John 16:25 means that Jesus had been using picture language and comparisons to teach his disciples, but a time was coming when he would speak about the Father in direct, clear terms. He said this to his closest followers during the Last Supper, as he prepared them for his death and return to the Father.
I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
John 16:25 (WEB)
What John 16:25 Means
The phrase “figures of speech” points to the way Jesus often taught through parables, metaphors and sayings that required thought to unpack. A shepherd, a vine, a grain of wheat falling into the ground: these images carried truth, but they could also leave listeners puzzled. Jesus is admitting that his earlier teaching was often veiled in this way, not to hide truth but to draw people into thinking about it.
The second half of the verse carries the promise. “The time is coming” points to a coming moment, which the disciples would soon recognize as the events of his death, resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit. “Tell you plainly about the Father” means that the relationship between the Father and the Son, and the Father’s love for his people, would become clear in a way it had not been before. The verse does not promise that every question will be answered in this life, but it does promise that God has not left his people in confusion about who he is.
The Context of John 16:25
John 16 is part of the long farewell discourse in the Gospel of John, spoken by Jesus on the night before his crucifixion. The Gospel is traditionally attributed to John, one of the twelve disciples, and it was written so that readers might believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. The audience here is the inner circle of disciples who were gathered in the upper room, and the setting is intimate and full of foreboding.
Just before verse 25, Jesus speaks of sorrow turning to joy and of a day when his followers will ask in his name. Just after it, he says the Father himself loves them because they have loved Jesus and believed he came from God. Read in this flow, the promise of plain speech is connected to the promise of direct access to the Father. The clearer teaching is not a separate topic but part of the same comfort: the disciples will understand the Father’s heart because the Son has made him known.
Key Phrases in John 16:25
John 14:9
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
(WEB)
In this verse Jesus tells Philip that whoever has seen him has seen the Father. It expands the promise in John 16:25 by showing that the plain revelation of the Father has already been made in the person of Jesus himself.
John 16:13
However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.
(WEB)
Here Jesus says the Spirit of truth will guide the disciples into all truth and declare to them what is to come. This verse explains how the promised plain teaching would continue after Jesus returned to the Father.
A Short Prayer From John 16:25
Father, thank you that you have not left us in confusion about who you are. Thank you that Jesus came to make you known, and that he spoke plainly of your love when the time was right. When my understanding is clouded and your ways seem hidden, help me to keep listening, to keep reading your Word and to trust that you will make yourself clear in your timing. Teach me to know you more truly each day, through your Son and by your Spirit. Amen.
