“None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?”
The full verse · John 16:5 · KJV
I go my him that ; , goest ?
Asked by
Jesus: the Son of God and promised Messiah, speaking with His disciples on the night before His death, before He went out to the garden (John 18:1)
Asked to
Disciples: "his disciples" (John 16:17), the disciples with Jesus after the supper at which He washed "the disciples' feet" (John 13:5), after Judas "went immediately out" (John 13:30), and before He "went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron" (John 18:1); Jesus says that "sorrow hath filled your heart" (John 16:6).
The Scene
On His last night with His disciples, Jesus warns them of coming persecution and then tells them He is going away "to him that sent me" (John 16:2-5).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJesus had just told them He was leaving, and their hearts were heavy. He names the reason in the next breath: "sorrow hath filled your heart" (John 16:6). They were so taken up with losing Him that they never asked where He was going. Barnes says, "They gave themselves up to grief instead of inquiring why he was about to leave them," and adds, "Had they made the inquiry, he was ready to answer them and to comfort them." Gill notes that Peter had asked, "Lord, whither goest thou?" earlier that evening (John 13:36), but thinks Peter meant some hidden place in the country, since "he had no notion of his going out of the world." Jesus' question gently turns their eyes from what they were losing to where He was going.
The Response
What Scripture recordsJesus answers His own question. He names their sorrow (John 16:6) and then tells them the truth: "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16:7). He goes on to describe the Spirit's work in the world and in them (John 16:8-15). Before the night is over He states plainly where He is going: "I leave the world, and go to the Father" (John 16:28).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe same Greek verb, hupago, meaning to go away or depart, stands behind both "I go my way" and "goest thou" in this verse. Jesus had used the phrase "him that sent me" earlier, when He told the crowds He was going away (John 7:33), and the Jews had wondered aloud where He would go (John 7:35). That same evening Peter asked where He was going (John 13:36) and Thomas said, "we know not whither thou goest" (John 14:5). Gill explains that even so, "They ask neither about the place he was going to, nor the way to it, nor the happiness to be enjoyed there."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyJesus wanted His friends to ask. Their grief was real, and He did not scold it, but He did not want sorrow to close their mouths. What looked like pure loss was, in His words, "expedient for you" (John 16:7), because His going would bring the Comforter.
Later in the same conversation He invites them again: "ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). Matthew Henry observes, "Nothing more hinders our joy in God, than the love of the world, and the sorrow of the world which comes from it." The question shows a Lord who knows our sorrow and still draws us to look at where He is leading.
Look Closer
According to Jesus, why had none of them asked where He was going?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, when sorrow fills my heart, what questions about where You are leading am I forgetting to ask You?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- When you are grieving a loss, what makes it hard to bring your questions to God?
- Tell about a time something that felt like a loss later turned out to be good for you.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Jesus does not tell His friends their sorrow is wrong. He names it (John 16:6). But He also does not want grief to keep them from asking Him where He is going and why.
When something hard comes, it is easy to sit with the loss and stop asking. Barnes puts it this way: "We should inquire why it is that God thus tries us; and we should never doubt that if we come to him, and spread out our sorrows before him, he will give us consolation."
This does not mean every answer will come at once. That same night Jesus said, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (John 16:12). Ask anyway, and trust Him with the timing.
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Lord, whither goest thou?”
“Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?”
“What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?”
“Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?”