Jesus, Not Known The Father Or Me, prepares His disciples for the trouble that will come after He leaves them. He warns them that some will reject them and even believe they are serving God by harming them. But Jesus also gives them hope. The Holy Spirit will come, truth will be revealed, grief will become joy, and the enemy will be judged. Jesus closes with a declaration of victory: “Take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Obedience, God’s Covenant, Faith, Judgment, Salvation, Grace, Blessings, Redemption Plan, Jesus Christ
📖 John 16:1-3 (NIV)
“16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.”
John 16 shows Jesus preparing His followers for a future they cannot yet fully understand.
He knows they will experience rejection, fear, grief, and persecution.
Yet He does not hide the truth from them.
Jesus explains that those who oppose His followers do so because they “have not known the Father or me.”
Knowing God is more than religious knowledge.
It is recognizing the One God sent.
Jesus then tells His disciples that His departure is necessary because the Advocate—the Holy Spirit—will come.
The Spirit will expose sin, righteousness, and judgment and guide believers into truth.
Jesus knows His disciples will grieve when He is taken from them, but their grief will not last forever.
Their sorrow will become joy.
Then Jesus gives them a promise that reaches beyond that moment: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The victory was already certain because God’s Redemption Plan was moving toward fulfillment through Jesus Christ.
📖 John 16:4-7 (NIV)
” 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
Jesus warns that people may believe they are doing something right while actually opposing God.
This is a serious warning.
Religious activity by itself does not mean someone knows God.
A person can know Scripture, traditions, rules, and religious practices while still failing to recognize Jesus.
Jesus says those who persecute His followers will do so because they have not known the Father or Him.
Knowing God means recognizing His truth and responding to Jesus Christ.
📖 John 16:8-11 (NIV)
“8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
Jesus promises the Advocate, the Spirit of truth.
The Holy Spirit would guide the disciples into truth, reveal what was to come, and glorify Jesus.
The Spirit’s purpose is not to draw attention away from Christ.
The Spirit glorifies Jesus.
This is an important part of God’s work.
When we seek truth, we should expect that truth to lead us toward Christ rather than away from Him.
📖 John 16:12-15 (NIV)
“12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Sin is exposed because people do not believe in Jesus.
Righteousness is revealed because Jesus returns to the Father.
Judgment is certain because the prince of this world stands condemned.
The world may appear to be controlled by evil at times, but Scripture shows that evil does not have the final word.
God does.
📖 John 16:16-19 (NIV)
“16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
“17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
“19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? “
Jesus compares the disciples’ coming sorrow to a woman experiencing the pain of childbirth.
Lifes pain is real.
The waiting is real.
The grief is real.
Jesus knew His disciples would weep when He was crucified.
They would see their Teacher taken away and would struggle to understand what was happening.
But their grief would become joy when they saw Him again.
This is a powerful reminder that God can bring joy out of seasons we do not understand.
📖 John 16:20-23 (NIV)
“20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
Jesus responded by asking, “Do you now believe?”
He knew their faith would soon be tested.
They would scatter.
They would leave Him alone.
Peter would deny Him.
Yet Jesus knew something they did not fully understand: the Father would still be with Him.
Faith is not proven only when everything is going well.
Sometimes faith is revealed when everything around us appears to be falling apart.
📖 John 16:24-27 (NIV)
“24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
“25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my 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 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”
Jesus does not promise His followers a trouble-free life.
He says plainly:
“In this world you will have trouble.”
That statement is important because Christianity is not a promise that every problem will disappear.
Following Jesus does not remove every hardship.
It gives us Someone to follow through the hardship.
Jesus experienced rejection, betrayal, persecution, suffering, and death.
Yet none of those things defeated Him.
📖 John 16:28-33 (NIV)
“28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
“29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
“31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.”
“33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
“Take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Notice that Jesus does not say the world will never cause trouble.
He says He has overcome it.
The world can bring suffering, but it cannot defeat Christ.
Sin can bring death, but Jesus brings life.
The enemy can attack, but the enemy cannot stop God’s Redemption Plan.
The grave can receive the body, but it cannot hold the Son of God forever.
Jesus’ victory becomes the foundation of Christian hope.
Jesus’ departure did not mean God’s Covenant was ending.
It was moving forward.
The Father sent the Son.
Son would complete His mission.
The Holy Spirit would come.
Disciples would continue the testimony.
And salvation would be offered through Jesus Christ.
Even when the disciples could not understand what was happening, God’s plan remained intact.
The cross would not destroy God’s promises.
The resurrection would reveal their fulfillment.
God’s Covenant stands even when our understanding is incomplete.
John 16 teaches us that following Jesus requires courage.
Now we may face rejection.
And we may experience grief.
We may not understand what God is doing.
And we may walk through difficult seasons.
But Jesus has already told us what we need to remember:
Do not lose heart.
The Holy Spirit guides us.
God’s Covenant remains.
Jesus is victorious.
And the troubles of this world do not have the final word.
Our hope is not based on a perfect world.
Our hope is based on a victorious Savior.
John 16 points directly toward the completion of God’s Redemption Plan through Jesus Christ.
Jesus knew He was going to the Father.
He knew the disciples would scatter.
Jesus knew the cross was approaching.
He knew grief was coming.
But He also knew the victory that would follow.
Holy Spirit would come.
The disciples would receive truth.
His Gospel would continue.
Salvation would be offered.
And the enemy would ultimately be defeated.
Jesus did not promise that His followers would never have trouble.
He promised something greater.
He has already overcome the world.
So when trouble comes, we do not have to pretend it is not real.
Now we can face it with faith.
We can stand upon God’s Covenant.
We can trust His Redemption Plan.
And we can remember the words of Jesus:
