John 16:32

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(32) Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come.—Comp. Notes on Matthew 26:31; Matthew 26:56.

Every man to his own.—Or, his own lodging in Jerusalem, which must be here intended. That is, as the margin renders it, “to his own home.” (Comp. Note on John 1:11.)

And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.—They would each flee to his own place of sojourn. He, too, though apparently left alone, had His own home in the presence of the Father, which was ever with Him. The fact of their leaving Him could not in truth have added to His sense of loneliness. He must, even when surrounded by them, have always been alone. The thoughts of His mind were so infinitely beyond them, that the true sympathy which binds souls in companionship could never have had place. And yet He was never alone, for His life was one of constant communion with the Father. (Comp. the consciousness of this in John 8:29.) Once only do we find the vision of the Father’s presence eclipsed for a moment by the thick darkness of the world’s sin; but the wail of agony, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) is straightway followed by the assurance of His presence, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit” (Luke 23:46.)

Alone and not alone. It was so in the human life of our Lord; it is so in the life of His followers. There is a sense in which each one is alone; and there is a depth of being into which no human friend can ever enter. There is a loneliness which of itself would lead to despair, were it not that its very existence tells of and leads to the never-failing communion with God:—

“Who hath the Father and the Son

May be left—but not alone.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:28-33 Here is a plain declaration of Christ's coming from the Father, and his return to him. The Redeemer, in his entrance, was God manifest in the flesh, and in his departure was received up into glory. By this saying the disciples improved in knowledge. Also in faith; Now are we sure. Alas! they knew not their own weakness. The Divine nature did not desert the human nature, but supported it, and put comfort and value into Christ's sufferings. And while we have God's favourable presence, we are happy, and ought to be easy, though all the world forsake us. Peace in Christ is the only true peace, in him alone believers have it. Through him we have peace with God, and so in him we have peace in our own minds. We ought to be encouraged, because Christ has overcome the world before us. But while we think we stand, let us take heed lest we fall. We know not how we should act if brought into temptation; let us watch and pray without ceasing, that we may not be left to ourselves.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The hour cometh - To wit, on the next day, when he was crucified.

Ye shall be scattered - See Matthew 26:31.

Every man to his own - That is, as in the margin, to his own home. You shall see me die, and suppose that my work is defeated, and return to your own dwellings. It is probable that the two disciples going to Emmaus were on their way to their dwellings, Luke 24. After his death all the disciples retired into Galilee, and were engaged in their common employment of fishing, John 21:1-14; Matthew 28:7.

Leave me alone - Leave me to die without human sympathy or compassion. See the notes at Matthew 26:31, Matthew 26:56.

Because the Father is with me - His Father was his friend. He had all along trusted in God. In the prospect of his sufferings he could still look to him for support. And though in his dying moments he suffered so much as to use the language, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" yet it was language addressed to him still as his God - "My God, my God." Even then he had confidence in God - confidence so strong and unwavering that he could say, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit," Luke 23:46. In all these sufferings he had the assurance that God was his friend, that he was doing his will, that he was promoting his glory, and that he looked on him with approbation. It matters little who else forsakes us if God be with us in the hour of pain and of death; and though poor, forsaken, or despised, yet, if we have the consciousness of his presence and his favor, then we may fear no evil. His rod and his staff, they will comfort us. Without his favor then, death will be full of horrors, though we be surrounded by weeping relatives, and by all the honor, and splendor, and wealth which the world can bestow. The Christian can die saying, I am not alone, because the Father is with me. The sinner dies without a friend that can alleviate his sufferings - without one source of real joy.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

31-33. Jesus answered … Do ye now believe?—that is, "It is well ye do, for it is soon to be tested, and in a way ye little expect."

the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone—A deep and awful sense of wrong experienced is certainly expressed here, but how lovingly! That He was not to be utterly deserted, that there was One who would not forsake Him, was to Him matter of ineffable support and consolation; but that He should be without all human countenance and cheer, who as Man was exquisitely sensitive to the law of sympathy, would fill themselves with as much shame, when they afterwards recurred to it, as the Redeemer's heart in His hour of need with pungent sorrow. "I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none" (Ps 69:20).

because the Father is with me—how near, and with what sustaining power, who can express?

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Though you profess that now you do believe, you had need look to your faith; there is yet a trying time coming upon you, when your faith will waver, and you, who have been so long my followers, will leave me to shift for myself, and every one of you shift for yourselves: this came to pass presently after, Matthew 26:56. Those who think they stand, had need take heed lest they fall; those who think their faith strongest, ought to be thinking with themselves, what they shall do, how they shall be able to stand, in a day of sharp trial. Many in a calm time appear to be professors and believers, who, when affliction and persecution ariseth for the gospel’s sake, will fall away, and leave Christ alone.

Yet (saith our Saviour) I am not alone, because the Father is with me. No man is alone who hath the presence of God with him. Christ knew that in all his sufferings he should have the presence and assistance of his heavenly Father.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Behold the hour cometh, yea, is now come,.... The time is at hand, yea, it may, in a sense, be said to be already come, it was within an hour: and indeed the following prayer might be delivered in less than an hour's time; when he went immediately into the garden, and was apprehended; or at least in a very little while it would come to pass,

that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own; to his own friends, relations, and acquaintance; to his own house and home; to his own country, Galilee, whither they all went, and to their trade of fishing again; see John 21:3; and so was fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 13:7;

and shall leave me alone; as they did in the hands of his enemies; for they all forsook him and fled, some one way, some another; though one or two of them, Peter and John, followed him at a distance; and all came together again, but not to Christ, until his resurrection from the dead.

And yet I am, not alone; he was not alone at this time; and his meaning is, that he should not be alone then when they should be scattered from him:

because the Father is with me; not only as the Son of God, by virtue of union to him, and as one with him; but as Mediator, in consequence of his promise to uphold him, and assist him in his human nature; and though he withdrew his gracious and comforting presence from him, he bearing the sins, and standing in the room and stead of his people, yet not his powerful and supporting presence.

Geneva Study Bible

{10} Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

(10) Neither the wickedness of the world, neither the weakness of his own, can diminish anything of the virtue of Christ.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

32. the hour cometh] Better (as in John 16:25), there cometh an hour.

yea, is now come] Omit ‘now;’ the expression is not the same as John 4:23.

that ye shall be scattered] Rather, that ye may be scattered. ‘That’ = ‘in order that,’ expressing the Divine purpose (comp. John 16:2). This part of the allegory of the sheep-fold is to be illustrated even in the shepherds themselves (John 10:12).

to his own] ‘To his own home,’ as the margin has it here and the text of John 19:27; or more generally ‘to his own property and pursuits,’ his belongings and surroundings. Comp. John 1:11. The Greek in all three passages is the same, ‘his own’ being neuter plural.

shall leave] Rather, may leave, depending upon ‘in order that.’

and yet] The ‘yet’ is not expressed in the Greek, but implied, as often in S. John, in the collocation of the sentences. Comp. John 1:10-11, John 3:19; John 3:32, John 6:70, John 7:4; John 7:26, John 8:20, John 9:30. Our translators have as a rule wisely omitted the ‘yet,’ leaving S. John’s simple constructions to tell their own meaning. Here the ‘yet’ is almost necessary.

the Father is with me] The Divine background (as it seems to us) of Christ’s life was to Him a Presence of which He was always conscious (John 8:29), with the awful exception in Matthew 27:46.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 16:32. Ἰδοὺ, behold) The Saviour fortifies the faith of the disciples against the impending storm.—εἰς τὰ ἴδια, to His own) which previously ye have left for My sake. The treachery of Judas, who had carried the purse, was added to the other greater causes of their being scattered.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 32. - Behold, the hour cometh, [yea] is come, that (see Ver. 2. The effort made by some to preserve the relic force of ῖνα here breaks down. It has very little more than the power of "when," and the bringing in of the notion of a purpose or Divine counsel encumbers the sense) you shall be scattered (i.e. the fact is as good as already enacted) every man to his own, and shall leave me alone. The σκορκισθῆτε points back to Zechariah 13:7, and reminds us of our Lord's recent quotation of this very prophecy, and his application of it to the disciples (Matthew 26:31, 32). This falling away from Jesus as he rises more and more into the greatness of his work is one of the witnesses of his Divine mission into such a world as this First the Galilaean hosts and the multitudes who shouted "Hosanna!" then his own brethren, then all except the twelve, then all the authorities, are openly hostile. Even Joseph and Nicodemus and Lazarus are silent, Judas is treacherous; but the eleven still cling to him. Soon Christ selects from the faithful few the faithfullest for the watch over his last agony, but one of these denies him, and they all forsake him and flee. John and his mother, who follow within earshot of the cross, are sent to their own home, and there is a moment when he is absolutely alone. He even says, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" But as in this agony he can still say, "Father, into thy hands," so here he anticipates the Divine overshadowing presence, and adds, Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. The sublimest word of all, charged with consolation. John 16:32

Vincent's Word Studies

That (ἵνα)

See on John 16:2, and see on John 15:12. In the divine counsel the hour cometh that ye may be scattered, and may leave, etc.

To his own (εἰς τὰ ἴδια)

To his own home. See on John 1:11.