John Calvin Commentary John 13:33

"Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say unto you." — John 13:33 (ASV)

Little children, yet a little while am I with you. As the disciples would inevitably be deeply grieved at their Master’s departure, so he gives them early warning that he will no longer be with them and, at the same time, exhorts them to patience. Lastly, to remove unseasonable eagerness, he declares that they cannot immediately follow him. In calling them little children, he shows, by that gentle term, that his reason for departing from them is not that he cares little about their welfare, for he loves them very tenderly. True, the purpose he had in view in clothing himself with our flesh was that he might be our brother, but by that other name he expresses more strongly the fervency of his love.

As I said to the Jews. When he says that he repeats to them what he had formerly said to the Jews, this is true regarding the words, but there is a wide difference in the meaning. For he declares that they cannot follow him, in order that they may patiently endure his temporary absence, and — so to speak — bridles them in, that they may remain in their office until they have finished their warfare on earth. Thus, he does not perpetually exclude them, as Jews, from the kingdom of God, but only bids them wait patiently until he brings them, along with himself, into the heavenly kingdom.