John 16:16 Commentary and Bible Study

Christ though ascended will be ‘seen’ by them, and I put ‘seen’ in inverted commas. Now it was very perplexing to the disciples. They understood it once Calvary and the coming of the Spirit had taken place, but not at this point. ‘A little while, and ye shall not see me’ – because of his death – ‘and again, a little while, and ye shall see me.’ Does that refer to the resurrection appearances? Well a to a small extent it refers to that. To a small extent that is fulfilled in the resurrection appearances, but that is not what Christ refers to, because he says, ‘because I go to the Father.’ He is referring to after the resurrection appearances, when he ascends and they will see the resurrected Lord no more, and he is permanently returned to his former glory in heaven at the right hand of God the Father.‘And again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.’ Well, that is a mystery. He is not referring to the resurrection appearances, but saying that they shall see him after he returns to the Father and because he returns to the Father. How will they see him? In what sense will they see him? Well, we will answer that, but they do not understand his words.