16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” 17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.” 19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
Jesus had been speaking about the Holy Spirit but now He turned to the subject of the Son.
16:16
“A little while, and you will not see Me;
Jesus affirmed that He would die in a few hours and that the apostles would not see Him or relate to Him as a person as He hung on the cross (Jn 14:19).
and again a little while, and you will see Me,
The apostles at this point did not know that Jesus would rise from the dead and be with them for 40 days. After His resurrection they would see Him in an entirely different relationship.
because I go to the Father.”
Not only would Jesus rise from the dead, but He would ascend to the Father after 40 days of walking in His resurrection body.
16:17
Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?”
The disciples were confused about what Jesus said in verse 16. It seemed like double talk to them.
16:18
They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.”
The apostles were in a state of confusion over Jesus’ statement about His being with them in interval between His resurrection and ascension. They were not even clear at this point on whether He was going to rise from the dead.
16:19
Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
Jesus knew what the apostles were thinking. The two uses of “a little while” indicate that the apostles were confused about the immediate future.
PRINCIPLE:
God anticipates our every need.
APPLICATION:
Although Jesus was about ready to leave the apostles, He anticipated every contingency they might face in the crisis of the cross. He made every preparation for their well-being. He gave them a simple outline of what would happen in the days ahead.
Jesus laid the ground or prepared His followers for what they were about to face. These men had completely relied on Him for direction until this point, and now He would no longer be there physically to guide them and answer their questions. He would meet their need in an entirely different way.
