John Chapter 16

vs 12

There isn't long till Jesus is gone. The good news for the disciples is that he will be back after he is dead, and they'll probably listen to him a whole lot better then.

vs 13

The Spirit speaks the words of God, for the guidance of Christians into truth, and to give us a (albeit typically fairly general) idea of what's coming. Interesting that John points this out, when he had something extra special revealed to him, and wrote Revelation.

vs 14-15

So the Lord has given Jesus all things, and the Holy Spirit will take some of that and make it known to the disciples (and to all Christians). We have to step away from the materialistic understanding of "all" to understand this properly, I think. Things like "understanding" and "knowledge" and "wisdom" also belong to the Father. A little more esoteric, but no less available to the Spirit.

vs 16

Jesus is obviously talking about his death and resurrection. It makes perfect sense to us, but at the time, the disciples were obviously less clued in.

vs 17-18

They were having trouble now with what he means. Obviously they're thinking about stuff a little more clearly.

vs 19

And so Jesus begins to explain to them, firstly by recapping where they're at.

vs 20

That pretty much clears up that he is going to die. But his death is not going to be forever - in fact, they will soon change from mourning to joy. So something's going to happen - is he going to come back from the dead?

vs 21-22

Jesus uses a picture of birth to speak of his resurrection. At the moment, yes, it will hurt - not just for him, but for the disciples too. But when he returns, they will be full of joy. And it's an eternal joy in more ways than one - Jesus is alive again, and will never die again. But neither will the disciples. Oh, sure, they all die, some of them pretty horribly, but Jesus has given them his word that they have places in heaven ready for them, and those will last an eternity.