Bible Study series: John 16:1-4a. “I have spoken these things to you so that you may not fall away.” We have been forewarned.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: John 16:1-4a
1 I have spoken these things to you so that you may not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue, but the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known neither the Father nor me. 4a But I have spoken these things to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember the (things) that I have told you.(John 16:1-4a)
1-2:
These verses continue on from the last chapter and Jesus’s prediction of troubles. If he tells them in advance that trouble is coming, then they have a better chance of not falling away.
“fall away”: the verb means, depending on the context, (1) “cause to be caught … to fall, i.e. cause to sin” a. … Passive: “be led into sin … fall away”; b. “be led into sin or repelled by someone, take offense at someone”; (2) “give offense to, anger, shock.” In this context it means to fall away or turn a Christian away from the faith. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Verse 2 reminds me of this one: “Nevertheless, indeed, many even of the rulers believed in him but because of the Pharisees did not profess him so that they might not become desynagogued” (John 12:42). The Greek in 16:2 literally reads: “they will make you desynagogued.”
This long passage from Matthew’s Gospel is also relevant:
16 “Watch out! I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore, be prudent as serpents and pure as doves. 17 Be on your guard against people, for they shall betray you to their councils, and in their synagogues they shall flog you. 18 You shall be brought before governors and kings because of my name, for a testimony to them and the Gentiles. 19 When they betray you, do not be anxious how and what you might speak, for it shall be given you at that moment what should you should speak, 20 for you are not the ones speaking; instead the Spirit of your Father is the one speaking in you.
21 Brother shall betray brother to death and a father a son, and children shall rise in rebellion against parents and put them to death. 22 Moreover, you shall be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end—this one shall be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this town, flee to another. For I tell you the truth: you will not complete the towns of Israel until the son of Man comes. (Matt. 10:16-23)
And then this verse also implies death for converting to the Jesus Movement and preaching: “And do not fear those who kill the body, but who are unable to kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28).
Saul (later Paul) persecuted the church:
57 Shouting with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and rushed at him with one single purpose, 58 and they dragged him outside of the city and were in the process of stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their clothes in front of a young man named Saul. 59 And they kept stoning Stephen who called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Taking to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge this sin to them!” Saying this, he fell asleep. 81 And Saul gladly approved of his death.1 And on that day a severe persecution took place against the church in Jerusalem. Everyone was scattered to the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men took Stephen up for burial and lamented for him emotionally. 3 Saul devastated the church, going from household to household, dragging both men and women and putting them in prison. 4 And so those who were dispersed spread out preaching the good news of the Word. (Acts 7:57-8:4)
Yet the disciples kept on preaching.
See also Paul’s own testimony in his letter to the Philippians:
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. (Phil. 3:4b-6, NIV)
3-4a:
Another way of translating this clause “when their hour comes”: “when the hour of these things comes.”
Related verses: John 14:7: “If you have known me, you will know the Father also. And from now on, you know him and you have known him.”
Jesus repeats the intimacy he has with his Father, and now it is shared with his disciples. We too can enter in to this shared union between the Father and Son.
As for his prediction of the future persecution, here are parallel verses:
John 13:19: “From now on I say to you before it happens, so that you may believe, when it happens, that I am.”
John 14:29-30: “And now I have spoken to you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. 30 No longer do I talk much with you, for the ruler of the world comes, and he holds nothing in me.”
Jesus reinforces his disciples so that when they do get persecuted, they will not be taken by surprise. He told them in advance.
GrowApp for John 16:1-4a
1. You have been forewarned about persecution. Have you suffered some level of persecution, like family rejection? Did it take you by surprise? How did you respond?
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3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel
SOURCES
For the bibliography, click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
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