John 16:12 kjv
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
John 16:12 nkjv
"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
John 16:12 niv
"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
John 16:12 esv
"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
John 16:12 nlt
"There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can't bear it now.
John 16 12 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jn 16:13 | "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth..." | Holy Spirit's role in future understanding. |
| Jn 14:26 | "The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send... will teach you all things..." | Spirit's teaching function and memory recall. |
| 1 Cor 3:1-2 | "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it..." | Spiritual immaturity needing gradual teaching. |
| Heb 5:11-14 | "Concerning this we have much to say... you need milk, not solid food..." | Inability to grasp deeper truths due to dullness. |
| Deut 29:29 | "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed..." | God reveals truth in His timing. |
| Is 28:9-10 | "Whom will he teach knowledge...? line upon line, precept upon precept..." | Gradual, incremental divine instruction. |
| Mk 4:33 | "With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it." | Jesus' teaching method adjusted to audience capacity. |
| Mt 13:11 | "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom... but to them it has not." | Revelation's selective and timed nature. |
| Mt 11:25 | "You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children..." | Revelation to the humble and receptive. |
| 1 Cor 2:7-10 | "We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God... which God revealed to us through the Spirit." | Divine wisdom hidden until revealed by the Spirit. |
| Is 55:8-9 | "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways..." | Limit of human comprehension of divine ways. |
| Rom 11:33 | "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable..." | Inscrutability of God's full counsel. |
| Acts 1:6-7 | "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?... It is not for you to know times or seasons..." | Disciples' ongoing misperceptions; future knowledge. |
| Jn 13:7 | "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." | Promise of future understanding for present mysteries. |
| Jn 12:16 | "His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified..." | Post-resurrection clarity. |
| Lk 14:27 | "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." | Bearing (bastazein) as enduring difficulty. |
| Gal 6:2 | "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." | Bearing (bastazein) in a sense of carrying weight. |
| Phil 4:13 | "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." | Capacity for all things through Christ's strength. |
| 1 Pet 1:10-12 | "The prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired..." | Prophets searched for what we now understand. |
| Eph 3:4-5 | "When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known..." | Progressive revelation of divine mysteries. |
| Heb 6:1 | "Let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity..." | Moving beyond foundational truths to deeper ones. |
| Ps 25:14 | "The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant." | Progressive revealing of covenant truths to the obedient. |
John 16 verses
John 16 12 Meaning
John 16:12 reveals Jesus' compassionate understanding of His disciples' spiritual limitations during the Upper Room Discourse. He possessed further profound truths to impart regarding His mission, the kingdom of God, and their future role, but recognized their current emotional and spiritual state rendered them incapable of grasping, accepting, or enduring the weight of these revelations. This statement underscores the principle of progressive revelation, where God discloses truth gradually, aligning with the receiver's capacity.
John 16 12 Context
This verse is embedded within Jesus' profound Upper Room Discourse (Jn 13-17), delivered on the night before His crucifixion. The immediate context is Jesus preparing His disciples for His imminent departure, suffering, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were distraught, confused by His talk of leaving, and still held deeply ingrained expectations of an earthly, political Messiah. Their understanding of suffering, spiritual death, and the true nature of God's kingdom was minimal. Jesus recognized their emotional distress and intellectual limitations, knowing that more profound truths—such as the full meaning of His atoning death, resurrection, ascension, and the details of the New Covenant—would be too much for them to process before the empowering arrival of the Holy Spirit (promised in Jn 14-16) and their own spiritual growth catalyzed by His passion.
John 16 12 Word analysis
- I have yet many things: (Greek: Eti polla echĹŤ). Eti means "still" or "yet," implying a continuing abundance of unrevealed information. Polla means "many" or "much," signifying significant content. EchĹŤ "I have" indicates Jesus' ownership and readiness to impart, contrasting with the disciples' present inability to receive.
- to say to you: (Greek: eipein hymin). This refers to direct instruction and the impartation of divine revelation specifically for His disciples, highlighting Jesus' ongoing role as their Teacher and the personal nature of the truths.
- but: (Greek: all'). This strong adversative conjunction marks a critical pivot, introducing a compelling reason for withholding further revelation despite Jesus' willingness.
- you cannot bear them: (Greek: ou dynasthe bastazein auta). Ou dynasthe "you are not able" expresses a definite, albeit temporary, incapacity. The key word is bastazein (meaning "to carry," "to bear," "to endure," "to lift up"). This signifies more than intellectual incomprehension; it refers to the spiritual and emotional capacity to sustain, endure, and assimilate the weight, challenge, and profound implications of certain divine truths. It implies these truths would be an unbearable burden that could overwhelm or crush them in their current spiritual state.
- now: (Greek: arti). This crucial temporal adverb indicates the present moment as the specific point of limitation, implying that this incapacity is not permanent. It points to a future time, specifically after the coming and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, when they would indeed be able to bear these previously withheld truths.
John 16 12 Bonus section
The "many things" Jesus had to say likely encompassed a deeper understanding of His atoning work, the true spiritual nature of His kingdom, the formation of the Church as His body, the mystery of the Trinity in a more developed form, and the full scope of God's redemptive plan to include Gentiles without necessitating adherence to the Old Covenant Law. These truths were not merely informational but transformational, requiring spiritual readiness and divine enablement that the disciples lacked before Pentecost. The very word bastazein not only means to understand but also to suffer or endure a burden, suggesting that some of these truths would carry significant weight in terms of persecution, theological re-evaluation, or radical shifts in worldview. This implies that the disciples would need a spiritual fortitude yet to be fully granted by the Holy Spirit.
John 16 12 Commentary
John 16:12 profoundly illustrates Jesus' divine pedagogy, revealing His compassionate understanding of the human condition and the principle of progressive revelation. He withheld further, deeper truths from His disciples not to keep them ignorant, but to protect their fragile faith and developing understanding. Their current state of grief, worldly expectations, and pre-Pentecost spiritual immaturity meant that certain profound realities—such as the full theological implications of His death, resurrection, or the extensive Gentile mission—would be an unbearable burden (bastazein). The adverb "now" is vital, transforming a statement of present inability into a promise of future capacity, facilitated by the imminent arrival of the Holy Spirit. God, through Christ, reveals Himself and His truths precisely as individuals are ready to receive, comprehend, and integrate them into their lives, never overloading their spiritual capacity.