| Geneva Study Bible {6} A {f} little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, {g} because I go to the Father. (6) The grace of the Holy Spirit is a most distinct mirror in which Christ is truly beheld with the most sharp sighted eyes of faith, and not with the blurred eyes of the flesh: and by this we feel a continual joy even in the midst of sorrows. (f) When a little time is past. (g) For I go on to eternal glory, so that I will be much more present with you than I was before: for then you will feel indeed what I am, and what I am able to do. People's New Testament 16:16,17 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me. On the morrow he would die, be buried, and for a little while they would not see him; then he would rise, and for another little while, a space of forty days before he went to his Father, they would see him while he remained on the earth. When he ascended to his Father, they, in a spiritual sense, would see him coming in the kingdom of God (Mt 16:28). Wesley's Notes 16:16 A little while and ye shall not see me - When I am buried: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me - When I am risen: because I go to my Father - I die and rise again, in order to ascend to my Father. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 16-22. A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father-The joy of the world at their not seeing Him seems to show that His removal from them by death was what He meant; and in that case, their joy at again seeing Him points to their transport at His reappearance amongst them on His Resurrection, when they could no longer doubt His identity. At the same time the sorrow of the widowed Church in the absence of her Lord in the heavens, and her transport at His personal return, are certainly here expressed. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 16:16-22 It is good to consider how near our seasons of grace are to an end, that we may be quickened to improve them. But the sorrows of the disciples would soon be turned into joy; as those of a mother, at the sight of her infant. The Holy Spirit would be their Comforter, and neither men nor devils, neither sufferings in life nor in death, would ever deprive them of their joy. Believers have joy or sorrow, according to their sight of Christ, and the tokens of his presence. Sorrow is coming on the ungodly, which nothing can lessen; the believer is an heir to joy which no one can take away. Where now is the joy of the murderers of our Lord, and the sorrow of his friends? |