III.

[Preached February 10, 1850.]

THE HEALING OF JAIRUS' DAUGHTER.

MATT. ix. 23–25. · "And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place; for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

THIS is one of a pair of miracles, the full instruction from neither of which can be gained unless taken in connection with the other.

On His way to heal the daughter of Jairus, the Son of Man was accosted by another sufferer, afflicted twelve years with an issue of blood. Humanly speaking, there were many causes which might have led to the rejection of her request. The case was urgent; a matter of life and death; delay might be fatal; a few minutes might make all the difference between living and dying. Yet Jesus not only performed the mir acle, but refused to perform it in a hurried way; paused to converse; to inquire who had touched him; to perfect the lesson of the whole. On His way to perform one act of Love, He turned aside to give His attention to another.

The practical lesson is this: There are many who are so occupied by one set of duties as to have no time for others: some whose life-business is the sup pression of the slave-trade, the amelioration of the state of prisons, the reformation of public abuses. Right, except so far as they are monopolized by these, and feel themselves discharged from other obligations. The minister's work is spiritual; the physician's, temporal. But, if the former neglect physical needs, or the latter shrink from spiritual opportunities on the plea that the cure of bodies, not of souls, is his work, so far they refuse to imitate their Master.

He had an ear open for every tone of wail; a heart ready to respond to every species of need. Specially the Redeemer of the soul, He was yet as emphatically the "Saviour of the body.". He "taught the people; but He did not neglect to multiply the loaves and fishes. The peculiar need of the woman, the father's cry of anguish, the infant's cry of helplessness, the wail of oppression, and the shriek of pain, all were heard by Him, and none in vain.

Therein lies the difference between Christian love and the impulse of mere inclinations. We hear of men being "interested" in a cause; it has some peculiar charm for them individually: the wants of the heathen, or the destitution of the soldier and sailor, or the conversion of the Jews, according to men's associations, or fancies, or peculiar bias, may engage their attention, and monopolize their sympathy. I am far from saying these are wrong; I only say, that so far as they only interest, and monopolize interest, the source from which they spring is only human, and not the highest. The difference between such beneficence and that which is

the result of Christian love is marked by partiality in one case, universality in the other Love is universal. It is interested in all that is human: not merely in the concerns of its own family, nation, sect, or circle of associations. Humanity is the sphere of its activity.

Here, too, we find the Son of Man the pattern of our humanity. His bosom was to mankind what the Ocean is to the world. The Ocean has its own mighty tide ; but it receives and responds to, in exact proportion, the tidal influences of every estuary, and river, and small creek, which pours into its bosom. So in Christ: His bosom heaved with the tides of our humanity; but every separate sorrow, pain, and joy, gave its pulsation, and received back influence from the sea of His being.

Looking at this matter somewhat more closely, it will be plain that the delay was only apparent. Seemingly there was delay, and fatal delay: while he yet spake, there came news of the child's death. But just so far as the resurrection of the dead is a mightier miracle than the healing of the sick, just so far did the delay enhance and illustrate, instead of dimming, the glory of His mission.

But more definitely still. The miracles of Jesus were not merely arbitrary acts; they were subject to the laws of the spiritual world. It was, we may humbly say, impossible to convey a spiritual blessing to one who was not spiritually susceptible. A certain inward character, a certain relation (rapport) to the Redeemer, was required to make the mercy efficacious. Hence in one place we read, "He could not do many miracles there because of their unbelief." And His

perpetual question was, "Believest thou that I am able to do this?"

Now, Jairus beheld this miracle. He saw the woman's modest touch approaching the hem of the Saviour's garment. He saw the abashed look with which she shrunk from public gaze and exposure. He heard the language of Omniscience-"Somebody hath touched me." He heard the great principle enunciated that the only touch which reaches God is that of Faith. The multitude may throng and press: but heart to heart, soul to soul, mind to mind, only so do we come in actual contact with God. And, remembering this, it is a 'matter not of probability, but of certainty, that the soul of Jairus was actually made more capable of a blessing than before; that he must have walked with a more hopeful step; that he must have heard the announcement, "Thy daughter is dead," with less dismay; that the words, "Fear not, only believe," must have come to him with deeper meaning, and been received with more implicit trust, than if Jesus had not paused to heal the woman, but hurried. on.

And this is the principle of the spiritual kingdom. In matters worldly, the more occupations, duties, a man has, the more certain is he of doing all imperfectly. In the things of God, it is reversed. The more duties you perform, the more you are fitted for doing g others: what you lose in time, you gain in strength. You do not love God the less, but the 'more, for loving man. You do not weaken your affection for your family by cultivating attachments.beyond its pale, but deepen and intensify it. Respect for the alien, tenderness for the heretic, do not interfere with, but rather strengthen, attachment to your own country

:

and your own church. He who is most liberal in the case of a foreign famine, or a distant mission, will be found to have only learned more liberal love towards the poor and unspiritualized of his own land: so false is the querulous complaint that money is drained away by such calls, to the disadvantage of more near and juster claims.

You do not injure one cause of mercy by turning aside to listen to the call of another.

I. The uses of Adversity.

II. The principles of a Miracle.

A

I. The simplest and obvious use of sorrow is to remind of God. Jairus and the woman, like many others, came to Christ from a sense of want. It would seem that a certain shock is needed to bring us in contact with reality. We are not conscious of our breathing till obstruction makes it felt. We are not aware of the possession of a heart till some disease, some sudden joy or sorrow, rouses it into extraordi nary action. And we are not conscious of the mighty cravings of our half Divine humanity, we are not aware of the God within us, till some chasm yawns which must be filled, or till the rending asunder of our affections forces us to become fearfully conscious of a need.

And this, too, is the reply to a renellious question which our hearts are putting perpetually: Why am I treated so? Why is my health or my child taken from me? What have I done to deserve this?. So Job passionately complained that God had set him up as a mark to empty His quiver on.