Explanation:

When taken in isolation, Jesus’ statement that a little while (μικρὸν) he would not be seen, and again a little while (πάλιν μικρὸν) and he would be seen, is ambiguous. Does Jesus mean that the disciples will see him again when he returns at his second coming, or only after the disciples pass away? Jesus resolves this ambiguity by offering an analogy to help them understand what he means (John 16:21–22). He explains that when a woman goes into labour, she has sorrow, but after she gives birth, she forgets her sorrow because she has joy. In the same way, Jesus explains that the disciples will have sorrow now, but Jesus will see them again soon, and then they will have joy.

With Jesus’ analogy in mind, Carson argues that again a little while, and you will see me only makes sense as a reference to Jesus’ resurrection.⁴ Jesus had promised the disciples that by loving one another, and obeying his commands, they might have full joy (John 15:10–11). If we take again a little while, and you will see me as a reference to a future event, such as Jesus’ second coming, his analogy is at odds with his earlier statement about his disciples’ having full joy by loving one another and obeying his commands. Further, we have confirmation that the disciples in fact experienced this joy in John 20:20.

Counterargument:

There is a textual variant that adds an additional clause to the end of John 16:16 and states, Because I go to the Father (ὅτι ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα) (see Textual Variants above for a discussion). Taken together, this renders John 16:16 as, Again a little while, and you will see me, because I go to the Father. If ὅτι ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα is original, it is hard to see how again a little while, and you will see me could refer to the resurrection. If ὅτι (because) is being used in a causal sense, John is using it to explain the reason why the disciples will see Jesus again. If the reason the disciples will see Jesus again is that he goes to the Father, then again a little while, and you will see me refers to after the ascension, which rules out the resurrection.

Response to counterargument:

According to the external evidence, the earliest manuscripts omit the additional clause, ὅτι ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα. Although the quantity of manuscripts supporting the addition is relatively high, because the earliest manuscripts omit the phrase, quantity alone is not strong enough evidence to justify the addition without considering the internal evidence. The internal evidence favours the omission of the clause. This is based on the fact that when Jesus repeats the phrase that has confused the disciples (John 16:19), he does not include ὅτι ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα (because I go to the Father). Given that the addition significantly alters the meaning of the disciple’s question, it is hard to see why Jesus would overlook this aspect of their inquiry.

Explanation:

John 16:16–33 comes near the end of a section in John’s Gospel typically called The Farewell Discourse (John 13:33 – 16:33). Jesus has been preparing his disciples for their future existence as a believing community by explaining how the world will be hostile to them, that they are to obey Jesus’ commands, and that the Holy Spirit will be their counsellor.⁵ Aside from these long-term considerations, Jesus also knows that the disciples’ hope for a messiah will soon be shattered when Jesus is crucified. Jesus not only offers words of advice for the future, but comfort in the face of their imminent situation so that when Jesus is crucified, they will have some words of hope to lean back on before his resurrection. 

Counterargument:

In John 16:25 Jesus admits that he has been speaking in figures of speech, explaining that sometime in the future he will speak to the disciples plainly. Further, in John 16:32 Jesus predicts that soon the disciples will scatter and abandon him. If Jesus knows that the disciples will abandon him once he is crucified, and wants to comfort them in the fact that they will see him again after the resurrection, why does he speak figuratively? 

Response to counterargument:

When Jesus states that he has been speaking to the disciples figuratively, this cannot refer to again a little while, and you will see me in John 16:16 because Jesus offered clarity to this phrase through his analogy of the child-bearing woman (John 16:21). It is more likely the case that Jesus’ admission in John 16:25 is referring back to John 16:12, where he states that he has many things to say to the disciples, but they cannot bear them now, and so they will have to wait for the illumination of the Holy Spirit.⁶

Possible weaknesses:

1)    The major weakness of this view is that Jesus never actually states that again a little while, and you will see me refers to the resurrection.

a)     If the time when the disciples will see Jesus again is after the resurrection, and Jesus wants to offer the disciples comfort in the face of imminent despair, one wonders why he is not more explicit. For example, in John 2:18–22, Jesus explains that if the temple is destroyed, he will raise it in three days, alluding to the resurrection. John even indicates that upon the disciples' reflection on this statement after the resurrection, they understand that he was referring to the resurrection. Given the fact that Jesus knows the disciples are confused, and that they will soon abandon him, one wonders why he does not use similar language that might offer them more clues to help them prepare for the time between his crucifixion and resurrection.

2)    Another possible weakness is that this view might give more explanatory attention to the analogy of the child-bearing woman than is justified.

a)     In the Farewell Discourse (John 13:33 – 16:33) it is hard to see precisely what aspect of Jesus’ discussion the child-bearing analogy (John 16:21) is supposed to resolve. For example, in John 14:28 Jesus states that he will go away, and he will come to them, alluding to the notion that the disciples will not see him, and then they will see him again. Immediately he follows this by stating that if the disciples loved him, they would rejoice that he is going to the Father. This might imply that going away has to do with going to the Father, which happens after the ascension. The point is, the discourse contains many elements about Jesus’ going to the Father and the sending of the Holy Spirit, which the child-bearing analogy might be shedding light on.

Explanation:

Jesus has explained to his disciples that after he goes to the Father he will send the Holy Spirit who will illuminate them to see all the truth, including the truth about Jesus himself (John 16:13–15). Then, according to the variant in John 16:16, Jesus states, Again a little while, and you will see me, because I go to the Father. The because is likely causative. That is, it introduces the reason why the disciples will see Jesus again: he is going to the Father. In John 16:7, Jesus explained that unless he goes away the Holy Spirit will not come. Then, in John 16:10, Jesus used the same causative because to express that the reason the Holy Spirit will convict the world of righteousness is that Jesus goes to the Father. In other words, because Jesus is going to the Father, the Holy Spirit will be sent to illumine the disciples and will enable them to see Jesus again.

Counterargument:

This interpretation rests on the inclusion of a textual variant that is far from obviously original. The external evidence for the variant may be strong in terms of quantity of manuscript support, but the earlier manuscripts favour the variant’s omission. Further, the internal evidence rests on the fact that the disciples in John 16:17 repeat the clause, because I am going to the Father, which seems to indicate that he likely used the same clause in John 16:16. This is suspect reasoning due to the καί (and) before the ὅτι (because) clause in John 16:17, which indicates that the ὅτι clause is not to be connected with the previous clause where the disciples state that again a little while, and the disciples will see Jesus.

Response to counterargument:

The external evidence for the inclusion of the variant is not only preferred by quantity but also distance. Both the Byzantine and the Eastern manuscripts favour the inclusion, while the Western evidence is divided and only the Alexandrian favours the omission. Further, the καί (and) before the ὅτι (because) clause in John 16:17 does not rule out the variant altogether. It is possible that the καί (and) in John 16:17 is being used to show that the disciples were confused about both aspects of Jesus' statement. They did not understand what Jesus meant when he said they would see him again and (καί) they did not know what he meant when saying he is going to the Father.

Explanation:

Jesus uses the analogy of the woman in labour to explain that the disciples will be sorrowful, but when he sees them again their hearts will rejoice. He goes on to say that in that day the disciples will ask nothing of Jesus (John 16:23). Keddie argues that the reason the disciples will not ask anything of Jesus in that day is that Jesus is thereby referring to a time after his resurrection and ascension, when he will no longer be physically present with the disciples.⁸ Still, the disciples will be able to approach the Father and they will do so through Jesus’ name. This places Jesus in a mediatorial position between the Spirit, who lives in the believer, and God the Father. Even though Jesus is not physically present, his presence is no less real, and through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the disciples will see Jesus in a new way.⁹

Counterargument:

Jesus used the analogy of the child-bearing woman to explain that the disciples will be grieved by the crucifixion but overjoyed by the resurrection. He concludes the analogy by explaining that in that day (when they are overjoyed by the resurrection) the disciples will no longer ask questions of Jesus, such as the one Jesus is currently answering, because the resurrection will resolve the mystery of what Jesus means when he says they will see him again. In other words, once God the Father raises Jesus from the dead and the disciples see him, they will no longer wonder what Jesus means that he will see them again, because by seeing him again after the resurrection, the question is answered. The phrase Truly, truly, then marks a shift as Jesus introduces the topic of praying in his name. In fact, the Greek New Testament produced by Tyndale House, Cambridge, is thought to represent some of the earliest manuscripts.¹⁰ It has a paragraph break between John 16:23a and John 16:23b indicating that when Jesus moves to prayer in John 16:24, he is commencing a topic unrelated to his being seen again. 

Response to Counterargument:

While it is possible that the earliest manuscripts have a paragraph break between John 16:23a and John 16:23b, this does not negate that the new paragraph is connected to the previous one. It is possible that Jesus has addressed the disciples’ explicit questions around seeing him again, and is now expanding on the power of the illumination of the Spirit as a segue into the topic of prayer.

Possible weaknesses:

This view places too high a value on a textual variant that is not accepted by critical editions of the New Testament.¹¹ If the textual variant is incorrect, the view crumbles.

a)     While it is true that Jesus emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit throughout the farewell discourse (John 13:33 – 16:33), this is not his only concern. Jesus explains many things to his disciples, including that they are to love each other and obey his commands, and that persecution is coming. When Jesus indicates that the disciples will no longer see him, and again see him, it is not obvious that this has to do with illumination by the Holy Spirit. Such a connection is only made if a textual variant is accepted.

b)    Even if some version of the textual variant is accepted, it is more likely that καί (and) comes before ὅτι (because) in John 16:17, and this undermines the causative use of ὅτι. For example, if we accept the variant without the καί, John 16:16 reads again a little while, you will see me, because I go to the Father. In this instance, the causative use is retained. The reason the disciples will see Jesus again is that he goes to the Father. If we add the conjunction καί, the sentence renders a whole new meaning, as in, “again a little while, you will see me, and because I go to the Father.” Even if we leave out modern indicators, such as quotation marks, we know that the conjunction καί is used to break the clause into two questions. The disciples want to know why again in a little while they will see Jesus, and what he means when he says he goes to the Father. So, if we do accept the variant (which most critical editions do not), why should we accept it with the conjunction καί? We should do so because the disciples include the conjunction καί when they repeat Jesus’ sayings back to themselves. If the autograph contains the variant without the καί, then the καί should be omitted from John 16:17, but it is not.

Explanation:

In John 14:2–3, Jesus explains that he will go to the Father to prepare a place for his disciples, and that he will return again to take them with him. After a brief interruption from Thomas and Philip, Jesus continues his discourse all the way until John 16:16, when the disciples begin to wonder what Jesus has been trying to explain to them. John 16:17 reveals that they want to know what he means when he says he will see them again, and they seem to connect this with the notion that Jesus is going to the Father. We know that when Jesus died on the cross, he did not go to the Father, but rather spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40). This means that Jesus in John 16:16 must be referring to a time after his ascension. In hindsight, Jesus’ teaching is clear: after his ascension he will go to the Father and act as a mediator for the believers. Eventually, he will come again. At that time, the disciples, along with all believers, will rejoice.

Counterargument:

Just because Jesus refers in John 14:2–3 to a scenario when he is with the disciples, leaves, and then is with them again, that does not mean that he is referring to the same scenario in John 16:16. In fact, the analogy of the child-bearing woman having sorrow and then joy makes the most sense when it applies to the resurrection. This is because, if the analogy applies to Jesus’ second coming, that implies that the whole Christian life is one of sorrow before Jesus finally returns. Jesus himself seems to counter this claim in John 15:11 when he says that by abiding in love, the disciples’ joy will be complete.

Response to counterargument:

Jesus’ analogy of the child-bearing woman should not be pressed to mean that all joy will be excluded from the disciples until Jesus’ second return. The point is, even the disciples (along with all believers) will experience some joy in their lives because they put their faith in Christ. At the same time, they will continue to experience suffering and sorrow until that great day when Jesus Christ finally appears in the clouds. Only then the wolf will live with the lamb; the leopard will lie down with the goat (Isaiah 11:6).

Possible weaknesses:

Among the authors surveyed this is by far a minority view. Only one author, John Marsh, considers Jesus’ second coming as a plausible explanation for what Jesus means when he says the disciples will see him again.¹² Added to this, Marsh also holds that Jesus is just as likely referring to the resurrection. He makes no argument to support the case that Jesus refers to his second coming. Instead, he simply states it as an option consistent with the text. Unless Jesus is referring back to John 14:2–3 when he explains the child-bearing analogy, it is hard to see how John 16:16 could be referring to his second coming. In other words, Marsh is right that John 16:16 could refer to Jesus’ second coming without doing damage to the text, but the interpretation is simply not at all obvious. In light of other options, such as the resurrection, or illumination of the Holy Spirit, it is unlikely that Jesus is referring to his second coming.