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John 16:4 |
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But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
Note 73 at Jn. 16:4: As long as Jesus was with the disciples, He was the focus of the Jews' persecution. Any rejection the disciples encountered by association was more than compensated for by the fact that Jesus was physically present to comfort and instruct them. All this was to soon change.
After the ascension of Jesus, the disciples encountered the full force of the Jews' rejection even to the point of martyrdom. Jesus assures them that His words about persecution would comfort them. He then goes on to mention again the Holy Spirit coming and even states that the comfort of the Holy Spirit will be even better because He will be in them.
