Meta is a Greek preposition occurring about 469 times in the NT. With the genitive case it means "with" (accompaniment, association) — the most common NT sense. With the accusative case it means "after" (temporal sequence).
The "with" sense of meta (genitive) implies close association — being in company with, in the midst of, sharing a situation. It is the preposition of fellowship, covenant presence, and communal action.
The name Immanuel — God-with-us — is the promise of meta. When Matthew closes his Gospel with "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20), the Greek is meth' hymōn (meta + you) — Christ promises perpetual meta-presence to His people.
John's Gospel begins with the Logos who was "with" (pros, not meta) God, but throughout the Gospel Jesus promises to send the Spirit "with" (meta) them (John 14:17). The relational language is deliberate: God is not abstract but present-with.
"After" (meta + accusative) marks redemptive-historical transitions: "after three days he will rise" (Matthew 27:63); "after the resurrection." Time is structured by divine events, each meta pointing to what God has done and what is still to come.