Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXIMaclaren, Alexander
Religion
Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
Maclaren, Alexander
Bible. John -- Commentaries
But the question arises, Where are the limits of these times of which
the Lord speaks? Now it is quite clear, I suppose, that the first of
the 'little whiles' is the few hours that intervened between His
speaking and the Cross. And it is equally clear that His death and
burial began, at all events, the period during which they were not to
see Him. But where does the second period begin, during which they are
to see Him? Is it at His resurrection or at His ascension, when the
process of 'going to the Father' was completed in all its stages; or at
Pentecost, when the Spirit, by whose ministration He was to be made
visible, was poured out? The answer is, perhaps, not to be restricted
to any one of these periods; but I think if we consider that all
disciples, in all ages, have a portion in all the rest of these great
discourses, and if we note the absence of any hint that the promised
seeing of Christ was ever to terminate, and if we mark the diversity of
words under which the two manners of vision are described, and, above
all, if we note the close connection of these words with those which
precede, we shall come to the conclusion that the full realisation of
this great promise of a visible Christ did not begin until that time
when the Spirit, poured out, opened the eyes of His servants, and 'they
saw His glory.' But however we settle the minor question of the
chronology of these periods, the great truth shines out here that,
through all the stretch of the ages, true hearts may truly see the true
Christ.
If we might venture to suppose that in our text the second of the
periods to which He refers, when they did not see Him, was not
coterminous with, but preceded, the second 'little while,' all would be
clear. Then the first 'little while' would be the few hours before the
Cross. 'Ye shall not see Me' would refer to the days in which He lay in
the tomb. 'Again, a little while' would point to that strange
transitional period between His death and His ascension, in which the
disciples had neither the close intercourse of earlier days nor the
spiritual communion of later ones. And the final period, 'Ye shall see
Me,' would cover the whole course of the centuries till He comes again.
However that may be, and I only offer it as a possible suggestion, the
thing that we want to fasten upon for ourselves is this--we all, if we
will, may have a vision of Christ as close, as real, as firmly
certifying us of His reality, and making as vivid an impression upon
us, as if He stood there, visible to our senses. And so, 'by this
vision splendid' we may 'be everywhere attended,' and whithersoever we
go, have burning before us the light of His countenance, in the
sunshine of which we shall walk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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