Section 6
town of which it was said by the Jews that no prophet or person of repute ever came from there (John 1:46; 7:52). So, when He appeared, people not only found it hard to believe that God was present in Him—they found it hard even to believe that He was a prophet of God. Yet God was hidden within Jesus of Nazareth.
One day, as I was pondering this, it occurred to me as an amazing thing that God, who obvi ously desired to manifest Himself, should have hidden Himself from men for four thousand years—from the creation to the end of the Old Testament period. And when, in the New Testa ment period, He came from heaven to earth for the special purpose of revealing Himself to men, He hid Himself once more—hid Himself in man. He appears and then hides, and He hides Himself so effectively that no one can possibly recognize Him. It seems as though He likes to act that way. I believe He knows I do not mean it irreverently if I say: That is His temperament!
Let me illustrate. There are some brothers and sisters who, whatever they do, do it most un obtrusively. If they bring you a drink of water, they watch for an opportunity when you are looking out of the window, then steal in quietly, put down the water, and steal out again. When