The term “these things” refers back to chapters 14 through 16. Jesus gives His audience a significant pointer that those chapters are not plain or easy to understand, but that they employ a great deal of figurative language.
This description by Jesus is vital to keep in mind, because John 14—16 contains Christ’s teaching on the Holy Spirit, and the language that Jesus uses is easily misunderstood. A great many people wind up seeing a third God being in these chapters. Trinitarians commonly grab proof-texts from these chapters, but when we examine all that Christ says here, as well as the rest of God’s word, we find that there is no reason to invent a third God being called “the Holy Spirit.” Jesus tells us the language is figurative so we will consider them more carefully, and so we don’t end up confusing ourselves.
