Did He go away and come again? Yes. But here is the remarkable point. When He left them, they knew it; when He came again, they were ignorant of it. Is not that astounding? You remember, when He rose from the dead and appeared to men, Mary stood there weeping, and she "beheld Jesus standing there, yet she did not know that it was Jesus." As soon as He called, "Mary," she recognized the Lord and wanted to touch Him. But He said, "Do not touch Me"—and presently He was gone! (John 20:14-17). Do you see? When you are not clear, He comes to you; as soon as you are clear, He goes. That is His disposition! He comes all unseen; as soon as you have seen Him, He has gone.

I love to read Luke 24. I think: What nonsense those two disciples talked on the way to Emmaus! (But I sometimes discover myself to be one of the two!) Just as those sad-faced disciples were walking along the road, mournfully communing with one another about the death of their Lord, suddenly Someone joined them and asked what they were talking about. "What," they said, "Do you mean to say you've been staying in Jerusalem and don't know what has happened?" How great our Lord is! He simply asked, "What has happened?" And as they walked along, slowly pouring out their long tale of woe, He patiently accompanied them and patiently listened. When they had concluded their tale, He said, "O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!" Up to this point the two were still unenlightened; but they must have been impressed by the Stranger, for when they reached the village and Jesus "acted as though He would go farther...they constrained Him" to stay with them. And when they invited Him to eat, He quite unceremoniously assumed the place of host, "took the loaf and blessed it, and having broken it, He began handing it to them." At that point "their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him." And here is the amazing thing: When they could not see, He could listen; when they talked nonsense, He could go out of His way and accompany them for a long time; but as soon as their eyes were opened, "He disappeared from them." That is His disposition!

Let me assure you, when you cannot see the Lord, He is listening to all your foolish talk and is going out of His way to accompany you. I have found myself talking to a brother after this fashion: "These days the Lord is not with us. The meetings are so heavy; those who should open their lips keep them closed. It seems as though the Lord has forsaken us." When I discover myself talking like that, I dare not go on, for I am afraid He will hear me talking nonsense. Brothers and sisters, I long that we might all realize that, since the resurrection of our Lord, the chief discipline for His followers has come along the line of knowing Him as a God who hides Himself. He is in the midst of men, yet does not show Himself to men; He dwells within, yet withholds the consciousness of His indwelling. He is truly in you, and is truly working in you, and working wonderful things, tremendous things; but His disposition is not the disposition of the one we spoke of who loved to make a display. He is a God who hides Himself.

Let me cite another illustration. One evening, when the doors were shut where some of His disciples were gathered, the Lord appeared. Later Thomas came along and declared, "Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails and put my finger into the mark of the nails and put my hand into His side, I will by no means believe." The Lord felt for him in his weakness, and one day He allowed him to see and to feel. Then Thomas bowed his head and worshipped, saying, "My Lord and my God." But Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed" (John 20:24-29). "Your disposition is one that loves to see, but I love a disposition that believes where it cannot see, for I like to hide Myself."