João 16

BLIVRE · Chapter 16/21

1Estas coisas tenho vos dito para que não tropeceis na fé.

2Expulsarão a vós das sinagogas; mas a hora vem, quando qualquer que vos matar, pensará fazer serviço a Deus.

3E estas coisas vos farão, porque nem ao Pai, nem a mim me conheceram.

4Porém tenho vos dito isto para que, quando aquela hora vier, disso vos lembreis, que já o dissera a vós; mas isto eu não vos disse desde o princípio, porque eu estava convosco.

5E agora vou para aquele que me enviou; e nenhum de vós me pergunta: Para onde vais?

6Porém, porque vos disse estas coisas, a tristeza encheu vosso coração.

7Mas vos digo a verdade, que vos convém que eu vá; porque se eu não for, o Consolador não virá a vós; porém se eu for, eu o enviarei a vós.

8E vindo ele, convencerá ao mundo do pecado, e da justiça, e do juízo.

9Do pecado, porque não creem em mim;

10E da justiça, porque vou para meu Pai, e não me vereis mais;

11E do juízo, porque o Príncipe deste mundo já está julgado.

12Ainda tenho muitas coisas que vos dizer, mas agora [ainda] não podeis suportá-las.

13Porém quando vier aquele Espírito de verdade, ele vos guiará em toda verdade. Porque de si mesmo não falará; mas falará tudo o que ouvir; E ele vos anunciará as coisas que virão.

14Ele me glorificará, porque tomará do [que é] meu, e vos anunciará.

15Tudo quanto tem o Pai é meu; por isso eu disse, que tomará do [que é] meu, e vos anunciará.

16Um pouco, e não me vereis; e mais um pouco, e me vereis; porque vou ao Pai.

17Disseram pois [alguns] de seus discípulos uns aos outros: Que é isto que ele nos diz: Um pouco, e não me vereis; e mais um pouco, e me vereis; e porque vou ao Pai?

18Então diziam: Que é isto que ele diz? Um pouco? Não sabemos o que diz.

19Conheceu pois Jesus que lhe queriam perguntar, e disse-lhes: Perguntais entre vós sobre isto que disse: Um pouco, e não me vereis; e mais um pouco, e me vereis?

20Em verdade, em verdade vos digo, que vós chorareis, e lamentareis, e o mundo se alegrará, e vós estareis tristes; mas vossa tristeza se tornará em alegria.

21A mulher quando está no parto tem tristeza, porque sua hora é vinda; mas havendo nascido a criança, já não se lembra da aflição, pela alegria de um homem ter nascido no mundo.

22Assim também vós agora na verdade tendes tristeza; mas novamente vos verei, e vosso coração se alegrará, e ninguém tirará vossa alegria de vós.

23E naquele dia nada me perguntareis. Em verdade, em verdade vos digo, que tudo quanto pedirdes a meu Pai em meu nome, ele vos dará.

24Até agora nada pedistes em meu nome; pedi, e recebereis, para que vossa alegria seja completa.

25Estas coisas vos falei por parábolas; porém a hora vem quando não mais vos falarei por parábolas; mas vos falarei abertamente sobre o Pai.

26Naquele dia pedireis em meu nome; e não vos digo, que eu suplicarei ao Pai por vós.

27Pois o próprio Pai vos ama, porque vós me amastes, e crestes que eu saí de Deus.

28Saí do Pai, e vim ao mundo; novamente deixo o mundo, e vou ao Pai.

29Disseram-lhe seus Discípulos: Eis que agora falas abertamente, e nenhuma parábola dizes.

30Agora sabemos que sabes todas as coisas; e não necessitas que ninguém te pergunte. Por isso cremos que saíste de Deus.

31Respondeu-lhes Jesus: Agora credes?

32Eis que a hora vem, e já é chegada, quando sereis dispersos, cada um por si, e me deixareis só. Porém não estou só, porque o Pai está comigo.

33Estas coisas tenho vos dito para que tenhais paz em mim; no mundo tereis aflição; mas tende bom ânimo; eu venci o mundo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jesus continues preparing the disciples for his departure, explaining the work of the Holy Spirit, who would come to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He speaks of sorrow that will turn to joy and assures them of peace amid tribulation.

Explanation

Jesus explains that his departure is, paradoxically, beneficial for the disciples, since it opens the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would guide them into all truth (v.7-13). The comparison of the disciples' sorrow to the pains of childbirth that turn into joy (v.21-22) illustrates how the temporary suffering of the crucifixion would give way to lasting joy after the resurrection. The final promise, 'in the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world' (v.33), sums up the hopeful realism of the gospel: hardships are to be expected, but Christ's victory is already secured. The practical application today is to face life's difficulties with the certainty that Jesus has already won, and that victory sustains faith even in hard times.

Fun facts

  • The statement that Jesus' followers would be expelled from the synagogues and even killed by people who thought they were 'doing God a service' (v.2) came true historically in the early persecution of the church, including the involvement of Saul of Tarsus (the future apostle Paul) before his conversion.
  • The threefold work of the Holy Spirit mentioned — convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (v.8-11) — is interpreted by theologians as the Spirit's role in revealing humanity's true spiritual condition in light of Christ's finished work, not merely producing generic moral guilt.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. João 16:1Jesus explains the reason for all these warnings about persecution: to prepare them so that, when hardship comes, their faith will not collapse out of surprise.
  2. João 16:2As already seen earlier in this Gospel, being expelled from the synagogue meant losing one’s place within Jewish religious and social life, a heavy isolation for someone living within that community. Jesus warns that His followers will go through this, and that some persecutors will even believe they are doing the right thing before God by persecuting them.
  3. João 16:3Repeats the explanation already given in the previous chapter: the root of this coming persecution is that the persecutors never truly knew either the Father or Jesus.
  4. João 16:4Jesus explains why He is only giving these warnings now: before, there was no need, because He was physically present with them; now that He is about to leave, He wants them to remember that He had already foreseen all of this.
  5. João 16:5Jesus notices something odd: despite having talked so much about His departure, no one is asking Him directly anymore where He is going — unlike Peter and Thomas earlier, who had already asked that question.
  6. João 16:6Explains this silence: the news of His departure has filled the disciples’ hearts with sorrow, leaving little room for more questions.
  7. João 16:7Jesus repeats here the idea of the Comforter already introduced earlier in this Gospel, the presence that would stay with the disciples after He was gone. The logic He presents is that His own departure is what opens the way for this new presence to come, not an obstacle.
  8. João 16:8Describes the role of the Holy Spirit, promised in the previous verse, on three specific fronts that the following verses will spell out: sin, righteousness, and judgment.
  9. João 16:9Explains the first front: the sin the Spirit will expose is, specifically, people’s lack of faith in Jesus.
  10. João 16:10The second front, righteousness, is tied to Jesus’s departure to the Father — His going to be with God is the proof that He really was righteous, even though the disciples would no longer be able to see Him physically.
  11. João 16:11The third front, judgment, refers to the already-sealed defeat of “the prince of this world,” a reference to Satan, whose condemnation Jesus’s death and resurrection will confirm.
  12. João 16:12Jesus acknowledges that He still has much more to teach, but that the disciples are not yet able to absorb all of it at the present moment.
  13. João 16:13Promises that the Spirit of truth will complete this teaching in the future, guiding them into the whole truth, not speaking on His own, and also revealing things that are still to come.
  14. João 16:14Explains the focus of the Holy Spirit’s work: He does not seek His own recognition, His mission is to glorify Jesus, making known what belongs to Him.
  15. João 16:15Clarifies this relationship: since everything the Father has also belongs to Jesus, what the Spirit reveals about Jesus, in practice, also reveals the Father.
  16. João 16:16Jesus makes an enigmatic statement, going back and forth between no longer being seen and being seen again soon — the KJV’s “a little while” — a veiled reference both to His approaching death and to the resurrection that would follow shortly after.
  17. João 16:17The disciples are confused by this statement and talk among themselves, unable to understand what it really means.
  18. João 16:18They openly admit their confusion, acknowledging that they have no idea what Jesus means by this repeated phrase, the KJV’s “a little while.”
  19. João 16:19Jesus senses, without anyone needing to say anything, that they wanted to ask Him about this — the same kind of inner perception He has already shown elsewhere in the Gospel.
  20. João 16:20Jesus anticipates an emotional reversal: the disciples will weep while the world, their adversaries, celebrate, but that sorrow will turn into joy — a reference to His death followed by the resurrection.
  21. João 16:21Jesus uses a very concrete comparison: labor pains are real and intense, but they pass and turn into joy as soon as the child is born, so much so that the mother almost forgets the suffering. It is an image for the sorrow the disciples would feel at His death, which He promises will later turn into joy.
  22. João 16:22Applies the image of labor from the previous verse directly to the disciples: their current sorrow is temporary, and their reunion with Jesus will bring a joy that no one will be able to take from them.
  23. João 16:23Describes a new kind of relationship that will begin afterward: they will no longer need to ask Jesus so many things directly, because they will be able to ask the Father in His name and be answered.
  24. João 16:24Jesus notes that up to this point they had never asked for anything using this resource of “in my name” — and promises that doing so will bring complete joy.
  25. João 16:25Jesus acknowledges that He has taught all this indirectly, through comparisons and images, but promises a future time when He will speak about the Father in a completely direct way.
  26. João 16:26Describes this new relationship of direct access to the Father through Jesus’s name, without needing any extra intercession to plead the case.
  27. João 16:27Explains the reason for this direct closeness: the Father Himself already loves the disciples, because of the love and faith they have shown toward Jesus.
  28. João 16:28Jesus sums up His entire journey in a single sentence: He came from the Father into the world, and now He is leaving the world to go back to the Father.
  29. João 16:29The disciples celebrate, feeling that they have finally understood, since Jesus now seems to be speaking directly, without any more difficult comparisons to decode.
  30. João 16:30They declare a faith based on this perceived clarity and on the fact that Jesus already knew their questions before they asked them, concluding that He truly came from God.
  31. João 16:31Jesus’s response sounds almost skeptical, questioning whether this newly declared faith is really as firm as it seems.
  32. João 16:32Jesus predicts that, despite all this confidence, they will soon scatter and abandon Him alone — which does in fact happen at the arrest in the garden; but He assures them that He is never really alone, because the Father is always with Him.
  33. João 16:33The KJV’s “I have overcome the world” is not about territory or political power, it is about having already faced and overcome the suffering and opposition that was coming, the death He knew He would go through hours later. It is a statement of confidence made moments before His arrest.

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