Coptic Orthodox Answers

In the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

Welcome to Coptic Orthodox Answers Deep Dive. We're continuing together the Gospel of John. We're at John 16. We saw last time in chapter 15 the Last Supper and we saw how Christ was speaking about how many will abide in Him and those servants, he will prune them, that they may bring forth more fruit. And also, He said but some others will reject Me and then He said...He extended that rejection to the disciples themselves, telling them if people reject Him, then they should also expect to be rejected as well. And then today, we move on with chapter 16.

So, verse 1:

'' 1 ''These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble [meaning I'm giving you a heads up: be careful, be aware what's about to happen]. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues [in the same way they cast out of the synagogue the man born blind, meaning they put him out of the Jewish societal life, they will also do the same to you]; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. » (John 16:1-2)

And indeed, that's how things happened. So, if we know the example of Saul who became later one Paul, Saul would go and gather letters from the high priest and he would go all the way to Damascus and all of these things to gather Christians, to imprison them, to beat them, and he was there when the martyrdom of St. Stephen took place. So, all of these things, God, here, is forewarning the disciples about, that they may remain strong in the faith.

So, verses 3 and 4 are a rehashing, in a sense, of 1 and 2. It says:

'' 3 And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. [So, these people are not enlightened; their minds are darkened, right? They don't know the Father. They don't know the Son. Again, here, you see an equality between the Father and the Son.] 4 But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. ''And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.'' (John 16:3-4)

So, while Christ was with the disciples, He's able to guide them, to comfort them, to protect them and all of these things. He's about to ascend into the heavens, after, obviously, the cross and the resurrection, so, He wants to implant firmly these thoughts in them, that they may remain solid in the faith and guide the remainder of the Church afterwards.

Verse 5:

'' 5 ''But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' '' (John 16:5)

So, in John 13, when the discourse started, the apostles were very enthusiastic. St. Peter asked Him: Lord, where are you going? In John 14, St. Thomas asked: Lord, you know, we want to follow you, but we do not know the way, right? So again, they're super enthusiastic. But after receiving this very bad news... and, again, nobody blames them... Christ is telling them: None of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' Like, you do not wanna follow me anymore? Are you that down? Are you about to give up?, right? And then He said: I understand...

'' 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.'' (John 16:6)

And this often hits home that on the road, on the path of true Christian life, we always have some highs and some lows, right? We're enthusiastic, we're happy, you know, we live the life of the resurrection, there's so much joy and so much peace and so much love, and some other times we feel like God has abandoned us, although He didn't. And, you know, our hearts are filled with sorrow and we ask and we cry God, where are you?, although He's there and He's close.

So, both of these types of events, the highs and the lows, are there in the Christian life. And, again, God is forewarning them that you're about to go through a low and I understand. But, again, I'm not gonna leave you alone. You will not be orphaned. I will remain with you. And more importantly, I will give you the Holy Spirit to guide, comfort and support you.

Verse 7:

'' 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.'' (John 16:7)

So, He's telling them: when I ascend into the heavens and sit at the right hand of the Father, now, I will put humanity where it belongs, at the right hand of the Father, and therefore salvation is complete, redemption is complete, the recreation of humanity is complete, and now it's your turn to walk in my footsteps, right? So, this is the first point.

The second point, He tells them that if I don't depart from you, you know, in other words, I cannot send the Helper. So... so, once salvation's complete and Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, now you receive the Holy Spirit. What's the advantage there? It's that when Christ was on earth, sometimes He would leave, He would go pray, He would talk to someone privately, whatever... He was doing a few things, right?, and the disciples did not have the

luxury to always remain with Him. They were seeking Him, searching for Him, right? There was still struggle, so...

But He's telling them: It is to your advantage that I go away, because if I go away and now you receive the Spirit, you can be united with God through the Holy Spirit within you at all times. You have access to the divinity at all times. And truly, that's a huge advantage, right?, if we are living the true Christian life.

And then, the last thing I'll note on here or I'll focus on is the fact that we call the Helper, or Christ calls the Helper Him: I will send Him to you, 'cause the Holy Spirit is a person. Sometimes we think that the Holy Spirit is but a mere breath. No, no, no, He's a person. That's why we call Him the Comforter. We even call Him our Saviour. Although He saves us in a very different way than how Christ saves us, He is still our Saviour. He's a person.

And sometimes we ought to speak to the Holy Spirit in prayer. Like we speak only to the Father when we say our Father who art in heaven... When we speak only... like we speak only to Christ when we say the Jesus Prayer..., it is okay to speak to the Holy Spirit as well specifically. We can call Him the Comforter, call Him the Holy Spirit, regardless of what we call Him, but we ought to develop this relationship also with the Holy Spirit.

Verse 8:

'' 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.'' (John 16: 8-11)

So, the first one it says that the Holy Spirit will convict of sin, because they do not believe in Me. So, in other words, what is being said here is that through the work of the Holy Spirit, through the apostles and the Church and the miracles and so on, Israel will realize that they have sinned. So, the Holy Spirit will convict them. They have sinned because they have rejected the Messiah. They have not believed in Him.

The second one is that the Holy Spirit will convict of righteousness, because Christ will go to His Father and they will see Him no more, meaning that Israel called Christ as unrighteous and a law breaker and a one that would cast demons by the power of demons and all of these things. But after they realize that He was saying the truth from the beginning and He prophesized about the cross and His resurrection and salvation and all of these things, the Holy Spirit will convict them of righteousness. And now, they will say: No, the man was a righteous man; He's indeed the Son of God.

So, the last conviction is the conviction of judgment in verse 11. It says: because the ruler of this world is judged. So, some people will be convicted of sin, others of righteousness, and some of judgment. Those that are convicted of judgment are the Jewish leadership at the time, not the Jewish people as a whole: those who crucified Christ. In the same way that through the cross, the ruler of this world, Satan, is judged, and therefore the people that were his right hand, the Jewish leadership at the time, will also be judged. Therefore they are convicted of judgment.

Verse 12:

'' 12 ''I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.'' '' (John 16:12)

In other words, you're too emotional, you're too downcast right now. I cannot speak of everything. You won't retain much. It's really not the time. So therefore, Christ chose not to say certain things during that sit-down with the disciples. However, He did speak of many things after the resurrection, right?

So, in Acts, chapter 1, verse 3 for example, it says how Christ spent forty days with the disciples, explaining them... explaining to them everything pertaining to the kingdom of God. So, everything pertaining to the Church was explained to the disciples at that time, right?, during the forty days between the resurrection and the Ascension.

Another example is that... the acceptance of the Gentiles was something that was done through the work of the Holy Spirit in Acts, chapter 10 and chapter 11, and then they had, you know, all of these discussions between them, and then the first Council in Acts 15... So, all of these things, you know, were done in incremental stages as Christ, or sorry, as the Holy Spirit was working in the Church. He was leading them to make the proper decisions. But none of these things He could have said to them at this time, because, again, they were too downcast and probably too much information to retain as well.

Verse 13:

'' 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.'' (John 16:13)

So, He will speak to you about the future and whatever He hears, he will speak.

'' 14 He will glorify Me [so anybody that truly has the Spirit will glorify also the Son], for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.'' (John 16:14-15)

So, the same way the Father shares His divine essence or nature with the Son, that same essence or nature is shared with the Holy Spirit. So, whatever the Father has, the Son has. Whatever the Son has, the Holy Spirit also has. And therefore, the Holy Spirit will share these things with the Church.

Notice, here, as well that Christ says that the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. So, the Holy Spirit is continually guiding the Church into all truth. I just gave a few examples about Acts 1 or Acts 10-11-15 and so on, but this does not end at the book of Acts; it does not end at the 1 st century. As the needs of the Church continually evolve from one age to the next, the Holy Spirit continues to guide the Church in what is right to do. So, he guides the Church into all truth.

Obviously, this does not mean any change in terms of dogma and all of these things. These things are done once and for all as it says in the Epistle of Jude, but, again, there's other things that we can change in the Church, because the Holy Spirit will guide our fathers, the bishop into making these changes. And all these changes are done within the realm of truth. So, there's a difference between dogma (or capital-T tradition or the life of the Church) versus the small-T traditions and the things that could change as we go.

So, often, I find that we always look backwards, look to the past, not necessarily to the present or the future. You know, sometimes we always look at what the Church used to do in the past. But what we used to do in the past isn't necessarily good for today, isn't necessarily good for tomorrow. Again, I'm not speaking of dogma here, but anything that falls into that circle of small-T traditions that could be changed. Some things are deeply theological like the priesthood or the male priesthood and so on, some other things are really worth looking into and we trust that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide the Church into all truth.

Verse 16:

'' 16 ''A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.'' 17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, ''What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?'' 18 They said therefore, ''What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is saying.'' 19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, ''Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?'' '' (John 16:16-19)

So, essentially, what Christ is saying here... He's saying: a little while, and you will not see Me, referring to the arrest, the cross, the burial, and a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father, again referring to the resurrection, the forty days and the

Ascension, right? So, He must be raised, because He must ascend, right? Not only because He must ascend, but... but it includes that He must ascend: because I go to the Father, He says. And that's in... in just what He's explaining here.

Verse 20:

'' 20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful [obviously, He's speaking about the cross here], but your sorrow will be turned into joy [the resurrection, right? and the work of the Spirit in the Church]. 21 A woman, when [she's] in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.'' (John 16:20-22)

Verse 23:

'' 23 ''And in that day you will ask Me nothing [meaning, here, in the day of the resurrection, you will ask Me nothing. What does He mean by that? So, let us continue...]. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.'' '' (John 16:23)

So, he's saying, in the day of resurrection, after humanity is recreated and reconciled with God the Father, you do not need to ask Me nothing. So, now you have access to the Father through the salvific work of Christ, through the reconciliation in this specific case, and the recreation. So, when you ask the Father, you don't have to ask me anymore, ask the Father, but ask in My name, right? And we'll get to that in a second.

'' 24 ''Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.'' '' (John 16:24)

A couple of things here. In verse 24, Christ tells them: until now you have asked nothing in My name, meaning until now, you have not asked the Father anything in My name, because reconciliation was not accomplished yet, so, therefore the disciples did not have access to the Father. But they will have access after the salvific work is accomplished, right?

And St. Augustine, here, is emphasizing something very important. He says that the name of Jesus means saviour and therefore if I ask something in the name of Jesus, in the name of the Saviour, this request that I ask should lead to my salvation, right?, because the name of Jesus is Saviour. And therefore in the name of Jesus, I request something that leads to my salvation, not something that hinders my salvation. And based on this, Christ grants our request.

Verse 25:

'' 25 ''These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.'' '' (John 16:25)

In other words, until now, you are incapable to understand the spiritual reality of the kingdom, but you will be able to after the resurrection. Therefore in Acts, chapter 1, verse 3, I will explain to you everything that relates to the kingdom of God, but everything in due time. So, later on: I will tell you plainly about the Father.

'' 26 ''In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.'' '' (John 16:26-27)

So, since you loved Me and you believed Me, and I'm one essence with the Father and I will reconcile you through, again, the cross, resurrection, now you have access to the Father.

'' 28 ''I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.'' '' (John 16:28)

Verse 29:

'' 29 His disciples said to Him, ''See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! 30 Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.'' '' (John 16:29-30)

So, earlier in the chapter, Christ was telling them: A little while, you will not see Me and a little while you will see Me, and then they were confused, right? And so, He was speaking to them in figure of speech. They could not understand what is it that He was saying. And He read their mind and told them: Are you inquiring about this?, and then He started explaining. So now, the fact that He read their mind and explained, right?, to a certain degree, what He was referring to, the disciples respond in this way, saying: Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question you.

Verse 31:

'' 31 Jesus answered them, ''Do you now believe? 32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.'' '' (John 16:31-32)

So, they just told Him: now we have no need to question further; we believe in who You are. So, Christ is responding, saying: really, do you now believe? Will you remain loyal to me? I tell you, the hour is coming that you'll be scattered each to his own, and will leave me alone, right? Now, that's what's happening here. And again, hearing this, the disciples are saddened once more and therefore, in verse 33, He says:

'' 33 ''These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.'' '' (John 16:33)

So, one last comment on this last verse that says: In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world is that Christians are not exempt from pain, from suffering, from death, right? Humanity as a whole goes through this, although Christ or God did not create us to suffer at all and it was not part of the original design, but it is in the current state and it's a consequence of sin. But now, human nature does suffer and therefore Christianity or Christians are not exempt, again, from this.

And so, as Christians, we are reminded that we are Christians, not because, you know, we're only promised joy and peace, but we're Christians because it's true. And the only proper response to God's love who empties Himself, becomes man, suffers and dies for my sake to heal me and to reconcile me... the only proper response to this is to give my life back.

So, when I look at the reality of this Creator who is the source of life, love and joy and all of these things and I see Him walking down that path, the only option is to walk in His footsteps. And by sharing in His suffering that He divinized, in a sense... So, He made suffering a source of healing when it's done in Him... that's a whole subject on its own... I find in that suffering, in that death, the life of the resurrection as well and therefore I find the true meaning of life. And again, it's the only proper response to someone that dies for you, especially when that person is God Almighty the Creator.

Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.

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Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith.