Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St LukeBurton, Henry
Religion
Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St Luke
Burton, Henry
Bible. Luke -- Commentaries
For others the need itself was not sufficient; there must be the
request. Our desire for any blessing is our appraisement of its value,
and Jesus dispensed His gifts of healing on the Divine conditions, "Ask,
and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find." How the request came,
whether from the sufferer himself or through some intercessor, it did
not matter; for no request for healing came to Jesus to be disregarded
or denied. Nor was it always needful to put the request into words.
Prayer is too grand and great a thing for the lips to have a monopoly of
it, and the deepest prayers may be put into acts as well as into words,
as they are sometimes uttered in inarticulate sighs, and in groans which
are too deep for words. And was it not truest prayer, as the multitudes
carried their sick and laid them down at the feet of Jesus, even had
their voice spoken no solitary word? and was it not truest prayer, as
they put themselves, with their bent forms and withered hands right in
His way, not able to speak one single word, but throwing across to Him
the piteous but hopeful look? The request was thus the expression of
their desire, and at the same time the expression of their faith,
telling of the trust they reposed in His pity and His power, a trust He
was always delighted to see, and to which He always responded, as He
Himself said again and again, "Thy faith hath saved thee." Faith then,
as now, was the sesame to which all Heaven's gates fly open; and as in
the case of the paralytic who was borne of four, and let down through
the roof, even a vicarious faith prevails with Jesus, as it brings to
their friend a double and complete salvation. And so they who sought
Jesus as their Healer found Him, and they who believed entered into His
rest, this lower rest of a perfect health and perfect life; while they
who were indifferent and they who doubted were left behind, crushed by
the sorrow that He would have removed, and tortured by pains that His
touch would have completely stilled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account