John 16

I don't have much to say about this passage.  The first part was confusing for the disciples, and I find it interesting that Jesus chides them a little bit (16:31) for believing only when he speaks "clearly" and without figures of speech.  But notice how John 16 is framed at the beginning and the end with the words "I have told you..."  In verse 4: I have told you this so that when the time comes... (notice "when" the disciples experience persecution, not "if").  In verse 33, however, despite the persecution, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world, you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."