Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. LukeMaclaren, Alexander
Religion
Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. Luke
Maclaren, Alexander
Bible. Luke -- Commentaries
His provision is more than enough for a hungry world, and they who
share it out among their fellows have their own possession of it
increased. There is no surer way to receive the full sweetness and
blessing of the Gospel than to carry it to some hungry soul. These
full baskets teach us, too, that In Christ's gift of Himself as the
Bread of Life there is ever more than at any given moment we can
appropriate. The Christian's spiritual experiences have ever an
element of infinity in them; and we feel that if we were able to
take in more, there would be more for us to take. Other food cloys
and does not satisfy, and leaves us starving. Christ satisfies and
does not cloy, and we have always remaining, yet to be enjoyed, the
boundless stores which neither eternity will age nor a universe
feeding on them consume. The Christian's capacity of partaking of
Christ grows with what it feeds on, and he alone is safe in
believing that 'To-morrow shall be as this day, and much more
abundant.'
THE LORD THAT HEALETH THEE'
'He healed them that had need of healing.'--Luke ix. 11.
Jesus was seeking a little quiet and rest for Himself and His
followers. For that purpose He took one of the fishermen's boats to
cross to the other side of the sea. But the crowd, inconsiderate and
selfish, like all crowds, saw the course of the boat, and hurried,
as they could easily do, on foot round the head of the lake, to be
ready for Him wherever He might land. So when He touched the shore,
there they all were, open-mouthed and mostly moved by mere
curiosity, and the prospect of a brief breathing-space vanished.
But not a word of rebuke or disappointment came from His lips, and
no shade of annoyance crossed His spirit. Perhaps with a sigh, but
yet cheerfully, He braced Himself to work where He had hoped for
leisure. It was a little thing, but it was the same in kind, though
infinitely smaller in magnitude, as that which led Him to lay aside
'the glory that He had with the Father before the world was,' and
come to toil and die amongst men.
But what I especially would note are Luke's remarkable words here.
Why does he use that periphrasis, 'Them that had need of healing,'
instead of contenting himself with straightforwardly saying, 'Them
that were sick,' as do the other Evangelists? Well, I suppose he
wished to hint to us the Lord's discernment of men's necessities,
the swift compassion which moved to supply a need as soon as it was
observed, and the inexhaustible power by which, whatsoever the
varieties of infirmity, He was able to cure and to bring strength.
'He healed them that had need of healing,' because His love could
not look upon a necessity without being moved to supply it, and
because that love wielded the resources of an infinite power.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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