The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2 — Section 287

They" returned to J~rusalem with gr_eat joy.". Yet their Master was gone from them to ret~rn no more till that uncertam and distant day of which the angels spoke (Acts 1. 11). How do we account for this? The explanation is found here-they were 'TIOW pe1fectly assured of the Divine mission of Jesus Christ. His death had cast a dark sbndow of doubt and dread over their hearts. Ris resurrection had revived their confidence and their hope. But this final manifestation, this "si"n in the heavens" this act of being taken up, like Elijah, into heaven, swept away t"he last fra,.ment ~f doubt that ma_y bave been left behind; they ,vere now absolutely sure, without any res~rve or quahfication whatever, that the Master they had loved and served was indeed thmr true Messiah, the Sent of God, worthy of their deepest veneration and their ~trongest at.tachrueut; so they" worshipped him" reverently, and went back to Jeru- salem with the joy of faith and love filling their souls. 'l'here is no misery so unen- durnhle as doubt, and there is no blessedness so sweet as rest of heart after spiritual disquietude. V. lTs PERMANENT EFFECT ON THE APOSTLES' MINDS. This was unreservedly good. It was "expedient for them that he should go away." His bodily absence changed the compleidon of their dependence upon him. It had been that of childhood; it was now to be that of manhood.. With him by their side, as he had been, they would not have become the" men in him" they did become after he left them. The deeper and fuller knowledge of him they gained by his departure led to an enlargement of faith and to a deepening of love, and also to that fulness of attachment and consecration we recognize and rejoice in during their later life. They came to know him and love him and sert-e him as the Divine Saviour of mankind, and this made them worthier men and truer servants of their Lord. All earthly ambitions respecting the right and lert hand of the throne were transformed into a noble consecration to the invisible Lord. TI. lTs PRICELESS VALUE TO OURSELVES. 1. Christ is accessible to us all. Had ho lived and reigned a.t Jerusalem, or some other sacred metropolis, he would only have been accessible to those who dwelt or journeyed there. But now he ie "with us all." For heaven is everywhere; the throne of grace is within the reach of the faintest whisper that comes from every burdened. heart, from every seeking soul, wheresoever it may be breathed. A living faith can now realize the constant nearness of its living Lord; it has not to take even a sabbath day's journey to find itself in his presence and to make known its request. 2. He is seated on the throne of power. To him who has passed into the heavens we can realize that" all power is given" (Matt. xxviii.18). "\Ve can well believe that our Master in heaven can do for us what we ask of him ; that his arm is one of glorious might ; that his hand has plenteoW!ness of bounty and of blessing. And in all our time of need we can go to him, with holy confidence, to ask of him the help, the guidance, the blessing, we require. 3. He has all rightful authority. If he still dwelt on earth, we might be dubious of this; but to the heavenly Saviour we unanimously and cordially ascribe all headship; to him we yield our willing and unquestioning obedience; and we rejoice to believe that he is ruling and governing the affairs of his Church, and reignin!? in the interests of the whole human race; that it is his hand that is at the helm, and that will safely guide the tempest-ridden vessel to the harbour. 4. He is our constant and ever-living Lord. With all that is earthly we associate chano-e and death; with the heavenly we connect the thought of con- tinuance and life." Of our heavenly Lord we can think, and we delight to think, that whoever chan"es he is evermore the same, "ye11terday, and to-day, and for ever;" that while human ~inisters "are not suffered to continue by reason of death," he hath "an unchangea.ble priesthood," and is able to save evermore (" to the uttermost") al~ those "that come unto God by him.n And as we look forward to the future, and realize our own mortality, we cherish the joyous thought that, if we do but" abide in him" until the evening shadows gather and ''. life's long day" passes into ..th~ dar~nes~ of death,: we shall in heaven's eternal mornrng, open our eyes to see tho Km!? lll his beauty, to "beh~ld his glory," and shall "sit down with him on his throue," sharing for ever his own and bis saints' everlasting rest.-C. Vers. 1-12.-The Reaurrection dtscovereti. When the women and tho other mourners left the Lord's tomb on the evening of the Crucifixion, it was with the intention, after the sabba.tb was past, of completing the embalmment. This office <Jf love 11eems to en. xxiv.1-53.) THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO S1'. LUKE. 2fJ9