John 16:25-33
Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.
“Notice what you notice.” I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. (v. 25) I wondered about the “figures of speech” term. Later in this section John has the disciples saying “figurative speech” – same idea. But throughout John 13-17 Jesus seems to be speaking plainly, even though the concepts of which He is speaking remain somewhat fuzzy. I’m thinking that Jesus’ reference to no longer speaking with “figures of speech” might refer back to His parables where He is mostly alluding to His Father and the coming Kingdom. That is, when He says “I have said these things to you in figures of speech.”, His reference to “these things” is referring back to His parables, not to His earlier words in Chapters 13-16.
In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf… (v. 26) Herein we have a strange sentence, confusing at first read. I have often understood negatives and double-negatives by plugging in their opposites, so long as I do it twice to preserve the same meaning. So for the second half of the verse, I re-word it as I do say to you that I will not ask the Father on your behalf. To me the sentence is more clearly understood, but it is more confusing as to what Jesus means. So what I think He is saying is that we can go directly to the Father ourselves (in His name, but without His intersession?) because the Father loves us, as we see in verse 27: …for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father. Even with all that, it is still confusing. My Study Bible points us further to Romans 8:34, where Paul tells us that Jesus stands before the Father on our behalf: Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the One who died—more than that, Who was raised—Who is at the right hand of God, Who indeed is interceding for us. So, bottom line – not to worry…!
Slava Bohu!