the fuller of
life and joy the more truth we know, if we shrink from admitting the
consciousness of a present and holy God, and do not feel it to be the
very sunshine of life in which alone we thrive, we must be spiritually
asleep or spiritually dead. And this cry of Christ is but another form
of the cry that His Church has prolonged: "Awake, thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

The "little while" of their enjoyment of the light was short indeed, for
no sooner had He made an end of these sayings than He "departed, and did
hide Himself from them." He probably found retirement from the feverish,
inconstant, questioning crowd with His friends in Bethany. At any rate
this removal of the light, while it meant darkness to those who had not
received Him and who did not keep His words, could bring no darkness to
His own, who had received Him and the light in Him. Perhaps the best
comment on this is the memorable passage from _Comus_:

"Virtue could see to do what virtue would
By her own radiant light, though sun and moon
Were in the great sea sunk.
He that has light within his own clear breast
May sit i' the centre and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the midday sun,
Himself is his own dungeon."

And now the writer of this Gospel, before entering upon the closing
scenes, pauses and presents a summary of the results of all that has
been hitherto related. First, he accounts for the unbelief of the Jews.
It could not fail to strike his readers as remarkable that, "though He
had done so many miracles before the people, yet they believed not in
Him." In this John sees nothing inexplicable, however sad and
significant it may be. At first sight it is an astounding fact that the
very people who had been prepared to recognise and receive the Messiah
should not have believed in Him. Might not this to some minds be
convincing evidence that Jesus was not the Messiah? If the same God who
sent Him forth had for centuries specially prepared a people to
recognise and receive Him when He came, was it possible that this people
should repudiate Him? Was it likely that such a result should be
produced or should be allowed? But John turns the point of this argument
by showing that a precisely similar phenomenon had often appeared in the
history of Israel. The old prophets had the very same complaint to make:
"Who h