I am leaving (Greek hupagō) is a term frequently used in John’s Gospel of Jesus’ departure to the Father (note 13.33 and 14.4). It should not be so translated as to suggest that Jesus was abandoning his disciples. A frequent equivalent of I am leaving is simply “I am going away.”

I will come back to you is the same expression used in verse 18.

If you loved me may be translated “if you really love me” (New American Bible “If you truly loved me”) because it is an unfulfilled condition, that is, a condition contrary to fact. Jesus is saying that the disciples do not really love him at this point. This may be emphasized by translating “If you loved me (but evidently you do not), you would be glad (but obviously you are not), that….”

That I am going to the Father is related to glad as a type of cause and must be expressed in some languages by a causative formation, for example, “the fact that I am going to the Father would make you glad.” Gladness may be expressed idiomatically in some languages as “dancing of the heart,” “coolness of the liver,” or “sweetness of the abdomen.”

There have been many theological discussions concerning the statement because he is greater than I. In many passages in the Fourth Gospel, Jesus is spoken of as the one whom the Father has sent, or the one who has come from the Father, and it is in this light that the verse is to be understood. The Father is greater than Jesus in the sense that the one who send a messenger is greater than the messenger he sends. Note especially 13.16. Here the specific reference is probably to the coming of Jesus into the world, by which he accepts the limitations of humanity, including physical death. But after Jesus’ death God will raise him to the position that he had before he came into the world. Note 17.4-5, which indicates that after Jesus had finished the work on earth that the Father had given him to do, the Father restored him to the position that he had before the world was created. In some languages greater is understood in the sense of “importance” rather than “strength” or “power.” This meaning reflects well the distinction between the one who sends and the one who is sent.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .