would need a
lot of encouragement to get through the next few days, He basically repeats
Himself. (John 13:33, 14:2-4, 14:28, 16:5) Here He uses the metaphor of
childbirth to describe the coming events. The important aspect of this metaphor
is not to identify who is the mother, the father, the midwife, the newborn
child. Jesus' primary point is that childbirth is both painful (Genesis 3:16)
and hard work. But both of these are forgotten for joy when a new person comes
into the world. So it will be with His passion.
John 16:23-28 Jesus explains the reason that they will be able to
pray with confidence. Very simply, He is going to the Father, and the Father
Himself loves them. John 16:23-24 could be seen as a blank check, but that
would wrench these verses out of context. Just before this and just after this
He has talked about completing the plan of redemption and the Father's love for
them, so this promise would seem to be applicable to prayers that are in the
context of the love of God and the redemption of mankind. Prayer is not a
matter of saying some magic formula like an incantation, such as repeating the
Lord's Prayer or praying to the Father in Jesus' name. Prayer that Jesus and
the Father will do is sincere prayer from a heart that seeks to bring glory to
Jesus, and seeks to advance His kingdom by the words and actions of His
disciples that accompany their prayers. Sincere care for others, carrying out
His original plan of humankind being God's representative to carry His words to
the world, showing His love to the world, bringing His will to the lives of
people - these are the context in which anything the disciples ask, He will do,
because He will be with the Father.
John 16:29-33 Jesus' disciples now think they understand Him, and
reaffirm their faith in Him. Jesus' final words, before He prays for them, is
to one more time encourage them in the coming time of testing. They do not need
to worry about Him because the Father is with Him. His closing statement is
that they can have courage because He has overcome the world. Since the world
lies in the power of the devil this might mean He has defeated Satan. However,
there is more. The world system implements the devil's plan but has a power
that continues apart from that. Humans have devised governments and societies with
organizations and behavior norms that have multiple sources (the world, the
flesh, and the devil). Jesus has overcome all of this. Whatever they encounter
in the world, regardless of its provenance, He has already overcome it.
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