John 16:6 Study Bible: But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart.

◄ John 16:6 ►

Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things.

Instead
The word "instead" serves as a contrastive conjunction, indicating a shift from what might be expected to what is actually occurring. In the context of John 16, Jesus is speaking to His disciples about His impending departure. The Greek word used here is "ἀλλὰ" (alla), which often introduces a strong contrast. This highlights the unexpected nature of the disciples' reaction. Instead of joy or understanding, their hearts are filled with sorrow, underscoring the depth of their emotional struggle and the human tendency to focus on immediate loss rather than future hope.

your hearts
The phrase "your hearts" refers to the innermost being of the disciples, encompassing their emotions, thoughts, and will. In biblical terms, the heart is often seen as the center of one's spiritual and emotional life. The Greek word "καρδία" (kardia) is used here, which is the root of the English word "cardiac." This emphasizes the personal and profound nature of their sorrow, as it is not just a superficial feeling but a deep-seated emotional response to Jesus' words.

are filled
The phrase "are filled" indicates a state of being overwhelmed or completely occupied by something. The Greek verb "πεπλήρωται" (peplērōtai) is in the perfect tense, suggesting a completed action with ongoing effects. This implies that the disciples' sorrow is not a fleeting emotion but a pervasive and enduring state. It reflects the intensity of their grief and the impact of Jesus' revelation on their current state of mind.

with sorrow
"Sorrow" here is translated from the Greek word "λύπη" (lypē), which denotes deep grief or distress. This word is often used in the New Testament to describe the kind of sorrow that accompanies loss or suffering. The disciples are experiencing a profound sense of loss at the thought of Jesus leaving them. This sorrow is not just emotional but also spiritual, as they grapple with the implications of His departure for their mission and future.

because I have told you these things
This phrase provides the reason for the disciples' sorrow. Jesus has been speaking to them about His departure, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the challenges they will face. The Greek word "εἴρηκα" (eirēka) is used for "I have told," which is in the perfect tense, indicating that Jesus' words have a lasting impact. The phrase "these things" refers to the preceding discourse, where Jesus prepares His disciples for the trials ahead. Their sorrow stems from a lack of understanding of the greater purpose behind His words, highlighting the tension between human perception and divine revelation.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Jesus Christ
The central figure in this passage, Jesus is speaking to His disciples about His impending departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

2. The Disciples
The immediate audience of Jesus' words, they are experiencing sorrow due to Jesus' revelation about His departure.

3. The Upper Room
The setting for this discourse, where Jesus shares His final teachings and prayers with His disciples before His crucifixion.

4. The Holy Spirit
Although not directly mentioned in this verse, the context involves Jesus preparing the disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

5. Jerusalem
The city where these events are taking place, significant as the location of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.

Teaching Points

Understanding Sorrow
Recognize that sorrow is a natural response to loss or change, even in the context of God's plan.

The Role of the Holy Spirit
Embrace the Holy Spirit as the Comforter who provides peace and guidance in times of sorrow.

Trust in God's Plan
Trust that God's plan, even when it involves difficult changes, is ultimately for our good and His glory.

Hope Beyond Sorrow
Focus on the hope and joy that come from Jesus' promises, which transcend present sorrows.

Community Support
Lean on fellow believers for support and encouragement during times of sorrow, as the disciples did.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does understanding the context of Jesus' departure help us interpret the disciples' sorrow in John 16:6?

2. In what ways can the promise of the Holy Spirit provide comfort to us today, as it did for the disciples?

3. How can we apply the principle of trusting in God's plan when we face sorrow or uncertainty in our lives?

4. What are some practical ways we can support others in our Christian community who are experiencing sorrow?

5. How do other scriptures, such as Philippians 4:6-7, help us deal with anxiety and sorrow in our spiritual journey?

Connections to Other Scriptures

John 14:1-3
Jesus comforts His disciples by promising them a place in His Father's house, which connects to the theme of sorrow and hope.

Acts 1:8
The promise of the Holy Spirit's power, which fulfills Jesus' words and provides comfort and strength to the disciples.

Philippians 4:6-7
Encourages believers to bring their anxieties to God, promising peace, which relates to the disciples' sorrow and the peace Jesus offers.

Sermons

Abuse of Conscience	Archdeacon Watkins., R. South, D. D.	John 16:1-6
Christ's Reasons for Present Speech and Former Silence	A. Maclaren, D. D.	John 16:1-6
Excommunication	G. J. Brown, M. A.	John 16:1-6
Excommunication Among the Jews	Archbishop Tillotson.	John 16:1-6
Going to God	W. Denton, M. A.	John 16:1-6
Gratitude for Massacre		John 16:1-6
Misdirected and Sanctified Curiosity	J. A. Seiss, M. A.	John 16:1-6
Religious Fanaticism	J. A. Froude.	John 16:1-6
Religious Intolerance Dishonouring to God	Jeremy Taylor.	John 16:1-6
The Best Men Liable to the Worst Treatment from Mistaken Zealots	Abp. Tillotson.	John 16:1-6
The Church and the World	J. Stoughton, D. D.	John 16:1-6
The Fate of the First Disciples	J. Angus, D. D.	John 16:1-6
The Tribulation Explained	T. Whitelaw,D. D.	John 16:1-6
The Absorbing Power of Sorrow	J.R. Thomson	John 16:5, 6

People

Jesus, Disciples

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Filled, Full, Grief, Heart, Hearts, Sorrow, Spoken

Dictionary of Bible Themes

John 16:6

5831 depression
5952 sorrow

John 16:5-6

5952 sorrow

John 16:5-10

2505 Christ, ascension

John 16:5-21

3215 Holy Spirit, and peace

Library

Presence in Absence
Eversley, third Sunday after Easter. 1862. St John xvi. 16. "A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father." Divines differ, and, perhaps, have always differed, about the meaning of these words. Some think that our Lord speaks in them of His death and resurrection. Others that He speaks of His ascension and coming again in glory. I cannot decide which is right. I dare not decide. It is a very solemn thing--too solemn …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

November 6 Evening
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me--PSA. 25:5. When . . . the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth.--Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.--All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 29 Evening
Do ye now believe?--JOHN 16:31. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.--Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Ye see then how that …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 14 Morning
The fellowship of His sufferings.--PHI. 3:10. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.--In the world ye shall have tribulation.--Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none.--At my …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 21 Morning
The days of thy mourning shall be ended.--ISA. 60:20. In the world ye shall have tribulation.--The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.--We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 15 Evening
The Spirit . . . maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.--ROM. 8:27. Verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.--Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us; and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 15. "He Will Guide You into all Truth" (John xvi. 13).
"He will guide you into all truth" (John xvi. 13). The Holy Ghost does not come to give us extraordinary manifestations, but to give its life and light, and the nearer we come to Him, the more simple will His illumination and leading be. He comes to "guide us into all truth." He comes to shed light upon our own hearts, and to show us ourselves. He comes to reveal Christ, to give, and then to illumine, the Holy Scriptures, and to make Divine realities vivid and clear to our spiritual apprehension. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

October 29. "Whatsoever Ye Shall Ask the Father in My Name, He Will Give it You" (John xvi. 23).
"Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you" (John xvi. 23). Two men go to the bank cashier, both holding in their hands a piece of paper. One is dressed in expensive style, and presents a gloved and jeweled hand; the other is a rough, unwashed workman. The first is rejected with a polite sentence, and the second receives a thousand dollars over the counter. What is the difference? The one presented a worthless name; the other handed in a note endorsed by the president of …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

March 5. "I have Overcome the World" (John xvi. 33).
"I have overcome the world" (John xvi. 33). Christ has overcome for us every one of our four terrible foes--Sin, Sickness, Sorrow, Satan. He has borne our Sin, and we may lay all, even down to our sinfulness itself, on Him. "I have overcome for thee." He has borne our sickness, and we may detach ourselves from our old infirmities and rise into His glorious life and strength. He has borne our sorrows, and we must not even carry a care, but rejoice evermore, and even glory in tribulations also. And …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Self-Help
ST. JOHN xvi. 7. 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. This is a deep and strange saying. How can it be expedient, useful, or profitable, for any human being that Christ should go away from them? To be in Christ's presence; to see his face; to hear his voice;--would not this be the most expedient and profitable, yea, the most blessed and blissful of things which could befall us? Is it not …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

From' and 'to'
'I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.'--JOHN xvi. 28. These majestic and strange words are the proper close of our Lord's discourse, what follows being rather a reply to the disciples' exclamation. There is nothing absolutely new in them, but what is new is the completeness and the brevity with which they cover the whole ground of His being, work, and glory. They fall into two halves, each consisting of two clauses; the former half …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Peace and victory
'These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.'--JOHN xvi. 33. So end these wonderful discourses, and so ends our Lord's teaching before His passion. He gathers up in one mighty word the total intention of these sweet and deep sayings which we have so long been pondering together. He sketches in broad outline the continual characteristics of the disciples' life, and closes all with the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Why Christ Speaks
'These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor Me. But these things have I told you, that, when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go My way to Him that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Guide into all Truth
'I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.'--JOHN xvi. 12-15. This is our Lord's …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Christ's 'little Whiles'
'A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of His disciples among themselves, What is this that He saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that He saith, A little while? we cannot tell what He saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask Him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

'In that Day'
'And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.'--JOHN xvi. 23, 24. Our Lord here sums up the prerogatives and privileges of His servants in the day that was about to dawn and to last till He came again. There is nothing absolutely new in the words; substantially the promises contained in them have appeared in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Joys of 'that Day'
'These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in My Name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God.'--JOHN xvi. 25-27. The stream which we have been tracking for so long in these discourses has now nearly reached its close. Our Lord, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Glad Confession and Sad Warning
'His disciples said unto Jesus, Lo! now speakest Thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that Thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask Thee: by this we believe that Thou earnest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.' --JOHN xvi. 29-32. The first words of these wonderful …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Departing Christ and the Coming Spirit
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. And when He is come, He will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.'--JOHN xvi. 7, 8. We read these words in the light of all that has gone after, and to us they are familiar and almost thread-bare. But if we would appreciate their sublimity, we must think away nineteen centuries, and all Christendom, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Convicting Facts
'Of sin, because they believe not on Me; Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.'--JOHN xvi. 9-11. Our Lord has just been telling His disciples how He will equip them, as His champions, for their conflict with the world. A divine Spirit is coming to them who will work in them and through them; and by their simple and unlettered testimony will 'convict,' or convince, the mass of ungodly men of error and crime in regard …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Nevertheless I Tell You the Truth; it is Expedient for You that I Go Away; for if I Go not Away
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. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them …
Charles G. Finney—Lectures to Professing Christians

June the Second Our Spiritual Guide
"When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." --JOHN xvi. 7-14. How great is the difference between a guide-post and a guide! And what a difference between a guide-book and a companion! Mere instructions may be very uninspiring, and bare commandments may be very cold. Our Guide is an inseparable Friend. And how will He guide us? He will give us insight. "He will guide you into all truth." He will refine our spirits so that we may be able to distinguish "things that …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Loved in the Beloved.
(Third Sunday in Advent, 1831.) TEXT: JOHN xvi. 27. "For the Father Himself loveth you, be cause ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father." THAT was a great word of the Saviour about Himself on which we lately spoke together, in which He represented Himself as from of old the one object of desire and longing to all the best part of mankind, to those who were nearest to God and had received most teaching from Him: but this is a still greater saying, in which He sets Himself …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

The Spirit not Striving Always.
"And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man."-Gen. vi. 3. IN speaking from this text I shall pursue the following outline of thought, and attempt to show: I. What is implied in the assertion, My Spirit shall not always strive with man; II. What is not intended by the Spirit's striving; III. What is intended by it; IV. How it maybe known when the Spirit strives with an individual; V. What is intended by His not striving always; VI. Why He will not always strive; and, VII. Some consequences …
Charles G. Finney—Sermons on Gospel Themes

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