Catholic Commentary on John 16

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

The Work of the Paraclete

Jesus tells his disciples something startling: it is to their advantage that he goes away (v.7). How can the departure of the Lord possibly be to their advantage? Because if he does not go, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will not come. The presence of the Spirit in the soul of every baptised believer is a closer and more intimate union with God than even the physical presence of Jesus among his disciples was. The disciples could walk with Jesus. The Holy Spirit dwells within us.

The Spirit's work is described with precision. He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (v.8). This is not condemnation for its own sake. The Spirit convicts in order to convert, the way a skilled physician names a disease precisely so that it can be treated. The Catechism teaches that the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is the fulfilment of everything Jesus promised in the upper room (CCC 731). The Church was not left as an orphan.

Sorrow Turned to Joy

Jesus uses the image of a woman in labour to describe what is about to happen. The pain is real, but it is purposeful. It ends in a joy that no one can take away (v.22). St. Augustine saw in this image a perfect description of the Christian life in every age: suffering is not the last word, but it is a real word. We are not called to pretend the Cross is painless. We are called to pass through it, trusting that resurrection is on the other side.

Then comes the promise that has sustained Christian prayer across twenty centuries: Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete (v.24). Prayer in the name of Jesus is not a formula. It is a relationship: approaching the Father through the Son, in the power of the Spirit, asking for what conforms to his will, and trusting that he hears.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the last sentence of this chapter is the whole Gospel in miniature: In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. Jesus does not promise a life without trouble. He promises a life with an overcomer inside it. Whatever you are facing today: the anxiety, the grief, the failed relationship, the unanswered prayer. Take heart. He has overcome. Your sorrow will become joy, and no one will take that joy from you.

Prayer

Come, Holy Spirit, Advocate and Counsellor: fill us with the joy that no circumstance can take away. When sorrow surrounds us like a woman in labour, remind us of the joy that is coming. Lord Jesus, you who have overcome the world: let your victory be the ground on which we stand today. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

16
Persecution Foretold
(Acts 23:12–22)
1 “I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me. 4 But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
(John 14:15–26)
 
5 Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate * 16:7 Or Comforter or Helper or Counselor; Greek Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
 
8 And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.
 
12 I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. 13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you. 15 Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you.
 
16 In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.† 16:16 BYZ and TR include because I go away to the Father.”
Grief Will Turn to Joy
 
17 Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “Why is He saying, ‘a little while’? We do not understand what He is saying.”
 
19 Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’? 20 Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
Ask in My Name
(Matthew 18:19–20)
 
23 In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
 
25 I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in My name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.‡ 16:27 WH from the Father 28 I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”
 
29 His disciples said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we understand that You know all things and that You have no need for anyone to question You. Because of this, we believe that You came from God.”
 
31 “Do you finally believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

*16:7 16:7 Or Comforter or Helper or Counselor; Greek Paraclete

†16:16 16:16 BYZ and TR include because I go away to the Father.

‡16:27 16:27 WH from the Father

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