Go to Related Reading
About this book

John

About this book
Chapter 16

1 “I have told you all these things so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue, yet a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering 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 time 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. 5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Instead your hearts are filled with sadness because I have said these things to you. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment—⁠ 9 concerning sin because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been condemned. 12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears and will tell you what is to come. 14 He will glorify me because he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. 16 In a little while you will see me no longer; again after a little while, you will see me.” 17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is the meaning of what he is saying, ‘In a little while you will not see me; again after a little while, you will see me,’ and ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they kept on repeating, “What is the meaning of what he says, ‘In a little while’? We do not understand what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus could see that they wanted to ask him about these things, so he said to them, “Are you asking each other about this—that I said, ‘In a little while you will not see me; again after a little while, you will see me’? 20 I tell you the solemn truth, you will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice; you will be sad, but your sadness will turn into joy. 21 When a woman gives birth, she has distress because her time has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being 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 your joy away from you. 23 At that time you will ask me nothing. I tell you the solemn truth, 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 it, so that your joy may be complete. 25 “I have told you these things in obscure figures of speech; a time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in obscure figures, but will tell you plainly about the Father.⁠ 26 At that time you will ask in my name, and I do not say 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. 28 I came from the Father and entered into the world, but in turn, I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”⁠ 29 His disciples said, “Look, now you are speaking plainly and not in obscure figures of speech! 30 Now we know that you know everything and do not need anyone to ask you anything. Because of this we believe that you have come from God.” 31 Jesus replied, “Do you now believe? 32 Look, a time is coming—and has come—when you will be scattered, each one to his own home, and I will be left alone. Yet I am not alone because my Father is with me. 33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage—I have conquered the world.”

Texts in conversation

Compare John 16:25 and Epistle to Diognetus 11:2

New Testament · Early Christian

Share:

Summary

In Diognetus, the Word is described as speaking plainly to his disciples about the mysteries of the Father, echoing the language of John 16, where Jesus promises to stop using figures of speech and to tell his disciples about the Father.

Passages

John 16:25

New Testament
25 “I have told you these things in obscure figures of speech; a time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in obscure figures, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 At that time you will ask in my name, and I do not say 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. 28 I came from the Father and entered into the world, but in turn, I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” 29 His disciples said, “Look, now you are speaking plainly and not in obscure figures of speech!
90–110 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in John

Epistle to Diognetus 11:2

Early Christian
1 Mine are no strange discourses nor perverse questionings, but having been a disciple of Apostles I come forward as a teacher of the Gentiles, ministering worthily to them, as they present themselves disciples of the truth, the lessons which have been handed down. 2 For who that has been rightly taught and has entered into friendship with the Word does not seek to learn distinctly the lessons revealed openly by the Word to the disciples; to whom the Word appeared and declared them, speaking plainly, not perceived by the unbelieving, but relating them to disciples who being reckoned faithful by Him were taught the mysteries of the Father?
150–250 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Epistle to Diognetus

References

“... That the Word is said to have spoken boldly or openly (παρρησίᾳ λαλῶν) seems to be an allusion to John 16: 25, 29, where Jesus announces that no longer in figures λαλήσω ὑμῖν, ἀλλὰ παρρησίᾳ, and then his μαθηταί respond, ‘Ah, now ἐν παρρησίᾳ λαλεῖς, not in any figure’. When the author says that the Word ‘explained’ (διηγούμενος) hidden things to his disciples, he uses a word, διηγέομαι, which is not used in the New Testament. But a close cognate, ἐξηγέομι, is used for the Word’s unique activity of explaining the unseen God once in the New Testament, in John 1: 18 (ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο). ...”
Charles E. Hill, The Johannine Corpus in the Early Church (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 365–366.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

John 16:25 and Epistle to Diognetus 11:2

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library