To be near unto God - pagina 564

and that for those many days he forewent the glory which awaited him on God's throne. But this could not last. The end must follow. It was an holy pause in his glorification, entered upon from love, but which of necessity had to be It could not, and was not, as short as possible. permitted to be a continuous intercourse with his own. That would not have answered his purpose. It would not have accustomed them to the parting that was to follow. And therefore there was nothing but an occasional appearance in order to withdraw himself again. At first more frequently, then more rarely, in order presently at Damascus and on Patmos to reveal himself but for a fleeting moment. In between these lies the final parting. The last meeting on the Mount of Olives, with Gethsemane at its foot, Jerusalem stretching itself behind it, and back of Jerusalem Golgotha and the cave from whence he rose. Jesus had given

them

his last

command.

The moment

of parting

was at hand. And then from the top of the Mount of Olives he lifted himself from their midst, and ascended so that they saw it, higher and ever higher, until a cloud received him out of their sight, and angels from the spheres of light came down, who gave them the last word of comfort: "He is gone away from you, once to return. Once

the whole world shall be his." Where those heavens are, whither Jesus went, remains a mystery to us. We look for them above, and all Scripture tells us, and our own heart returns an echo to it, that the heaven of glory must arch itself above us. It is an increated need 560

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