But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
Parallel Translations
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But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
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But now I goo my waye to him that sent me and none of you axeth me: whither goest thou?
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But now I go my way to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to John 16:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 13:36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow now, but you will follow afterwards.”
- John 7:33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer, then I go to him who sent me.
- John 16:28 I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
- John 14:4-6 You know where I go, and you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
- John 16:10 about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more;
- John 17:4 I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
- Ephesians 4:7-11 But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.” Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
- Hebrews 1:3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,
- John 13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and was going to God,
- Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- John 6:62 Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
- John 14:28 You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I.
- John 16:16 A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me.”
- John 17:13 But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 5. And now I go to him who sent…
5. And now I go to him who sent me. By a very excellent consolation he assuages the grief which they might feel on account of his departure, and this was highly necessary. They who had hitherto been allowed to remain at their ease, were called to severe and arduous battles for the future. What then, would have become of them, if they had not known that Christ was in heaven, as the guardian of their salvation? For to go to the Father is nothing else than to be received into the heavenly glory, in order to possess the highest authority. This is held out to them, therefore, as a solace and remedy of grief, that, though Christ be absent from them in body, yet he will sit at the right hand of the Father, to protect believers by his power.
Here Christ reproves the apostles for two faults; first, that they were too much attached to the visible presence of his flesh; and, secondly, that, when this had been taken away, they were seized with grief, and did not lift their eyes to a higher region. The same thing happens to us; for we always hold Christ bound by our senses, and then, if he do not appear to us according: to our desire, we contrive for ourselves a ground of despair.
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And none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? It may appear to be an unfounded charge against the apostles, that they did not ask whether their Master was going; for they had formerly inquired at him on this subject with great earnestness. But the answer is easy. When they inquired, they did not raise their minds to confidence, and this was the chief duty which they were bound to perform. The meaning therefore is, as soon as you hear of my departure, you become alarmed, and do not consider whither I am going, or for what purpose I go away.”
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 5 But now I go my way to him…
5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
Ver. 5. None of you asketh me, &c.] This they had asked him, but not as well paid of his going; this he would have of them, and of us, when we part with friends that die in the Lord, say as he, Tulisti liberos quos ipse dederas; non contristor, quod recepisti; ago gratias, quod dedisti. (Jerome ad Julian.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Though I did not tell you this from the…
Though I did not tell you this from the beginning, for many wise reasons; yet I now tell you, that I must die, but shall rise again from the dead, and go to my Father who sent me into the world to finish that work which I now have done, and so am returning from whence I came. And though indeed some of you have cursorily asked me whither I go, (as Peter Joh 13:36), yet none of you seems to understand, or so seriously as you ought to inquire, whither I go, or so much to be busied in the thoughts of that.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, how our Saviour again intimates to his…
Observe here, how our Saviour again intimates to his disciples his speedy departure from them, and reproves them for being so saddened at it, and concerned for it, without considering the end and design of it, and the benefit and advantage they were to receive by it.
Here we see how the disciples’ thoughts were wholly taken up about themselves, what they should do for want of Christ’s bodily presence, without being instant with him, to know whither he was going, and what benefit he should reap, and they might expect, from his departure.
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Learn hence, that Christ’s disciples ought not so much to have lamented the loss of his bodily presence, and to have rejoiced in his glorious exaltation, and in their own advantages by his death, resurrection, and ascension; None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But sorrow hath filled your heart.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But now I go my way to him that…
But now I go my way to him that sent me,.... These words seem to belong to Joh 16:4, and to contain a reason why Christ spoke of the trials and afflictions of his disciples now, because he was going away from them to his Father; when as they would be at the head of his affairs in this world, so they would the more become the butt of the rage of men:
and none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? Peter indeed asked the question, Joh 13:36; but his meaning was, what part of the country he was going to? what private and inaccessible place he was about to betake himself to? he had no notion of his going out of the world, or to heaven to his Father, and therefore inquired nothing about it; and when Christ had suggested to his disciples, that he was going to his Father's house, to prepare mansions for them, they did not seem to understand him, Joh 14:2. Nor did they ask what he meant by his Father's house, or what those mansions were he was going to prepare; and what the glory was he was going to possess for himself and them; they ask neither about the place he was going to, nor the way to it, nor the happiness to be enjoyed there.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain None of you asketh me - Now when it…
None of you asketh me - Now when it is most seasonable. Peter did ask this before, Chap. xiii, 36.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. None of you asketh me, Whither goest…
Verse 5. None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?] In Joh 13:3, Peter had asked, Lord, thither goest thou? - and Thomas much the same in Joh 14:5, both of whom had received an answer. But now, at the time when Jesus was speaking this, none of them asked this question, because their hearts were filled with sorrow: Joh 16:6.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Now I go my way - Now I am…
Now I go my way - Now I am about to die and leave you, and it is proper to announce all these things to you.
None of you asketh me ... - They gave themselves up to grief instead of inquiring why he was about to leave them. Had they made the inquiry, he was ready to answer them and to comfort them. When we are afflicted we should not yield ourselves to excessive grief. We should inquire why it is that God thus tries us; and we should never doubt that if we come to him, and spread out our sorrows before him, he will give us consolation.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain None of you asketh me, whither goest thou? St.…
None of you asketh me, whither goest thou? St. Peter had put this question, chap. xiii. 36. and Thomas, chap xiv. 5. The meaning, then, of Christ’s words here, seems to be, that having told you, I am going to leave you, and also going to him that sent me, you do not ask, says St. Cyril, to be fully and thoroughly informed about it. (Witham) --- You suffer yourselves to be entirely overcome with grief; and none of you inquire of me, whither I am going. You look on my departure as an eternal separation between us, and take leave of me, as if we were never to meet again. But be persuaded; my absence will only be for a short continuance; and this absence will be honourable and glorious for me, and extremely advantageous for you. If you were fully persuaded of this, you would inquire how long I should be absent, and whither I was going; as one friend in the act of parting, is always accustomed to ask another. But you only torture your minds with the pain and grief you will have to suffer at my loss. (Menochius, Tirinus, &c.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain But now I go my way to him that…
But now I go my way to him that sent me--While He was with them, the world's hatred was directed chiefly against Himself; but His departure would bring it down upon them as His representatives.
and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?--They had done so in a sort (Joh 13:36; Joh 14:5); but He wished more intelligent and eager inquiry on the subject.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. None… asketh… whither—In the table discourse (chap. Joh_14:5-7)…
5. None… asketh… whither—In the table discourse (chap. Joh_14:5-7) they had so asked; but now, as he stands uttering his farewell, and unfolding to them their apparent abandonment to the most limitless persecution, with none but a spiritual Comforter, a Comforter little, now, by them appreciated, they had forgotten all question as to his whither.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. I go my way to] Or, I go…
5. I go my way to] Or, I go away unto; the notion is that of withdrawal (see on Joh_16:7). Hitherto He has been with them to protect them and to be the main object of attack: soon they will have to bear the brunt without Him. This is all that they feel at present,—how His departure affects themselves, not how it affects Him. And yet this latter point is all important even as regards themselves, for He is going in order to send the Paraclete.
none of you asketh] As far as words go S. Peter had asked this very question (Joh_13:36) and S. Thomas had suggested it (Joh_14:5); but altogether in a different spirit from what is meant here. They were looking only at their own loss instead of at His gain.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) But now I go my way to him…
(5) But now I go my way to him that sent me.—(Comp. Joh_13:1; Joh_14:12.) The work of His apostleship on earth was drawing to its close, and He was about to return to the Father from whom He had received it. This was to Him matter of joy, and if they had really loved Him would have been so to them. They would have thought of the future before Him, as He was then thinking, in the fulness of His love, of the future before them.
And none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?—Peter had asked this very question (Joh_13:36), and Thomas had implied it (Joh_14:5), but what the words here mean is, “None of you are out of love for Me asking about the place whither I am going. Your thoughts are not with Me. It is to you as nothing that I am returning to Him that sent Me.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 5, 6. Now at this very momentI go…
Vers. 5, 6. Now at this very momentI go away to him that sent me. I have completed his work, and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? This seems at variance with Peter"s inquiry, Whither goest thou ?", (Joh_13:36) and with Thomas"s question, (Joh_14:5) "We know not whither thou goest," etc.? yet they are only opposed in appearance. Peter"s question had obviously turned the whole matter back upon himself, and the way in which the Lord"s departure affected his own duties and position; and the same may be said of Thomas. They had both lost sight of the "whither" in the pain and anguish of the departure. Our Lord had great difficulty in inducing them to realize the blessedness that would befall themselves from his own exaltation, and even now, after all that he had said about this great power and glory which awaited him, he added, Because I have spoken these things to you since all along you are taking the dark side, and looking on the anguish of my departure and desolateness of your own condition, instead of the grandeur of the new kingdom and dispensation of which you will be witnesses and organs sorrow hath filled your heart; the one heart which I throughout have been seeking to comfort. You are not looking on the end of my departure, or on the fullness of my glory, or on the addition to your own blessedness, but on your own loss, disappointment, and chagrin.
Vers. 5-11. The rectory of the disciples.
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Jesus now describes the power which will gain their victory over the world.
I THE POWER WHICH WILL GIVE THE VICTORY.
1. The disciples were too absorbed by the sorrows of the approaching separation to think of anything but themselves. "But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? Bat because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
(1) They were so absorbed with the thought of their own immediate loss that they missed the meaning of his departure for themselves.
(2) They ought not to have so greatly lamented his bodily absence and overlooked all the spiritual advantages that would accrue to themselves from his ascension to heaven and his participation in his Father"s glory.
2. The expediency of his departure from the world. "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
(1) Our Lord"s departure the Church"s gain. It would lead to truer conceptions of Christ"s Person and work.
(a) A great man"s greatness is usually increased by death. The removal of Christ would dissolve the illusion of familiarity. He could only be truly understood after he was gone.
(b) The souls of the apostles were greatly quickened after his departure. Their faith, hope, charity, were increased after Pentecost.
(2) Our Lord"s departure was the condition of the Spirit"s advent.
(a) He left the earth to return as a quickening Spirit. Christ after the flesh must disappear, to make way for Christ after the Spirit.
(b) The vicarious sacrifice of Christ stands to the mission of the Comforter in the relation of cause and effect.
(c) The dispensation of the Spirit is superior to the dispensation of "Christ come in the flesh," for the following reasons:
(i) Jesus in the flesh could not be present in every place or in all the households of the world; but Christ by his Spirit can dwell in the hearts of millions at the same moment of time as the Hope of glory.
(ii) If Christ were still in the flesh, his presence would only be temporary and occasional; but Christ by his Spirit can be always everywhere at the same moment of time.
(iii) As a matter of fact, he was never but in one spot of earth Palestine and never out of it. We revere Palestine as the home of our Lord, but we must rise above the mere sentiment of local association in the experience of communion with an everywhere-present Lord.
(iv) Mere contact with Christ in the flesh would have no necessarily saving efficacy. The Jews were not converted by seeing him in the flesh.
(3) Practical conclusions.
(a) Let us rejoice in our Lord"s exaltation.
(b) Let us guard against the worship of the outward.
(c) Let us learn that the Lord never takes away one blessing bat he leaves a greater in its place.
II THE EFFECTS OF THE SPIRIT"S COMING. And when he is come, he will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
1. The Spirit wilt convict the world of the sin of unbelief. "Because they believe not on me." The sin of the Jews was essentially unbelief; for
a. they withstood all the evidence of ancient prophecy;
b. they withstood the evidence of his remarkable life,
c. his remarkable discourses,
d. his remarkable miracles.
2. He will convict the world of righteousness. "Because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.
(1) His sufferings and death were the pathway by which he returned to his Father.
(2) By righteousness our Lord understands, not the mere justice of his cause, but the righteousness which he wrought out in his atoning death for his people. He regards his death as the true righteousness of his people. His incarnation and death were designed to bring in this everlasting righteousness.
3. He will convict the world of judgment. "Because the prince of this world is judged.
(1) He does not refer to any judgment on Satan for his primordial fall, nor for his deceptive temptations so fatally exercised against man.
(2) He refers to the subversion of Satan"s empire, to the abrogation of his usurped rights over man. The death of Christ effected this result in the following way.
(a) As sin was put away by the sacrifice of himself, (Heb_9:26) the supreme Judge discharged the guilty.
(b) The accuser of the brethren could not demand their condemnation. (Rom_8:1)
(c) Christ broke the power of death "by destroying him that had the power of death". (Heb_2:14)
Vers. 5, 6. The absorbing power of sorrow.
There was sympathy between our Lord and his apostles, but that sympathy was not perfect. Even in the latest of the quiet conversations between the Master and the disciples, it is evident that the perception of the learners was now and again very dull, and that their response to his communication was very inadequate. There is a tone of expostulation, almost of upbraiding, in this as in other portions of the recorded discourse.
I THE CHARACTER OF THE REVELATIONS WHICH CHRIST HERE REFERS TO.
1. Concerning himself. Jesus had uttered language which both perplexed and distressed his friends. He had spoken of his approaching departure a prospect which could not but grieve, and which clearly did depress his hearers. Their life was bound up in his life, and separation could not be faced without sinking of heart.
2. Concerning them, the Lord had opened up a prospect which dismayed, or at least disconcerted, them. He had plainly told them that they should be both hated and persecuted. Such an outlook as this was very gloomy. They were not prepared to endure such tribulation, especially when deprived of the presence and support, visible and tangible, of their Chief.
II THE EFFECT OF THESE REVELATIONS UPON THE MINDS OF THE APOSTLES. "Sorrow," said Jesus, "hath filled your heart." He had opened the conversation by bidding them trust in him, and dismiss fear and trouble from their mind. And he had given them reasons for confidence, grounds for hope, motives to peace. But they were conscious of their feebleness, their dependence. They had accordingly no thought but for themselves. As they looked one at another, they must have felt that there was among them no ore upon whom they could lean in the absence of their Lord. And he was going, and going soon. How were they to keep together? And if they should keep together, what was there for them to do? Had not the Master done everything? Without him, where would be the meaning of their fellowship the purpose of their life? It is a proof of the reality of their attachment to Jesus, of the bitterness of their disappointment at his departure, that in this hour their souls should he burdened, and all but overwhelmed with grief.
III THE EFFECT OF SORROW TO TURN AWAY THE MIND FROM INQUIRIES WHICH MAY LEAD TO CONSOLATION. The apostles were absorbed in their own grief and trouble. Hence they were prevented by their own depression from inquiring further into the Lord"s departure. Not that they were altogether incurious and careless concerning this; some of them had put questions suggested by the Lord"s words. But they sank back at once upon their own condition and prospects. If they had turned away from their own loss, if they had followed Christ"s declarations concerning himself with interest and faith, if they had asked for further revelations, they would both have forgotten their personal distress, and they would have received inspiration and fortitude as they realized the victory which should follow the Savior"s humiliation, and as they understood that in that victory they themselves should share.
IV THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE IS THUS REACHED, THAT THE BEST AND MOST HELPFUL HABIT OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE IS THE CONCENTRATION OF THOUGHT AND FEELING RATHER UPON OUR SAVIOR THAN UPON OURSELVES. Experience has shown that it is a most deleterious practice to direct thought too much inwardly upon our own sorrows and perplexities, or even upon our joys and comforts. Religious progress is made by fixing the gaze of the heart upon him who is infinite Excellence and infinite Faithfulness. Let our chief interest, our most earnest questioning, our most ardent affection, be directed towards him; and then sorrow will vanish and peace will reign. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 5, 6. Now I go my way to him…
5, 6. Now I go my way to him that sent me. To the Father, by way of the Cross, the Sepulcher, the Resurrection and the Ascension. None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? They had asked this question, but in the stupefaction of their sorrow they had ceased to ask.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The comfort of Christ’s going away:
The comfort of Christ’s going away:
v. 5. But now I go My way to Him that sent Me; and none of you asketh Me, Whither goest Thou?
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v. 6. But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
v. 7. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.
So long has Jesus been with them as Guide and Protector; but now the time for departure has come. But instead of provoking all manner of inquiries on their part, the announcement has stunned them with sorrow. The Lord has discharged the mission for which He was sent, and, in a manner of speaking, goes to report on a duty properly performed. But His words concerning His leaving find no interest on the part of the disciples as to His future welfare. Their attitude savors strongly of selfishness at the loss of the Master and grief at His departure. They are insensible to the real issue involved. And therefore He gives them the comforting, cheering assurance that His going away is expedient for them, that it will accrue to their advantage, that they will reap only benefit from it. If He should stay in their midst with His bodily presence, then the other, greater event would be rendered impossible: the Comforter would not come. The sending of the Spirit depended upon the fact that Christ should enter into the glory of His Father according to His human nature. As the exalted Son of Man He would have and make use of the power to send them the Comforter. "This is the meaning of these words: If I go not away, that is, if I do not die and be removed from this corporeal essence and life, nothing is gained, but you remain where you are now, and everything will remain in the old way as it was formerly and still is: the Jews under the Law of Moses, the heathen in their blindness; all under sin and death, and no one can be delivered there from nor be saved. Thus no scripture would be fulfilled and I should have come in vain, and all would be useless, both what the holy fathers before you and you yourselves believed and hoped. But if I depart and die and carry out what God has decided in His counsel to perform through Me, then the Holy Ghost will come to you, and work in you, and give you such courage that you will become My officers and coregents, change the whole world, abrogate the Law, or Jewry, destroy the heathen idolatry, and rebuke and change the whole world, so that your doctrine will remain and penetrate everlastingly, though it will displease the devil and the whole world. That is the gift and the glory which My going away brings to you. " Note: It appears from these words of Christ that we Christians of the present time have more benefit from the work of the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, than the disciples had of the personal, visible presence of the Lord when He dwelt among them in the form of a servant.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 sadness has filled your heart
sadness has filled your heart
Here "heart" is a metonym for a person's inner being. AT: "you are now very sad" (See: Metonymy)
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if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you
You can translate this in a positive form. AT: "the Comforter will come to you only if I go away" (See: Double Negatives)
Comforter
This is a title for the Holy Spirit who will be with the disciples after Jesus goes away. See how you translated this in John 14:26.
translationWords
heart
true
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.