John 16:5

16:5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, ¹  and not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ ² 

John 16:10

16:10 concerning righteousness, ³  because ⁴  I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;

John 16:17-19

16:17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is the meaning of what he is saying, ⁵  ‘In a little while you ⁶  will not see me; again after a little while, you ⁷  will see me,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ⁸  16:18 So they kept on repeating, ⁹  “What is the meaning of what he says, ¹⁰  ‘In a little while’? ¹¹  We do not understand ¹²  what he is talking about.” ¹³ 

16:19 Jesus could see ¹⁴  that they wanted to ask him about these things, ¹⁵  so ¹⁶  he said to them, “Are you asking ¹⁷  each other about this – that I said, ‘In a little while you ¹⁸  will not see me; again after a little while, you ¹⁹  will see me’?

John 7:33

7:33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer, ²⁰  and then ²¹  I am going to the one who sent me.

John 12:35

12:35 Jesus replied, ²²  “The light is with you for a little while longer. ²³  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. ²⁴  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

John 13:33

13:33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, ²⁵  and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ²⁶  ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ ²⁷  now I tell you the same. ²⁸ 

John 14:19

14:19 In a little while ²⁹  the world will not see me any longer, but you will see me; because I live, you will live too.

[16:5]  ¹ sn Now the theme of Jesus’ impending departure is resumed (I am going to the one who sent me). It will also be mentioned in 16:10, 17, and 28. Jesus had said to his opponents in 7:33 that he was going to the one who sent him; in 13:33 he had spoken of going where the disciples could not come. At that point Peter had inquired where he was going, but it appears that Peter did not understand Jesus’ reply at that time and did not persist in further questioning. In 14:5 Thomas had asked Jesus where he was going.

[16:5]  ² sn Now none of the disciples asks Jesus where he is going, and the reason is given in the following verse: They have been overcome with sadness as a result of the predictions of coming persecution that Jesus has just spoken to them in 15:18-25 and 16:1-4a. Their shock at Jesus’ revelation of coming persecution is so great that none of them thinks to ask him where it is that he is going.

[16:10]  ³ tn There are two questions that need to be answered: (1) what is the meaning of δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosunh) in this context, and (2) to whom does it pertain – to the world, or to someone else? (1) The word δικαιοσύνη occurs in the Gospel of John only here and in v. 8. It is often assumed that it refers to forensic justification, as it does so often in Paul’s writings. Thus the answer to question (2) would be that it refers to the world. L. Morris states, “The Spirit shows men (and no-one else can do this) that their righteousness before God depends not on their own efforts but on Christ’s atoning work for them” (John [NICNT], 699). Since the word occurs so infrequently in the Fourth Gospel, however, the context must be examined very carefully. The ὅτι (Joti) clause which follows provides an important clue: The righteousness in view here has to do with Jesus’ return to the Father and his absence from the disciples. It is true that in the Fourth Gospel part of what is involved in Jesus’ return to the Father is the cross, and it is through his substitutionary death that people are justified, so that Morris’ understanding of righteousness here is possible. But more basic than this is the idea that Jesus’ return to the Father constitutes his own δικαιοσύνη in the sense of vindication rather than forensic justification. Jesus had repeatedly claimed oneness with the Father, and his opponents had repeatedly rejected this and labeled him a deceiver, a sinner, and a blasphemer (John 5:18, 7:12, 9:24, 10:33, etc.). But Jesus, by his glorification through his return to the Father, is vindicated in his claims in spite of his opponents. In his vindication his followers are also vindicated as well, but their vindication derives from his. Thus one would answer question (1) by saying that in context δικαιοσύνης (dikaiosunh") refers not to forensic justification but vindication, and question (2) by referring this justification/vindication not to the world or even to Christians directly, but to Jesus himself. Finally, how does Jesus’ last statement in v. 10, that the disciples will see him no more, contribute to this? It is probably best taken as a reference to the presence of the Spirit-Paraclete, who cannot come until Jesus has departed (16:7). The meaning of v. 10 is thus: When the Spirit-Paraclete comes he will prove the world wrong concerning the subject of righteousness, namely, Jesus’ righteousness which is demonstrated when he is glorified in his return to the Father and the disciples see him no more (but they will have instead the presence of the Spirit-Paraclete, whom the world is not able to receive).

[16:10]  ⁴ tn Or “that.”

[16:17]  ⁵ tn Grk “What is this that he is saying to us.”

[16:17]  ⁶ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ⁸ sn These fragmentary quotations of Jesus’ statements are from 16:16 and 16:10, and indicate that the disciples heard only part of what Jesus had to say to them on this occasion.

[16:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “they kept on saying.”

[16:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “What is this that he says.”

[16:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “A little while.” Although the phrase τὸ μικρόν (to mikron) in John 16:18 could be translated simply “a little while,” it was translated “in a little while” to maintain the connection to John 16:16, where it has the latter meaning in context.

[16:18]  ¹² tn Or “we do not know.”

[16:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “what he is speaking.”

[16:19]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “knew.”

[16:19]  ¹⁵ tn The words “about these things” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[16:19]  ¹⁶ tn Καί (kai) has been translated as “so” here to indicate the following statement is a result of Jesus’ observation in v. 19a.

[16:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “inquiring” or “seeking.”

[16:19]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:19]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[7:33]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Yet a little I am with you.”

[7:33]  ²¹ tn The word “then” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[12:35]  ²² tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[12:35]  ²³ tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”

[12:35]  ²⁴ sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.

[13:33]  ²⁵ tn Or “You will seek me.”

[13:33]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general, or to the Jewish religious leaders in particular, who had sent servants to attempt to arrest Jesus on that occasion (John 7:33-35). The last option is the one adopted in the translation above.

[13:33]  ²⁷ sn See John 7:33-34.

[13:33]  ²⁸ tn The words “the same” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[14:19]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Yet a little while, and.”