Bible. Luke II, 14 -- Meditations; Christmas sermons
The person is God--He who spake by holy men of old, speaking here by
the lips of angels. Where there is a will, there is a way, is a brave
and admirable proverb. Yet, though comparatively true in most cases,
to some it is altogether inapplicable. Look, for example, at the women
who, when the men had turned cowards, boldly follow our Lord to
Calvary, bewailing and lamenting Him! What tears they shed, what a
wail they raise, when the door opens, and, surrounded by armed guards,
Jesus comes forth from the Judgment Hall, bleeding, bound, crowned
with thorns. When He sank down on the street under the weight of the
cross, and His blessed head lay low in the dust, had there been a
chance of saving Him, how had they rushed to His help; and, giving
their naked breasts to the Roman spears, burst through the circle to
rescue Him; to die with Him rather than desert Him. But they were
helpless. Their good will availed the loved object nothing--beyond
this, that the sympathy flowing in their tears and expressed in their
looks, somewhat soothed the sorrows of His heart, and fell like balm
drops on His smarting wounds.
Again, what good will did David bear to Jonathan! Did Jonathan love
David as his own soul? and under circumstances calculated to dissolve
all common friendships, and work such change on the heart as wine
suffers when it turns into vinegar, did Jonathan's sentiments continue
unchanged, his affection unabated to the last? His love was strong as
death; many waters could not quench it. But it was amply requited.
David proved that with his harp; had he been present on that fatal
field where the bow of Jonathan was broken, he had proved it with his
sword. With what a lion spring had he answered Jonathan's cry for
help; how had he bestrode his fallen friend, covering him with his
battered shield; mowing a way through the ranks of the Philistines,
how had he borne him off to a place of safety, or falling in the
attempt, left others to compose their elegy, and sing, They were
pleasant in their lives, and in death they were not divided! God is a
very present help in time of trouble; but there was no help for
Jonathan in David. Far away from that bloody field, his good will
availed Jonathan nothing--beyond embalming his rare virtues in
immortal song, and in an imperishable lament raising an imperishable
monument to the memory of a man whose love to him was wonderful,
passing the love of women.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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