In the middle of the Second World War, Winston Churchill tried to describe the uncertainty surrounding Russia’s actions and intentions. He famously said:

“It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

People have remembered that line for decades because it perfectly captures the feeling of confusion—when you know something is important, but you can’t quite make sense of it.

Maybe you’ve had moments like that yourself.

• You read the instructions three times and still don’t understand them. 
• You listen to someone explain something, and somehow each explanation makes you more confused. 
• You nod politely in a conversation while thinking, “I have absolutely no idea what this person means.”

That’s exactly the atmosphere we walk into in John 16.

In verse 16, Jesus says to his disciples:

“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

And the disciples immediately begin whispering among themselves: 

• “What does he mean?”
• “What is this ‘little while’?
• “We don’t know what he’s talking about?”

To them, it sounded like a riddle wrapped in a mystery.

So what did Jesus mean when he said, “A little while, and you will not see me; and again a little while, and you will see me”?