Juan 16

VBL · Chapter 16/21

1“Yo les he dicho esto para que no abandonen su confianza en mí.

2Ellos los expulsarán de las sinagogas—de hecho, viene el tiempo en que las personas que los maten, pensarán que están sirviendo a Dios.

3Y harán esto porque nunca han conocido al Padre ni a mí. Les he dicho esto para que cuando estas cosas ocurran, recuerden lo que les dije.

4Yo no necesitaba decirles esto al comienzo porque yo iba a estar con ustedes.

5Pero ahora voy al que me envió, aunque ninguno de ustedes me está preguntando a dónde voy.

6Por supuesto, ahora que les he dicho, están acongojados.

7“Pero les digo la verdad: es mejor para ustedes que yo me vaya, porque si no me voy, el Consolador no vendría a ustedes. Si yo me voy, lo enviaré a ustedes.

8Y cuando él venga, convencerá a los que están en el mundo de que tienen ideas equivocadas sobre el pecado, sobre lo que es correcto y sobre el juicio.

9Sobre el pecado, porque no creen en mí.

10Sobre lo que es correcto, porque yo voy al Padre y ustedes no me verán por más tiempo.

11Sobre el juicio, porque el gobernante de este mundo ha sido condenado.

12“Hay muchas cosas más que quiero explicarles, pero no podrían entenderlas ahora.

13Sin embargo, cuando el Espíritu de verdad venga, él les enseñará toda la verdad. Él no habla por su propia cuenta, sino que solo dice lo que escucha, y les dirá lo que va a suceder.

14Él me trae gloria porque él les enseña todo lo que recibe de mí.

15Todo lo que pertenece al Padre es mío. Es por esto que les dije que el Espíritu les enseñará a ustedes lo que reciba de mí.

16Dentro de poco ustedes no me verán más, pero dentro de poco me verán otra vez”.

17Algunos de sus discípulos se decían unos a otros: “¿Qué quiere decir cuando dice ‘dentro de poco no me verán más, pero dentro de poco me verán otra vez’? ¿Y cuando dice ‘porque voy al Padre’?”

18Ellos se preguntaban “¿Qué quiere decir cuando dice ‘dentro de poco’? No sabemos de qué está hablando”.

19Jesús se dio cuenta de que ellos querían preguntarle acerca de esto. Así que les preguntó: “¿Están inquietos por que dije ‘dentro de poco no me verán más, pero dentro de poco otra vez me verán’?

20Les digo la verdad, y es que ustedes van a llorar y lamentarse, pero el mundo se alegrará. Ustedes estarán afligidos, pero su aflicción se convertirá en alegría.

21Una mujer que está en proceso de parto sufre de dolores porque ha llegado el momento, pero cuando el bebé nace, ella olvida la agonía por la alegría de que ha llegado un niño al mundo.

22Sí, ustedes se lamentan ahora, pero yo los veré otra vez; y ustedes se alegrarán y nadie les podrá arrebatar su alegría.

23“Cuando llegue el momento, no tendrán necesidad de preguntarme nada. Les digo la verdad, el Padre les dará cualquier cosa que pidan en mi nombre.

24Hasta ahora ustedes no han pedido nada en mi nombre, así que pidan y recibirán, y su alegría estará completa.

25He estado hablándoles mediante un lenguaje figurado. Pero dentro de poco dejaré de usar el lenguaje figurado cuando hable con ustedes. En lugar de ello, voy a mostrarles al Padre claramente.

26“En ese momento, pedirán en mi nombre. No les estoy diciendo que yo rogaré al Padre en favor de ustedes,

27porque el Padre mismo los ama—porque ustedes me aman y creen que vine de parte de Dios.

28Yo dejé al Padre y vine al mundo; ahora dejo el mundo y regreso a mi Padre”.

29Entonces los discípulos dijeron: “Ahora estás hablándonos claramente y no estás usando lenguaje figurado.

30Ahora estamos seguros de que lo sabes todo, y que para conocer las preguntas que tiene la gente, no necesitas preguntarles. Esto nos convence de que viniste de Dios”.

31“¿Están realmente convencidos ahora?” preguntó Jesús.

32“Se acerca el momento—de hecho está a punto de ocurrir—cuando ustedes se separarán; cada uno de ustedes irá a su propia casa, dejándome solo. Pero yo no estoy realmente solo, porque el Padre está conmigo.

33Les he dicho todo esto a fin de que tengan paz porque ustedes son uno conmigo. Ustedes sufrirán en este mundo, pero sean valientes— ¡Yo he derrotado al 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 16:6Explains this silence: the news of His departure has filled the disciples’ hearts with sorrow, leaving little room for more questions.
  7. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 16:9Explains the first front: the sin the Spirit will expose is, specifically, people’s lack of faith in Jesus.
  10. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 16:17The disciples are confused by this statement and talk among themselves, unable to understand what it really means.
  18. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 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. Juan 16:31Jesus’s response sounds almost skeptical, questioning whether this newly declared faith is really as firm as it seems.
  32. Juan 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. Juan 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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