Patristic A.D. 407
“(Hom. lxxix) These words being obscure, He adds, These things have I spoken to you in proverbs, but the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs: for forty days He talked with them as they were assembled, speaking of the kingdom of God. And now, He says, ye are in too great fear to attend to My words, but then, when you see Me risen again, you will be able to proclaim these things openly.”
Catena Aurea: Gospel of John, as excerpted in the Catena Aurea on John 16:23-28
PD · J. H. Newman (Oxford, 1845) ↗