So Jesus said, “I am with you only a little while longer, and then I am going to the One who sent Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer, then I go to him who sent me.
- KJV Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.
- NKJV Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.
- NASB Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am going to be with you, and then I am going to Him who sent Me.
- NLT But Jesus told them, “I will be with you only a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus tells them He will be with them only a little longer before returning to the One who sent Him. He foretells His departure to the Father.
Overview
Jesus speaks of His coming death, resurrection, and ascension as a return to the Father who sent Him. This veiled prophecy puzzles His hearers but reminds readers of the divine plan unfolding. His limited time among them is a call to respond in faith while the opportunity remains, before He goes where they cannot follow in unbelief.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- John 16:5Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
- John 13:33Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for Me, and as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
- John 17:13But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them.
- John 14:19In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.
- Mark 16:19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
- John 17:11I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one.
- John 12:35–36Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
- John 16:28I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”
- John 16:16–22In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.”
- John 13:3Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.
- John 16:10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me;
- John 13:1It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 7:33 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.