John 16

16:1-6 Our Lord Jesus, by giving his disciples notice of trouble, designed that the terror might not be a surprise to them. It is possible for those who are real enemies to God's service, to pretend zeal for it. This does not lessen the sin of the persecutors; villanies will never be changed by putting the name of God to them. As Jesus in his sufferings, so his followers in theirs, should look to the fulfilling of Scripture. He did not tell them sooner, because he was with them to teach, guide, and comfort them; they needed not then this promise of the Holy Spirit's presence. It will silence us to ask, Whence troubles come? It will satisfy us to ask, Whither go they? for we know they work for good. It is the common fault and folly of melancholy Christians to look only on the dark side of the cloud, and to turn a deaf ear to the voice of joy and gladness. That which filled the disciples' hearts with sorrow, was too great affection for this present life. Nothing more hinders our joy in God, than the love of the world, and the sorrow of the world which comes from it.

"\nThey shall put you out of the synagogues,.... The Jews had made a law already, that he that confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, should be cast out of their synagogues; and they had put it in execution upon the blind man Christ restored to sight, for his profession of faith in him; which struck such a terror upon the people, that even many of the chief rulers who believed that Jesus was the true Messiah, durst not confess him, because of this law; for it was what they could not bear the thoughts of, to be deemed and treated as heretics and apostates, and the vilest of wretches: for this putting out of the synagogue, was not the lesser excommunication, which was called \u05e0\u05d3\u05d5\u05d9 "Niddui", and was a "separation" from a particular synagogue for a while; but the greater excommunication, either by \u05d7\u05e8\u05dd, "Cherem", or \u05e9\u05de\u05ea\u05d0, "Shammatha"; when a person was cut out from the whole body of the Jewish church, called often the synagogue, or congregation of the people; and was devoted and consigned to utter destruction, which was the height of their ecclesiastical power, their rage and malice could carry them to; and this the apostles were to expect; nay, not only this, but to have their lives taken away by ruffians, under a pretence of zeal for the service of God, and interest of religion:\n\nyea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doth God service. For this is not to be understood of their being delivered up into the hands of civil magistrates, and of their being tried, judged, condemned, and put to death by their orders, but of their being murdered by a set of men called "zealots"; who, in imitation of Phinehas, as they pretended, took upon them, whenever they found any person guilty of a capital crime, as idolatry, blasphemy, c. or what they judged so, to fall upon him at once, and without any more ado kill him nor were they accountable to any court of judicature for such an action, and which was reckoned laudable and praiseworthy: in this way, and by the hands of such miscreants, Stephen the protomartyr lost his life; for though they had him before a council, and suborned witnesses against him, yet when in his own defence he said what these "zealots" interpreted blasphemy, they ran upon him at once, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him to death; and without any leave or authority from the sanhedrim, as appears: and these men were accounted good men, zealous, \u05e7\u05e0\u05d0\u05ea\u05d5 \u05e9\u05dc \u05de\u05e7\u05d5\u05dd {y} "with a zeal for God", his honour and glory; and valued themselves much upon such butcheries and inhumanity, and thought, as our Lord here says, that they "did God service"; or as the Syriac renders it, \u05d3\u05e7\u05d5\u05e8\u05d1\u05e0\u05d0 \u05de\u05e7\u05e8\u05d1, "offered a sacrifice to God", and so the Arabic and Ethiopic: and indeed this is a rule the Jews {z}, and which they form upon the instance and example of Phinehas;\n\n"that whoever sheds the blood of wicked men, (and such they reckoned the apostles and followers of Christ to be,)\n\u05db\u05d0\u05dc\u05d5 \u05d4\u05e7\u05e8\u05d9\u05d1 \u05e7\u05e8\u05d1\u05df, "it is all one as if he offered a sacrifice";''\n\nthey looked upon this to be a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to God: so the Apostle Paul, in his unregenerate state, thought he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Christ: and that he was doing God service, when he prosecuted the church, and gave his voice with these ruffians, to put the saints to death.\n\n{y} Jarchi & Bartenora in Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 9. sect. 6. {z} Bemidbar Rabbit, Parash, 21. fol. 229. 3.\n\n\n "

"\nAnd these things will they do unto you,....