<p>16:16 <em>A little while, and you will see me no more; and then a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father</em>- The first &quot;little while&quot; refers to the time remaining until His death (7:33; 13:33). The second &quot;little while&quot; is until the point when they would 'see' Him because He goes to the Father. The 'seeing' in view is the vision of the presence of Jesus which arises from the gift of the Spirit which would be given as a result of the Lord's death. His going to the Father could refer to ascension; but that was not when the Spirit gift was given and they 'saw' Him. It was not through his ascension that the gift was enabled, but rather through His death. And it is to His death that '&quot;I go to the Father&quot; refers elsewhere in John. The second &quot;little while&quot; I suggest refers to the period from His death until the receipt of the Comforter and the full seeing of Him then. He is of course presenting a purposeful paradox; that His going away was in fact when they would 'see' Him. This 'seeing' was the understanding of Him and experience of His presence which would be possible through the Comforter. Elsewhere in John, beholding or seeing the Son doesn&rsquo;t refer to physically seeing Him, but rather to understanding and believing in Him (Jn. 1:14,29,36,50; 6:40; 12:21; 14:9,19; 17:24 etc.). The Lord surely meant: &lsquo;Soon, you will no longer see / understand / believe me&hellip; but, in the end, you <em>will</em> understand / believe in me&rsquo;. And John, the author or speaker of this Gospel record, was one of those being referred to. So he, and all the disciples, would&rsquo;ve been appealing to people to see / understand / believe in Jesus, whilst openly telling them that they themselves had once lost that understanding / belief which they once had, even though they regained it later.</p><p>&quot;If I go&hellip; I will come again... A little while, and you shall not see me: and again, a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to my father&quot; (Jn. 14:3; 16:16). This may refer to Moses going up and down the mountain, disappearing from Israel's sight, and then returning with the covenant- to find Israel worshipping the golden calf. Perhaps this refers to the Lord's disappointment that they did not perceive the wonder of His resurrection.</p><p>The New Testament speaks in challenging terms of how real is to be our relationship with the Lord Jesus. The Lord&rsquo;s enigmatic words of Jn. 16:16 indicate just <em>how</em> close the Comforter was to make Him come to His people once He was in Heaven: &ldquo;Yet a little while, and ye shall not see me <em>theoreo</em>, to physically see: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me <em>horai</em>, to know or understand, to spiritually 'see', because I go to the Father&rdquo;. It could be argued,<em> contra</em> my position just stated, that the &ldquo;little while&rdquo; in each clause is one and the same. In &ldquo;a little while&rdquo; they would not see Him physically, but exactly because He would be with the Father, He would send the Comforter, and enable His people to &lsquo;see&rsquo; Him in the sense that John usually speaks of in his Gospel. This &lsquo;seeing&rsquo; of Jesus, this perception of Him, is effectively a &lsquo;seeing&rsquo; of the Father.</p>