Jesus
was "Emmanuel, God with us."
He came to reveal God to men. He could tell His disciples that in seeing and hearing Him they had
thereby seen and heard the Father. Had the Father Himself been as visible to
them as Jesus was, they would have seen and heard exactly what had been before
them in the Son. This was our Lord's special purpose in His day-by-day contacts
with His disciples, and a very important part of His mission among all
with whom He had to do. In like manner we are to reflect His life, the life of
Christ, by word and act. Our very special task is that of manifesting the compassion,
the generosity, tolerance, and pity, so perfectly displayed in Jesus our God-given
Copy. With this in view, let us follow Him in our study, going with Him into
homes, and standing beside Him in the midst of diversified circumstances as present with us now as such were in the
days of His contacts with all sorts and conditions of men.
Before
we enter any of these homes in our study, or in our actual experiences, let us
take time to consider the Master's command in this matter. We remember how,
when sending His disciples out on missions before Him, this was the word given
to them, "Into whatsoever house you
enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ And if the son of peace be there,
your peace shall rest upon it" (Luke 10:5, 6). This means that "Wherever the Lord's representatives
go, peace should go, not strife, confusion, turmoil, or quarreling. All who
have received the Truth should receive also its spirit speaking peace through
Jesus Christ." This should be true in all the ways by which we
may enter the homes or circles about us.
Some
are more privileged than others in the matter of entering homes over a wide
territory, and by personal contact influencing others. But we may enter homes
by "a letter” speeded on its way to brethren far or near, inner circles
may also be entered by “a publication” we recommend. In such ways we do touch
other lives, influencing them for good or ill according to the tenor of our
conversation, correspondence, and recommended literature. This represents a real responsibility, making it important that we are
careful that our influence be ever in the direction of purity in word and deed.
A very timely suggestion has been given by someone in the following lines:
"He
wiped his feet before his door,
But
before he entered he did more;
'Twas not enough to cleanse his feet
Of
dirt they'd gathered in the street
He
stood and dusted off his mind,
And
left all trace of care behind.
'In there I will not take' said he,
'The stains the day has brought to me.'
He
dusted off the stains of strife,
The
mud that's incident to life,
The blemishes of
careless thought,
The
traces of the fight he'd fought,
The
selfish humors and the mean
And
when he entered he was, clean."
If
this suggestion is followed always, it will surely mean entering homes in the
way Jesus instructed His disciples to do; and thus we will be messengers of
peace, helping others in ways sure to bring to them and to ourselves the
manifest blessing of the Lord.
As
in our mind we begin our walk from home to home with Jesus, where shall we call
first? Let it be the home of Matthew the publican. He was among the first of
the Twelve to be called into that band of specially chosen followers. We call
here for the sake of lessons to be learned in this particular spot; lessons
needful to all in order that the largeness of vision and of sympathy may be
thoroughly learned at the outset. If we miss this lesson what can save us from
becoming exclusive-minded like the priest and Levite passing by needs which
Jesus could not pass unheeded?
In
the home of this publican, Jesus is in the midst of a gathering made up of
similar characters. Because of His association with these
He was called in derision, “a friend
of publicans and sinners.” But what truth there was in that classification! A
precious truth indeed! Of Himself He said, "I
am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matt.
Mary Magdalene, and others lifted up from sin's pollution and into
a devotion to Jesus by which a fragrance has been carried down through all
the centuries wherever the Gospel story has gone. Leading sinners to repentance
was a very marked feature of our Lord's mission. Has
it been likewise with us? Have we missed the steps in
characters as John and Peter, Mary
of Bethany, Nathaniel and James, how different the copy would have been. Had He
done so, publicans like those He befriended, sinners like the one who came into
Simon's home to weep over His feet would never have known how truly His grace
abounded where sin in them had abounded.
"Doing good unto all men" was
no mere incident in the ministry of
Jesus. It was the working out of the
message given Him in the prophetic forecast of Isaiah. Surely this
compassionate ministry was much in the Father's heart when His voice came, from
heaven saying, "This is My beloved
Son in whom
The
(To be continued). J.J.
Blackburn