can neither find nor follow. The officers do not understand what He
means. They think that, bad Jew as they have always believed Him to
be, He may very possibly consummate His apostasy by going over to the
Gentiles altogether; but, at any rate, they feel that He is to escape
their hands.

The disciples understand little more as to whither He goes, as they
themselves confess a moment after; but they gather from His words His
loving pity, and though the upper side of the saying seems to be
menacing and full of separation, there is an under side that suggests
the possibility of a reunion for them.

The words are nearly the same in both cases, but they are not
absolutely identical. There are significant omissions and additions in
the second form of them. 'Little children' is the tenderest of all the
names that ever came from Christ's lips to His disciples, and never
was heard on His lips except on this one occasion, for parting words
ought to be very loving words. 'A little while I am with you,' but He
does not say, 'And then I go to Him that sent Me.' 'Ye shall seek Me,'
but He does not say, 'And shall not find Me.' 'As I said unto the
Jews, whither I go ye cannot come, so now I say to you,' that little
word 'now' makes the announcement a truth for the present only. His
disciples shall not seek Him in vain, but when they seek they shall
find. And though for a moment they be parted from Him, it is with the
prospect and the confidence of reunion. Let us, then, look at the two
main thoughts here. First, the two 'seekings,' the seeking which is
vain, and the seeking which is never vain; and the two 'cannots,' the
inability of His enemies for evermore to come where He is, and the
inability of His friends, for a little season, to come where He is.