32. — {Behold the hour. ..leave Me alone."] In this sentence onr Lord reveals to his confident hearers, the amazing fact tliat they, even they, w^ould in a very short time forsake Him, desert Him, run away and fail in faith altogether. " Behold ! " He begins, to denote how wonderful it was, " the hour cometh, yea, is now come. This very night, before the sun rises, the thing is im- mediately going to take place. Ye shall be scattered, like sheep fleeing from a wolf, one running one way and another an- other, every man going off to his own things, his own friends, or his own house, or his own place of refuge. Ye shall leave Me alone. You will actually allow Me to be taken off by my- self as a prisoner to the high priests and to Pontius Pilate, and not so much as one of you will stand by Me."
How little the best of believers know of their own hearts, or understand how they may behave in times of trial ! If any men were ever fully and fairly warned of their coming failure, the disciples were. We can only suppose that they did not understand our Lord, or did not realize the magnitude of the trial coming on them, or fancied that He would work some miracle at the last moment, for His deliverance.
The Greek phrase rendered " His own," means literally, " His own things." It may either be " His own business," or as the margin renders it, " His own home."
{And yet. ..not alone. ..with Me.} In this teaching and touching sentence, our Lord reminds His disciples that their desertion would not deprive Him of all comfort. " And yet, when you are scattered, ifud have left Me, I am not entirely alone, because the Father is always with Me."
We need not doubt that one great need of the sentence was to teach the disciples where they must look themselves in their own future trials. They must never forget that God the Father would always be near them and with them, even in the darkest times. A sense of God's presence is one great source of the comfort of believers. The last promise in Matthew, be- fore the ascension, was, " I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 20.)
John Huss, the famous martyr, who was burned at Constance, is said to have drawn special comfort from this passage, during the lonely imprisonment which preceded his death.
83. — [TJiese tilings. ..peace.] In this concluding verse our Lord sums up the reasons why He has spoken the things contained in this whole discourse. " All these things I have spoken for this one great end, — that you may have inward peace by rest- ing your souls on Me, and keeping up close communion with Me." It is one great secret in our religion to draw all our con- solation from Christ, and live on Him. " He is our peace." (Eph. ii. 14.)
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