Bible Strands
John 16:28
I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses His disciples in the moments before the Passover Feast, immediately after noting their belief that He came from God.
The words — The Greek ἐξῆλθον (exēlthon) literally means "I came forth," establishing the textual basis for the claim of divine origin.
The thread — The pattern of departure and return appears in John 13:1, John 13:3, and John 8:14, where Jesus repeatedly states His origin from the Father and His impending journey back to Him.
Why it lands — The text states Jesus will leave the world and go to the Father, directly following the disciples' observation that He now speaks plainly. It requires the reader to accept the disclosed reality of Christ's origin and destination without relying on figurative speech.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
Cross-references
- John 13:1 It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end.
- John 13:3 Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.
- John 8:14 Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going.
- John 14:28 You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
- John 16:5 Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
- John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.
- John 16:16 In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.”
- John 17:11 I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one.
- Acts 1:9 After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
- Luke 9:51 As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.