SUNDAY READING

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11768, 15 October 1932, Page 11

SUNDAY READING

(By the Rev. James Aitken, M.A.)

THE REST PART OF THE GOSPEL.

Alai (hew. Mark and Luke all + < ‘ ~j the story of the healing of the pi"'-! alyLie in the house of Capernaum.! Je.sus was teaching in that hotijjQ when there approached Hie. door Idur men hearing a -sad harden, a man sick of the palsy, a poor creature unable to rise from Jds lied, unable to walk, or indeed to do anything lor himself. As they drew item; Hie little company was for a moment disconcerted. They found , s o great a crowd about: the place that, they could not see any way into the presence of the Saviour. The rooms ivoi'q ovidnntlv full, the eourfyard was l.hrouged, even the street, was blocked. But there was an outer stair running up the buck or side pi the building to the roof; and it. was possible that, if they made their way to this and climbed to Hie roof they might he aide to lower their friend from above into the presence of Jesus. for, if Jesus sal in ihe courtyard leaching, it would he mi easy matter I" remove Ihe awning and lower f.lie bed down beside Him. Even if He sat in one ol flic rooms. it would he quite possible do lift a small portion of the rnnl iiqdl. The owner would not niiiul, lor I hey would willingly hour the cost oi repairs. The only question would I" 1 what would Jesus say to their interruption? Would lie not, like most other teachers, resent ilieir stopping him in the middle of His discourse, and rebuke them for not - wailing till He had finished? But their lailli in Jesus was strong. They believed, not only tin'll lie could cure then friend, hut that He would he willing lo cure him ai once. They had confidence in Him that He would sympathise: with their impalienec. Tie Who grieved so over Hie mibeliel which kept men away from IThn. would never lake ill ihe faith which brought men to Him. Fo they took the only course open to thorn, and. going ii)i lo the roof, they made a hole and lowered the helpless sufferer into ihe presence of ihe flood Physician.

And Jesus, seeing ilieir faith—a faith so ardent, so persevering, so expectant—at once dispelled any fears they might have had. Tt" paused in what He was saying, ami welcomed them with the kindest words. Tt was not indeed the words of cure they were exporting Tie greeted them with; hut words stranger and more wonderful. Tie spoke, riot- jo Hie man’s body, fiuf to Mis soul. He spoke, not of his palsy, hut of his -ins. “Bon!” He said, “thy sins are forgiven thee." He gave before thov asked Him; and Tie gave better than they asked. Already they felt justified in the neiion they had taken. He Mho had given the greater boon would not deny the less. Their hopes, and the hopes ol ihe impotent mao himself, rose triumphant' alreadv.

We have nothing to do at present with the Scribes and Pharisees and their cavillings. The little hand of suppliants could afford to wait with patience while they displayed their critical and hostile spirit. Their faith was not daunted hy the charge of lilasphemy they heard brought agains* their Helper. They -stood r'xpeetaii! fill at last He lurned again to the sick man with Ihe command. ‘'Arise. take up thy bed and go to thine house.’’ Then they had the extreme joy of seeing Fm command obeyed. Their friend arose and straightaway took his Led and went forth before them all. AM ihe actors in that wonderful scene have long since passed away. The paralytic lived a few years more lo enjov ihe health the Lord had given him. His lour trusty friends lived a while to rejoice with hint. The people who were present in the house continued for a time to remember that greai day and to talk about ii to ilieir children: tlm Pharisees, to conceive an ever deeper hatred Inwards the gracious Healer. Hitt one hy one they passed, all of them, through the dark portals of the grave into the life beyond. Even Jesus Himself was here in Ihe lleslt hut a few months more. 1 1 is an old story now. All concerned in it are gone. It belonged to the things that are transitory.

Now one of (ho great poets Ims. said. “All that is transitory is but parable.” That is a true saying. A fliai we see hero, all Ihal we know belongs lo an order which passes away, besides having ilg own use and significance, is full of spiritual meaning for ns as if we have eyes 1° read it. God, Who designed this cart Id v homo for us. made’ if not. only lo meet live needs of our earthly lives, hut also so ordered it (hat it .should continually suggest lo us lessons for our higher lives as well. It was so that Jesus regarded it. Ho saw in Hie flowers of the field, in the ways of (ho birds, in Die rain storms and the rising rivers and the floods, in all Nature, suggestions of great spiritual truths, and taught us to look for them too. And how many lessons Ho drew .Horn (he daily lives of men and women. The work of the farmer, of the builder, of the fisherman • tlve buying and selling in the market-place.; the hiring of servants, the social intercourse of friends and neighbours, the movements ol kings, and armies—-all those in His eyes were symbols. They served to illustrate the things He had (0 say about the inner life and experience and character of men, about their relation to one another, to Himself, and to God. The things we see around us, our ordinary every-day doings, are parables. They belong to the life, the earthly life that: passes away, hut they servo constantly t° remind us of the things that belong to the life eternal.

So now ] want to look for a little while at this incident in the life of our Lord, and to regard it as a parable.' The paralytic, , s o unable to help himself shall stand to us as a symbol of ourselves, helpless in, onr Sinfulness. AYe don’t think much or

speak much about sin in these days. But ,?in is "a real thing, and paralysis is a good symbol l'or it. For lb is one of the terrible' characteristics of sin that it weakens tho will till it seems to become almost wholly helpless for good. It dulls the moral feelings so that wo become insensible lo the beauty and desirableness of a good character. Conscience grows loss and less able to make its voice heard within us. We care less and less for what is right, and more and more disposed to follow the impulses of our lower nature. It is one of the worst moral signs when a man ceases to appreciate goodness in other pt:«. pie or to care about if in himself.

That is one of the results of sin. A farther result is tho impotence it produces in a. man’s moral nature. This helplessness is one of (he most: awful, as it is one of the commonest: features of sin. A man despairs of ever lining able to realise any betferment in himself at all. even if 1m should come to desire if. A paralysis seems In creep over the whole moral nature, so that it becomes incapable of making the least moral effort. Is not that true in onr own experience? Have we not felt it ourselves? We have come to realise that some hit hi i. of ours i s a had one, or that some feature of our oharar-P-i is wrong. We wish to get rid of tort habit: or correct the wrong trait. But we cannot do it. We try and try hard; lint the chains of habit are too strong for ns. Iho evil traii too per. sistenb Again and again we have to confess ourselves beaten. The good that wo would we do not, the evil that we would not that wo do, W'o arc powerless. We arc paralysed. 'there is no other word that so well describes it. This man in the parable his hi s palsy exactly represents us.

Bill Christ cured the palsied man. Will the parallel hold gon ( | then? Will Christ care us? f> lie able to do fo i- our spirits what lie did lor his body. Yes. that is the question. And the answer of ihe Gospel is. He is able. The Cospol is a very full and comprehensive message. to ns men. It speaks to us as “dimers. It speak s to us of ihe forgiveness of our sin. It speaks to ns of iorgivenoss first, just as .Jesus spoke of forgiveness first io ihe paralytic in Capernaum. It says to us that onr sins are forgiven, that Cod is not going to cut us ojf for ever without giving us any chance Onr sins are torgivcii. and it only rests with us to accept that forgiveness and to return to Cod and His love.

But the Cospol speaks to us of lar more than forgiveno.es. It speaks to us of restoration too. Cod has drawn near ions in Christ, with ihe express purpose ol saving us from the pfnver of sin. and enabling us to rise to our true manhood. It is not only a gospel of forgiveness ilint i,< preached. H is a gospel of recovery Us well- Chri-t helps ir- in overcome sin if we come to Him for His help. The Cospol is indeed a power of Cod inio salvation. Whosoever believes it and cmnes to ihe Saviour of whom it speaks, will hud in Tlim deliverance from the bondage ol evil and freedom to do what he knows is right. Christ will really help hint in his battle against sin and give him tin* victory.

The healing wor!; of Christ in the soul is ;i real thing. It was not a more dream: ii is a matter oi experience. Wo nitty not ho able Vo explain it, but we ntay know ii. Too palsied man eon Id n°t explain bow Christ cured him; but lie knew he had heen cured. Some reiiivignrnting force had come inio hf s body and lie knew that it had ermie from .Jesus. So there comes to us, when we lean on Christ, a spiritual force which restores our Ide. The spiritual healing; is .just as real as the physical healing was. .Moral lepers

are still cleansed, paralysed moral natures are revivified. spiritually blind eves are opened, souls (hat are dead to all that G pure and holy are raised to life, through tin- spiritual intluenee of Christ to-day. And there is no part of the Gospel better or more important than this. This is the area I hope of the Gospel. That, old sad cry. '‘The good- which 1 wdnid do not." is replaced by the triad acknowledgment-. ‘‘l can do all things through Christ which strengiheneth 1110."

What more need | savf We are /111 ni' us 'conscious of our need of liel'p. Wo are conscious how weakall on 1- own efforts are in overcome sin and to improve our own characters. We hick the spiritual force even |o rise to the height of our own ideals. 'Well, then let us look (<i ihe Saviour. II i s one. of the commonest experiences of those who really sock Him that He does enable I hem to do that w hich of themselves they could not. lie does not help one and not another. If He has helped others lie will help ns too. Let, ns have faith in Thin, faith enough to ask Him to aid us. And "'0 too shall find, as so many have done Tielore us. that lie is aide to save (o Ihe u'ttermodT.