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little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me.” Some of his disciples therefore said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;’ and, ‘Because I go to the Father’?” They said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what he is saying.” Therefore Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, “Do you inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?’ Most certainly I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.
John 16:16-20
John 16 [1.] “These things have I spoken to you, so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God. They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment; about sin, because they don’t believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more; about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged.
John 16 [12.] “I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. 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. He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. All things whatever the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes of mine, and will declare it to you. A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me.”
John 16 [17.] Some of his disciples therefore said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;’ and, ‘Because I go to the Father’?” They said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what he is saying.”
John 16 [19.] Therefore Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, “Do you inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?’ Most certainly I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
John 16 [23.] “In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. 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. In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you, that I will pray to the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
Meaning:
Jesus had promised that the Spirit of truth would guide his disciples into all truth (John 16:13-14). Then he spoke a short riddle about “a little while,” which puzzled them. This scene shows the disciples’ confusion and Jesus’ patient promise that their sorrow would become joy.
- “A little while, and you will not see me”
Within hours Jesus would be arrested, crucified and buried. The disciples would no longer see him. The second “little while” points first to the resurrection, when he appeared to them alive and “The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20). Many also see in it a hint of the longer “little while” until his return.
- “We don’t know what he is saying”
The disciples talked among themselves, repeating his words. They could not fit a dying and rising Messiah into their expectations. Jesus knew their thoughts and answered before they asked.
- “You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice”
At the cross the disciples mourned while Jesus’ enemies mocked: “He saved others. He can’t save himself” (Mark 15:31). It looked like the world had won.
- “Your sorrow will be turned into joy”
Jesus does not say their sorrow would be replaced by joy, but turned into it. The very event that caused their grief, the cross, would become the source of their deepest joy once the risen Lord stood among them. Later they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52). The psalmist had said, “Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
The Significance of John 16:16-20
- Joy beyond sorrow
Jesus does not deny the reality of grief, but he promises that for his people it is never the end.
- Bring your questions to Jesus
The disciples whispered among themselves, but Jesus answered them. He knows our confusion and meets us in it.
Cross-References:
Psalm 30:5: "Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning." Sorrow gives way to joy.
Psalm 126:5: "Those who sow in tears will reap in joy." Tears turned to harvest.
Luke 24:52: "returned to Jerusalem with great joy," The disciples' joy after the resurrection.
Conclusion: Jesus told his puzzled disciples that in a little while they would not see him, and in a little while they would see him again. They would weep while the world rejoiced, but their sorrow would be turned into joy when he rose from the dead.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible