John 16:16-20
16 "A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me."
17 So some of his disciples said to one another, "What does this mean 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 to the Father'?"
18 So they said, "What is this 'little while' (of which he speaks)? We do not know what he means."
19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Are you discussing with one another what I said, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'?
20 Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
----------------
This is Christ telling the Twelve what will happen the very next day. Here's what the "dust" has to say.
CHRYSOSTOM (4th-5th century). Our Lord after having relieved the spirits of the disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit, again depresses them: A little while, and you shall not see Me. He does this to accustom them to the mention of His departure, in order that they may bear it well, when it does come. For nothing so quiets the troubled mind, as the continued recurrence to the subject of its grief.
BEDE (7th-8th century). He said, A little while, and you shall not see Me alluding to His going to be taken that night by the Jews, His crucifixion the next morning, and burial in the evening, which withdrew Him from all human sight.
CHRYSOSTOM (4th-5th century). But then, if one examines, these are words of consolation: Because I go to the Father. For they show that His death was only a translation; and more consolation follows: And again, a little while, and you shall see Me: an intimation this that He would return and, after a short separation, come and live with them for ever.
AUGUSTINE (4th-5th century). The meaning of these words however was obscure, before their fulfillment; Then said some of His disciples among themselves, What is this that He said to us, A little while, and you shall not see Me; and again, a little while, and you shall see Me; and, Because I go to the Father?
CHRYSOSTOM (4th-5th century). Either sorrow had confused their minds, or the obscurity of the words themselves prevented their understanding them, and made them appear contradictory. If we shall see Thee, they say, how do You go? If you go, how shall we see you? What is this that He said to us, A little while? We cannot tell what He said.
AUGUSTINE (4th-5th century). For above, because He did not say, A little while, but simply, I go to the Father, He seemed to speak plainly. But what to them was obscure at the time, but by and by manifested, is manifest to us. For in a little while He suffered, and they did not see Him; and again, in a little while He rose again, and they saw Him. He says, And you shall see Me no more; for the mortal Christ they saw no more.
PS - this is from St. Thomas Aquinas' "Catena Aurea", which compiled ancient commentaries on the Scriptures. Chrysostom, Bede, and Augustine are all Doctors of the Church.
http://www.op-stjoseph.org/Students/study/thomas/CAJohn.htm#16
