💫WEB · John 16:25
What does John 16:25 mean?
"I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father."
— John 16:25 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
“In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you, that I will pray to the Father for you,
for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God.
I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
Explanation
John 16:25 comes from Jesus's final extended conversation with his disciples on the night before his crucifixion, part of what is often called the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17). In this verse, Jesus acknowledges that much of what he has taught them—about his departure, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the disciples' future grief turning to joy, and their relationship with the Father—has come wrapped in figurative or veiled language. He tells them plainly that this manner of teaching will not last forever. A time is coming, he says, when he will speak to them without the need for symbolic or indirect speech, and will tell them openly about the Father.
To understand this, it helps to know that throughout John's Gospel, Jesus frequently uses metaphors, parables, and illustrative language—the vine and branches, the bread of life, the good shepherd, being born again, and so on. His disciples often misunderstand these figures, sometimes taking them too literally or missing the point entirely. In the surrounding verses of chapter 16, Jesus has just spoken of "a little while" of sorrow turning into joy, using the image of a woman in labor, and the disciples are visibly confused about what he means. Against that backdrop, this verse is Jesus's promise that clarity is coming—that the season of veiled teaching is temporary and tied to his current circumstances, particularly his death and resurrection, which have not yet occurred.
Theologically, this verse points to the unfolding nature of divine revelation tied to the completed work of Christ. The "time" Jesus refers to is
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