THE MIGHTY AND COMPASSIONATE LORD GOD OF HEAVEN!

"Jesus wept." -John 11:35 [KJV]

My soul! look at thy Redeemer in this account of Him. Was there ever a more interesting portrait than what the evangelist hath here drawn of the Son of God? If the imagination were to be employed forever in forming an interesting scene of the miseries of human nature, what could furnish so complete a picture as these two words give of Christ, at the sight of them? "Jesus wept." Here we have at once the evidence how much the miseries of our nature affected the heart of Jesus; and here we have the most convincing testimony, that He partook of all the sinless infirmities of our nature, and was truly, and in all points, man, as well as God.  

We are told by one of the ancient writers (as well as I recollect, it was St. Chrysostom) that some weak but injudicious christians in his days, were so rash as to strike this verse out of their bibles, from an idea, that it was unsuitable and unbecoming in the Son of God to weep. But we have cause to bless the overruling providence of God, that though they struck it out from their bibles, they did it not from ours. It is blessed to us to have it preserved, for it affords one of the most delightful views we can possibly have of the affectionate heart of Jesus, in feeling for the sorrows of His people. And methinks, had they judged aright, they would have thought, that if it were unsuitable or unbecoming in Jesus to weep, it would have been more so to put on the appearance of it. And why those groans at the grave of Lazarus, if tears were improper?  

Precious Lord! how refreshing is it to my soul the consideration, that, "Forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, Thou likewise didst take part of the same; that in all things it behoved Thee to be made like to Thy brethren!" Hence, when my poor heart is afflicted, when Satan storms, or the world frowns, when sickness in myself, or when under bereaving providences for my friends, "all Thy waves and storms seem to go over me" (see Jonah 2:3). Oh, what relief is it, to know that Jesus looks on, and sympathizes! Then do I say to myself, will not Jesus, who wept at the grave of Lazarus, feel for me? Shall I look up to Him, and look up in vain? Did Jesus, when upon earth, know what those exercises were; and was His precious soul made sensible of distresses even to tears; and will He be regardless of what! feel, and the sorrows under which I groan? Oh no! the sigh that bursts in secret from my heart, is not secret to Him; the tear that on my night couch, drops unperceived and unknown to the world, is known and numbered by Him. Though now exalted at the right hand of power, where He hath wiped away all tears from off all faces, yet He himself still retains the feelings and the character of "the man of sorrows, and of one well acquainted with grief."  

Help me, Lord, thus to look up to Thee, and thus to remember Thee! Oh! that blessed scripture; "In all their afflictions, He was afflicted; and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love, and in His pity, He redeemed them, and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old," Isaiah 63:9. 

-Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.)   


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more