John 13:33

33 Little children, ¹yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just ²as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, 'Where I am going you cannot come.'

John 13:33 Meaning and Commentary

John 13:33

Little children, yet a little while I am with you
Christ having removed the scandal of his death, by observing, that both he and his Father would be glorified by it, begins more freely to open his mind to his disciples, and acquaint them with it; whom he addresses in the most kind, tender, and affectionate manner, "little children", expressing the relation which subsisted between them, of which he was not unmindful; his great affection for them, his consideration of their weakness, and sympathy with them on that account; who were very ill able to bear his departure, which he now thought high time to acquaint them with, that it would be very shortly: it was but a little while he was to be with them, a few days more; the time of his departure was at hand, his hour was as it were come, and the last sands were dropping:

ye shall seek me;
as persons in distress, under great concern, not knowing what to do, or where to go:

and as I said unto the Jews,
( John 7:33 John 7:34 ) ;

whither I go ye cannot come, so now I say unto you;
but with this difference, whereas the unbelieving Jews, who died in their sins, could never come whither he went, these his disciples, though they could not come now, yet they should hereafter, all of them, as well as Peter, ( John 13:36 ) .

John 13:33 In-Context

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.

33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, 'Where I am going you cannot come.'

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Cross References

• 1. See John 7:33
• 2. John 7:34; John 8:21