John 16:31 (YLT)

Passage

Jesus answered them, `Now do ye believe? lo, there doth come an hour,

Nearby Context

John 16:29 His disciples say to him, `Lo, now freely thou dost speak, and no similitude speakest thou;

John 16:30 now we have known that thou hast known all things, and hast no need that any one do question thee; in this we believe that from God thou didst come forth.'

John 16:31 Jesus answered them, `Now do ye believe? lo, there doth come an hour,

John 16:32 and now it hath come, that ye may be scattered, each to his own things, and me ye may leave alone, and I am not alone, because the Father is with me;

John 16:33 these things I have spoken to you, that in me ye may have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation, but take courage--I have overcome the world.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jesus", "answered", "believe", "doth", "come", and "hour". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jesus" and "answered", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "now we have known that thou hast..." into verse 32's "and now it hath come that ye...", so "jesus" and "answered" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jesus" and "answered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.