Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

sumed. "Philip answered, two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may eat a little."

[ocr errors]

This reply to the query of our Lord, proves that the disciple by whom it was made had but an imperfect conception of the power and character of his Divine Master". It is true that he had on dif ferent occasions already witnessed the miracles of Jesus, yet these had only proved to him that, like the prophets, who equally performed miracles, he was "a teacher come from God." The prophets, however, had never laid claim to any pretensions which were incompatible with their condition as mortals; whereas our Lord had only a short time before been describing himself, and had been using the terms Father and Son, in such a manner as could only be understood by receiving him as a being superior to the rest of mortals, and, in fact, in every respect equal to the Eternal Father. "All men, said He, "should honour the Son even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him will ye receive."

دو

Such declarations as these, from one who was enabled to perform the works of God, were certainly sufficient to prove the divine power of Jesus, and to have induced Philip to evince in his reply a correa See St. John, i. 45. b John, iii. 2.

sponding conviction.

Whereas, instead of doing this, the apostle gives such an answer as shews us that he regarded the miracles, which he had beheld, only as so many proofs given by God that Jesus Christ, a human being like himself, had received his commission from above. There can be no doubt, I think, that our Lord, when he proposed the question to his disciple for the purpose of proving him-for the purpose of ascertaining the extent of his faith, did this with a particular reference to those lessons and exhortations which he had just before delivered, which we have already alluded to as contained in the preceding chapter of St. John's Gospel. In the proof, however, which was proposed by our Lord, the apostle was found wanting. He had heard the lessons, and witnessed the miracles of Jesus, yet had he only partially, and to a limited extent, profited by them. Neither, indeed, did any one of the apostles fully appreciate the character of their master until after his resurrection from the tomb. When the women, who had visited the sepulchre of our Lord, communicated to the eleven the evidence which they had received of the resurrection of their deceased master, "their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not." And it was not until they had actually seen him, after his death, that they "worshipped him" in token of their belief in his divine character and power, when he made a declaration to them which could only be reconciled with such a conception :

a

"Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." The question, then, which our Lord proposed to his disciple Philip, was simply in effect whether he believed him to be the Son of God, and equal in power to his Almighty Father. Such a question was in effect proposed to Philip for the purpose of "proving him," and the faithless and unsatisfactory manner in which he responded to the question, you have already seen.

It is moreover sufficiently clear that the works which our Lord performed during his residence in the world the miracles, I mean, which were applied to physical and material substances, could never be repeated after he had ceased to sojourn among men. Yet cannot we, by any possibility, conceive that that Power should now become altogether inactive, which in times past so mercifully and so wonderfully exerted itself in behalf of fallen man. Though, indeed, we may not behold the performance of such works of extraordinary power as would be adapted to our bodily necessities and infirmities, yet ought we to feel a confident assurance that the same power which once visibly exerted itself in man's behalf that same power which was once ready to satisfy the hunger of so large a number as those alluded to in our text, is now and at all times equally ready and willing to relieve the necessities, most certainly the spiritual—the most important necessities, of mankind at large. Though the miracle to which our text refers does not evince to us the mer

[blocks in formation]

ciful compassion of our Lord so clearly as it does his wonderful and extraordinary power, yet are the acts of Christ's merciful and humane benevolence sufficient to convince us of the affectionate interest which he feels for weak and erring mortals: and if we consider the spiritual wants of a multitude, not merely of five thousand, even with a corresponding portion of women and children added to it, but such as are scattered over the entire world; especially of those numerous ill-fated mortals who have never as yet been replenished by the sacred mysteries of the Gospel-who have never as yet partaken of those sacred elements which, when properly received, are so certain of imparting sustenance and relief; if we consider the state of many who are without these advantages, and then recur to the character of the Redeemer; to the numerous acts of power and benevolence by which his entire ministry was distinguished, and suffering mortals restored to ease and comfort; we cannot refuse our assent to the proposition, that the myriads of our fellow creatures who either have been, are at present, or hereafter, in the course of nature, will be beyond the precincts of Christ's fold, the whole of these, however destitute they might be, will most assuredly be benefited by the wonderful power and benevolence of the Redeemer. It would be useless to inquire by what means those who have died in ignorance and unbelief, who have never complied with the conditions of the Christian covenant, for the plain reason that they have never heard of it, will be spiritually fed

Equally

and sustained by the power of Jesus. useless would it have been for Philip to have inquired into the wonder-working power of God before he would feel convinced that a vast multitude of men were to be fed by the creative power of the Redeemer. Philip had seen enough to satisfy him that, with God in Christ, all things were possible; though how they were possible was most decidedly above his comprehension, and therefore was it that he doubted his master's ability to perform a miracle in behalf of a hungry multitude. We, brethren, likewise have seen enough to convince us that He who fed so vast a concourse of people, who, be it remembered, were not his disciples, will most assuredly succour and sustain all who, in a spiritual sense, are in "sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity." "When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him," he instantly evinced a disposition and a determination to befriend them, and to work a miracle in their behalf. He proposed a question to Philip, as to the manner how this was to be done, merely for the sake of proving him; of ascertaining in a practical manner the sincerity and extent of his faith, "for he himself knew what he would do," he knew full well what he was about to accomplish. In the same manner, brethren, being seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, be assured that the same Jesus now looks down with compassion upon the vast concourse of the world's inhabitants, of those who know no more of the mysterious unity of his nature, of the extent of divine power, than

« ÎnapoiContinuă »