John 16:19

19 Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask him, and he said to them, "Are you deliberating with one another about this--that I said, 'A little [while], and you will not see me, and again a little [while] and you will see me'?

John 16:19 Meaning and Commentary

John 16:19

Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him
This is a proof of Christ's deity, that he is the omniscient God who knows all things, what is in man, even the secrets of the heart; for he not only knew the whisperings of the disciples, and their inquiries among themselves about the sense of his words, but also their secret desires to ask him concerning it:

and said unto them, do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, a
little while and ye shall not see me, and again a little while and ye
shall see me?
which he said before they could put the question to him, they being bashful, and backward, through fear or shame; and which not only confirms what is before observed of his omniscience, but also shows his readiness to open his mind and meaning, and explain himself to his disciples, as he does in the following words.

John 16:19 In-Context

17 So some of his disciples said to one another, "What is this that he is saying to us, 'A little [while] and you will not see me, and again a little [while] and you will see me,' and 'Because I am going away to the Father'?"

18 So they kept on saying, "What is this that he is saying, 'A little [while]'? We do not understand what he is speaking about!"

19 Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask him, and he said to them, "Are you deliberating with one another about this--that I said, 'A little [while], and you will not see me, and again a little [while] and you will see me'?

20 Truly, truly I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will change to joy.

21 A woman, when she gives birth, experiences pain because her hour has come. But when [her] child is born, she no longer remembers the affliction, on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the world.