The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 254

But fo 1.-nou· Je.su~, _as he wanu to be known, is not easy. Philip's experience proves thAt. If _length of acqu11m~noe_ and closeness of intim1tCy count for 11nything, Philip hl\d cn_1oycd these. But time 1s only an element in real knowledge, when eome pArt of the knowledge, At all eventll the &lphe.bet and rudiments, is known from the beginning. M<.'re lapse of time by iteelf will not bdng knowledge. Through whAt yean1 of need nnd struggle eome of ua may hl\ve been ignol"Bnt of him, who came thAt he might help us in our need and strugglel-Y. Ver. 12.-The g1·eater works of the believer. L THE NEED OF THESE GREATER woRB:s. We know the works of Jesus in the flesh-certainly not all he d.itl; but still we know the kind of_ things he did. And we know, too, that_ if nothing more had been done, the greatest thrngs would have been left undone. A diseased and defective body is bad, a physiOBI leprosy is a great pollution; but a distracted, passion-ruled heart is infinitely worse. The miraculous healings and alleviations worked out by Jesus are very beautiful, but they were only deeds by the way; having in them something preparatory and illustrative, but always looking to fundamental renovations, which would bring nil other renovations in due course. We should ever aim to look at need according to the gradation which Jesus gives. We easily become "the fools of time and sense." W"hat shall it profit a man if he practically learns the secret of vigorous health, and a long, enjoyable physical life, if it leaves him, all through, self-indulgent and self-asserting 'I The abiding ministry of Jesus, through the ministry of those in every generation whom he chooses and qualifies, is a ministry to the greatest needs of men. For temporal and physical needs they can often do little or nothing; but Jesus fills them with a spiritual energy which works out results, making many increasingly ;:;ratcful to them, and through them to the supreme Saviour himself. II. THE PERll'ECT BUBORDINATION 011' THE SoN TO THE FATHER. What consciousness there is here of a plan and an order! What humble and beautiful recognition of the JJlace of Jesus and of his servants respectively l Jesus says it without the slightest hesitation that his serl"a □ ts would do greater things than himself. Here are the words of One who was ever thinking, first of all,.of the glory and will of his heavenly Father. So the thing be done, what matt.ers it whose is the visible hand? Nothing good can lie done, whether in higher or lower degree, without the enabling energy from on high, So long es the greater works are continually going on, and men being regenerated and sanctified, what we may call the mere reputation of Jesus is a small matter. There is no fear but what Jesus will get full recognition from those in whom the greater works are being done. Such recognition is no trivial part of the proof that the greater works are being done. III. 'l'HE CAUSE OF THE GREATER WORKS. The apostles do not merely take the pie.ea of Jesus. His departure out of the ordinary conditions of human life is pa.rt of the qu.alification of his servants for the greater works. He is with the Father now in a sense in which he was not while here in flesh and blood. Even as Paul eaicl, " Absent from the body, present with the Lord," so Jesus, absent from the body, was present with the Father. Let us, indeed, fully admit that the cause Jesus here gives is one we o.re little able to comprehend. But it is the real cause, and we should rejoice in its being mentioned; for what we know not now we shall know herea.fter.-Y. Vere. 18, 14.-.Asking in the Name of JUJUB. L CHANGED METHODS OF OOMMUNICA• TION. The prayers of the disciples were probably very shallow and vitiated expressions of feeling during the days when they knew Jesus according to the flesh. We know something of their misapprehensions and self-regardfog ways-and how could these be kept out of their prayers? For a while Jesus came between them and God; as he himself suggested, he was a stumbling-block. But the happy day was coming when the disciples would be thrown upon the unseen. Intercourse with Jesus in flesh &lld blood was pleasant enough, but it had no special enrichment in it, and it had to be taken with all its drawbacks and limitations as well as its pleasures. No wonder the dilciples so e.bounded in prayer after the ascension of their Master. All the way in which he had taken them led up to this. Becoming invisible, he did not become inacceR,ible; yea, rather, he became more accessible than ever. II. S1·EOIFIED TOPIOS oF B1JPl'LlCATION, All that is asked mUBt be asked in the en. uv. 1-31.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. ,JOUN.