💫WEB · John 16:5
What does John 16:5 mean?
"But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’"
— John 16:5 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.
They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
But I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.
But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment;
Explanation
John 16:5 comes from Jesus’s words to his disciples during the Last Supper, in the section of John’s Gospel often called the Farewell Discourse (John 13–17). Here Jesus states plainly that he is returning to the Father who sent him, and he notes, with a touch of sorrow, that none of them are asking him where he is going. On the surface, this is a simple statement about his impending departure, but it carries deep emotional and theological weight given the setting: it is the night before his crucifixion, and Jesus is preparing his
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