men is this; some are sensible of their blindness, and desire to be divinely enlightened; and others imagine that they already see, and therefore disregard all offers of spiritual illumination With respect to the former, Christ came to give them sight: and, if they will apply to him in the use of his appointed ordinances, he will assuredly vouchsafe to them the benefit they desire-He declares that this was the very intent of his coming into the worlds-And he counsels all to apply to him for eye-salve that shall effectually remedy their wants-If they do this, their want of education, or even weakness of intellect shall be no obstacle in their way; he will "reveal to babes and sucklings the things which are hid from the wise and prudent" With respect to the latter, he will leave them to the operation of their own minds, and give them up to their own delusions-He will not actively mislead them; nor is there any need that he should in order to produce the increase of blindness in them: for if left to themselves, they will bewilder themselves in their own reasonings, and confirm themselves more and more in their own errors-Their prejudices, their passions, and their interests will concur to lead them astray, and their great adversary the devil, will obstruct the entrance of light into their minds;t and thus they will eventually be "taken in their own craftiness," and "utterly perish in their own corruptions"——— แ The improvement then which our Lord himself teaches us to make of this miracle is, to cultivate a sense of our own blindness, and to become fools in order that we may be wise"-If we be "wise in our own conceits, there is more hope of a fool," or of any other character in the universe, than of us. On the contrary, if we be deeply humbled before God as destitute of all spiritual discernment, the "scales shall soon be made to fall from our eyes," and the "Spirit of the living God will guide us into all truth"-] ADDRESS [All of us must of necessity resemble the man while his blindness continued, or after it had been removed--Let us then enquire whether we can say with him, "This I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see?" If we cannot, let us remember that the Saviour is nigh at hand, and that the means used for our illumination, weak as they are, are quite sufficient, if accompanied with his power-Let us take encouragement to ask the influences of his good Spirit, and to q Luke iv. 18. r Rev. iii. 18. z Prov. xvi. 12. 8 Matt. xi. 25. 2 Pet. ii. 12. a Ver. 25. pray with David, "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law"-On the other hand, if our eyes have been opened, let us boldly confess our Benefactor, and willingly bear whatever infidel rulers, or persecuting bigots may inflict upon us for his sake-Let us, like Christ himself, endure the cross, and despise the shame. Let us "be faithful unto death, and he will give us a crown of life”—] b Ps. cxix. 18. CCCXI. LAZARUS RAISED. John xi. 40. Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? SUCH is the state of God's people upon earth, that they can scarcely ever come into trying circumstances. without discovering the frailty of their nature, and laying themselves open to reproof from their divine Master. But in all the rebukes which our Lord gave his disciples, we may notice a peculiar tenderness, like that of a parent towards his beloved child." In the passages before us he had occasion to remove the unbelief of Martha: but he could not possibly have done it in mild er terms. We purpose to consider I. The occasion of his words Our Lord, at the request of Mary and Martha, was about to raise Lazarus [The afflicted sisters, when they despaired of their brother's life, except through the intervention of a miracle, sent to Jesus to come and heal him: and Jesus returned them a favourable, but inexplicable answer. Apparently forgetful of their request, he continued where he was two days longer, and did not reach Bethany till Lazarus had been dead four days. But on coming thither, he renewed the promise which he had before made them, and had given an order for the a Matt. xiv. 31. Mark ix. 33-37. b Ver. 4. Bethabara beyond Jordan was rather a long day's journey from Bethany. It is probable that Lazarus, being in the last extremity, died soon after the messenger had set off. Hence the day occupied in his going to Jesus, with the day spent by Jesus in coming thither, and the two days delay, will account easily for the time that Lazarus had been dead. removal of the stone in order that he might call forth their brother from the graved-] But Martha, yielding to unbelief, attempted to divert him from his purpose [She had just before confessed his omnipotence; but now began to doubt it. She supposed that the state of the corpse precluded a possibility of its restoration to life. Alas! how weak was her faith when put to the trial! A daughter of Abraham indeed she was; but unlike her progenitor in this instance. Instead of believing with him, she staggered at the promise, like Sarah; and incurred on that account the displeasure of her Lord-] Jesus, however, receded not from his intentions; as we shall see by considering II. The manner in which they were fulfilled With an authoritative voice he bade the dead come forth [Having returned thanks to his Father for giving him this opportunity of glorifying both himself and him, he spake the word; and immediately Lazarus came forth, clad in the solemn appendages of death. With what astonishment must the doubting, disconsolate sisters have been filled! With what love and gratitude must their hearts have glowed, while they embraced their lost returning brother! And what an earnest was now afforded of that great event, when "all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth!"] By this was the glory of God most signally displayed [Who could refrain from magnifying him who had condescended thus to hear the requests of two feeble mortals, and to exert such almighty power on their behalf? Who could, after this, entertain a doubt of Christ's divine mission, or of his power to quicken the bodies or souls of whomsoever he would? Some indeed there were, whose rancour, instead of d It would not be unprofitable to comment briefly on the many beautiful incidents that are crowded together in this short history; and to notice the plea which the sisters urged, ver. 3. (Not Lazarus' merit, but Christ's love to him) Our Lord's trying of their faith and patience by his delay, ver. 6. his fortitude, ver. 7, 8. the light in which he represented the death of Lazarus, and his intention to raise him, ver. 11. his full and seasonable manifestation of himself to Martha under her affliction, with her noble confession, ver. 25—27. his tender sympathy, ver. 35. and deep concern for the unbelief which he saw in the hearts of many, ver. 33, 38. e Rom. iv. 20. f Gen. xviii. 12-15. g Ver. 41. h John v.. 28, 29. being extinguished, was inflamed by this miracle: but many were constrained by it to believe on his name1-] While we see by this miracle how just were our Lord's reproofs to Martha, let us notice particularly III. The lessons we should learn from them 1. We should at all times remember, and expect the accomplishment of the words of Jesus [Our Lord speaks to us in his word, as truly as he did to Martha, or to any of his disciples. And when he shall ask, "said I not thus and thus unto thee?" it will be to little purpose for us to urge that we were ignorant of his sayings: for we ought to know them, and to treasure them up in our minds; and to be as much assured that all his promises and threats shall be accomplished, as if we had already seen them executed before our eyes. Let this thought be applied to any individual promise or threatening, and we shall be utterly inexcusable, if either from presumption or despondency we live unmindful of his word-] 2. The more we exercise faith in God, the more will God reveal his glory to us [Our Lord himself could not do many mighty works at Nazareth because of their unbelief:k but for those who have exercised faith in him, he has wrought the greatest wonders. Let those who have relied upon him for the supply of their temporal wants, or for strength against their spiritual adversaries, testify whether he has not, on many occasions, exceeded their most sanguine hopes? We must not indeed expect at his hands any thing which he has not promised; but, if we rest on his word, it shall, if not immediately, yet in the fittest season, be fulfilled to us. Nothing should be too great for him to do: if a soul were dead as the corpse of Lazarus, yea, and as full of corruption too, Jesus would quicken it in answer to the prayer of faith, and would raise it to a new and heavenly life: and the more we lived by faith upon him, the more would he interpose on our behalf, and glorify himself in all the dispensations of his providence and grace.] i Ver. 45, 46. * Matt. xiii. 58. CCCXII. BLIND BARTIMEUS CURED. Mark x. 49, 50. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garments, rose, and came to Jesus. OUR Lord, like the sun in the firmament, prosecuted without intermission the great ends of his ministry, diffusing innumerable blessings wheresoever he bent his course-The miracle which he performed at Jericho, though similar in many respects to some others which are recorded, has some circumstances peculiar to itself, which deserve to be attentively considered-St. Matthew mentions two persons who were joint-petitioners on this occasion; but St. Mark confines his narration to Bartimeus alone, as the more noted of the two, and as the chief speaker-To comprehend the most important incidents in this history we shall consider I. The state of the person whom Jesus called Bartimeus was a distressed and humble suppliant for mercy [He was both blind, and necessitated to subsist upon the precarious bounty of those who might pass him on the highway-Who would have thought that God should suffer one, towards whom he had designs of love and mercy, to be reduced to so low a state? Yet such is his sovereign appointment in many instances; his own children are lying at the gate full of sores, while his enemies are faring sumptuously every day -Hearing that Jesus passed by, this blind man earnestly importuned his aid-He would not lose the opportunity which now occurred; nor cease from his cries till he had obtained his request-His language was expressive of an assured faith in Jesus the promised Messiah, at the very time that the rulers and Pharisees almost unanimously rejected him-Thus it is frequently found that those things which are hid from the wise and prudent are revealed unto babes-] Afflictive as such a condition is, it affords a pleasant and hopeful prospect eyes of [Distress of any kind cannot but be an object of commiseration-But none is so much to be deprecated as the blindness of the mind-The loss of eye-sight is no more worthy to be compared with this, than the body with the soul, or time with eternity-Miserable beyond description are they, the whose understanding have never yet been enlightened to behold the wonderful things of God's law-But if we be sensible of our blindness; if we be calling upon Jesus as the appointed and all-sufficient Saviour, if we be persevering in prayer notwithstanding all our discouragements, and saying, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me," we are surely in an hopeful state; we are not far from the kingdom of God-] |