This is a point which is brought out here with singu- lar force and distinctness. John himself, the writer of this Gospel, records of himself and his companion Pe- ter, " As yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead." How truly wonderful this seems ! For three long years these two leading Apos- tles had heard our Lord speak of His own resurrection as a fact, and yet they had not understood Him. Again and again He had staked the truth of His Messiahship on His rising from the dead, and yet they had never taken in His meaning. We little realize the power over the mind which is exercised by wrong teaching in child- hood, and by early prejudices imbibed in our youth. Surely the Christian minister has little right to com- plain of ignorance among his hearers, when he marks the ignorance of Peter and John, under the teaching of Christ Himself.
After all we must remember that true grace, and not head knowledge, is the one thing needful. We are in the hands of a merciful and compassionate Saviour, who passes by and pardons much ignorance, when He sees " a heart right in the sight of God." Some things in- deed we must know, and without knowing them we cannot be saved. Our own sinfulness and guilt, the office of Christ as a Saviour, the necessity of repentance and faith, — such things as these are essential to salva- tion. But he that knows these things may, in other respects, be a very ignorant man. In fact, the extent to which one man may have grace together with much ignorance, and another may have much knowledge and yet no grace, is one of the greatest mysteries in religion, and one which the last day alone will unfold. Let us then seek knowledge, and be ashamed of ignorance. But above all let us make sure that, like Peter and John, we have grace and right hearts.