John 16:30 — Community Reflections

JOHN 16:30 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.”

Jesus answered them, 'Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me' — Jesus' question reveals the fragility of the disciples' faith; they claim to believe, yet the coming hour will expose how shallow their faith is. Scattering (diaskorpizō—scatter, disperse) is the fate of the disciples at the crucifixion; they abandon Jesus, each fleeing to his own home. Yet even in this abandonment, Jesus is not alone; the Father remains with him. This is the deepest loneliness and the deepest communion: Jesus abandoned by humans yet held by God.

Church Fathers on John 16:30

The disciples were so refreshed with the thought of being in favor with the Father, that they say they are sure He knows all things: His disciples said to Him, Now you speak plainly, and speak no proverb.
Chrysostom · 4th century

But why do they say so, when the hour in which He was to speak without proverbs was yet future, and only promised? Because, our Lord’s communications still continuing proverbs to them, they are so far from understanding them, that they do not even understand their not understanding them.
Augustine · 4th century

They believe that He came forth from God, because He does the works of God. For whereas our Lord had said both, I came forth from the Father, and, I am come into the world from the Father, they testified no wonder at the latter words, I am come into the world, which they had often heard before. But their reply shows a belief in and appreciation of the former, I came forth from the Father. And they notice this in their reply: By this we believe that you came forth from God;…
Hilary of Poitiers · 4th century

Read all 15 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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