0344. Jesus in the Midst

Jesus in the Midst

"Jesus went up to Jerusalem" (Joh_5:1).

This is a simple statement indeed, but freighted with mighty depths. Jesus went up to Jerusalem. But that is not all–Jesus went to the Pool of Bethesda.

1. How like the Lord was this. He sought out the place where lay the impotent and the sick.

Have we the Spirit of Christ? Do we go where we are needed? When we give a feast, do we call in the poor and the blind and the halt and the lame? Do we go about to seek the ones who need us most? Do we pass down by the place where the wounded lie?

Have we gone out into the by-ways and the hedges and brought them in?

"Have you sought for the sheep that wandered,

Far away on the dark mountains cold;

Have you gone like the tender shepherd,

To bring them again to the fold?

Have you followed their weary footsteps?

And the wild desert waste, have you crossed?

Nor lingered, till safe home, returning

You have gathered the sheep that was lost?"

2. Jesus walked among the sick folk, unrecognized, unwelcomed and unsought. You reply: The multitude of the sick did not even know that He was there. Then let us ask you this: When Christ had picked out the one who was sickest of all, and when He had healed him, why did not the rest of the sick cry for aid? Yet, they did not.

This question must remain unanswered. Let us ask another: Why is it that men to-day fail to recognize the power of Christ to save? Men are sick, and they know they are sick. The Healer is here and the sick know He is here. Who is there in our own city who has not seen the wonderful salvation of Christ? Some one, a relative or a friend, or a near-by neighbor, has been graciously saved, and his life has proved the genuineness of the grace of God. Why do not people call upon the name of the Lord?

3. Jesus walked among the sick and stopped close by the man who had had an infirmity for thirty-eight years. Perhaps his great distress and sore need appealed to Christ; or perhaps that distress and need had only prepared him to be willing to accept the proffered aid. At least Christ is willing to help the one that needs Him most.

One does not need to feel expelled from the Cross of Christ because he is double dyed in his sins. Christ does not place a premium on sinning; and the great sinner must, in many ways, reap the harvest of his sins; but Christ does save the greatest of sinners.

"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."

Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost.

"Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

Weak and helpless, sick and sore;

Jesus ready stands to save you,

Clothed with mercy, love and power."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR