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THE KING’S BUSINESS
a h o g w ith o u t G od’s p erm issio n (v s. 12, 13). A s u su al th e D ev il o u tw itte d h im self (v. 1 3). F o r all h is cu n n in g , his p o w er is “stu p id , blind, se lf-co n trad ic to ry an d su i cid al. I t can only d estro y , an d it w ill in volve itself in th e com m on ru in ra th e r th an n o t d estro y .”/ Sunday, June 13. Mark 5:15-20. W h a t a stu p en d o u s an d jo y o u s ch an g e! C alm ness, decency, seren ity h av e tak e n th e place o f violence, indecency an d m adness. A n d all becau se th e D evil h a d g o n e o u t an d Je su s h a d com e in (cf. 2 T im . 1 :7 ). G od is w o rk in g th e sam e m iracle o f g race am o n g u s daily. T h e on e fo rm erly p o s sessed w ith a d em o n now beseeches to be w ith Jesu s. N o com p an io n sh ip is so sw eet to th e saved m an as th a t o f th e S av io u r (P h il. 1 :23). T h a t m an h a d been th e m ost d an g ero u s c h a ra c te r in all th a t reg io n , b u t now he alo n e o f a ll th e in h ab itan ts longs fo r th e society o f Jesu s. T h e n e a re r he co u ld keep to Jesu s, th e sa fe r he w o u ld feel from an y fresh in cu rsio n s o f th e enem y. B u t o u r L o rd d id n o t p e rm it him to go w ith H im : “T o d e p art a n d be w ith C h rist” m ig h t be v e ry fa r b e tte r ( o r p le a sa n te r) fo r th e re sto re d m an, y et to ab id e in D e- capolis w as b e tte r fo r th e d e g rad ed G er- g esen es. T h e c o n v erted m an ’s testim o n y sh o u ld b eg in in h is ow n hom e, w ith his ow n frie n d s am o n g th o se w h o k n ew him b e st w h en un sav ed . T h is m an ’s case w as c e rtain ly a m o st n o tab le triu m p h of grace, b u t th e S av io u r d id n o t co n sid er it n eces sa ry a t once to sen d h im fo rth am o n g stra n g e rs a s a n o ted ev an g elist a n d teach er, o r to open a m issio n fo r h im a t hom e. H e did, h ow ev er, becom e an ev an g elist, th e first definitely com m issioned p re ac h er o f th e G ospel in D ecapolis. Monday, June 14. Mark 5:21-34. Je su s w as on th e w ay to th e h o u se o f J a iru s in resp o n se to th e la tte r’s p ra y er to com e an d lay H is h a n d s on his little d a u g h te r w h o lay a t th e p o in t o f d eath , o r w ho m ig h t even be a lre ad y dead, w h en th e w o
m an w ith th e issu e o f b lood d rew n e a r and to u ch ed H im . T h e re w as such a fu lln ess o f life-g iv in g p o w er in H im th a t as H e goes to accom plish on e m iracle o f h ealing, of m ercy, H e accom plishes a n o th e r alm o st w ith o u t a n e ffo rt by th e w ay. M a rk sk etch es a p ictu re o f th e w om an -w ith a few ra p id stro k es, b u t how d istin ctly she stan d s b efo re u s ; th e issue o f b lood sep a ra tin g h e r from h e r p io u s frien d s, an d by th e M o saic law m ak in g c o n tact w ith h e r c o n tam in atin g to th o se sh e to u ch ed a n d to th e v ery a rticle s o f fu rn itu re u p o n w hich sh e sa t (L ev . 15:19, 2 0 ; 22:25-27) ; w astin g aw ay h e r life y e a r a fte r y ear, b lan ch in g h er cheeks, p a in tin g d a rk circles u n d e rn ea th h e r su n k en ey es; ad d ed to all th is, th e ph y sician s o n e a fte r a n o th e r h a d trie d th eir b o asted skill in vain, th e p o o r body had •been p o iso n ed w ith d ru g s a n d to rm en ted w ith o p eratio n s (sh e h a d “su ffered m any th in g s o f m an y p h y sician s” ) ; th ey had tak en h e r m oney, “a ll” o f it, n o t a d o llar left an d sh e w as “n o th in g b e tte re d b u t ra th e r g re w w o rse,” o u tcast, sick, p e n n i less, d e sp a irin g ; sh e n eed ed Je su s a n d Jesu s cam e th a t w ay. I n h e r co n d itio n , th o u g h t ful B ible stu d e n ts h av e seen a p ictu re of th é ever-flow in g a n d life -w a stin g fo u n tain s o f sin,, se p a ra tin g th e sin n er fro m th e p u re a n d co n tam in a tin g e v ery th in g he touches. In th e baffled p h y sician s w e can see the p h ilo so p h ers o f th is w o rld , th e B u d d h as, th e Z o ro aste rs, th e S enecas, an d th e S p en cers, w ho w ith all th e ir lau d ed philosophies, a n d “d a tas o f eth ics,” av ail n o th in g to stan ch th é flow o f evil in th e h e art, an d th e ir d elu d ed p atie n ts a re “n o th in g b e t tere d b u t ra th e r g ro w w o rse.” O n e alone can help—Je su s. N o te th e w om an ’s fear a n d trem b lin g . H o w m u ch easie r fo r sinful h e arts to h av e faith in th e p o w er th an in th e love o f Jesu s. Shç. believed th a t a m ere to u ch o f H is g a rm e n ts w o u ld h eal, b u t she trem b lin g ly tells w h a t she h as done, fe a r in g it m ay b rin g som e ste rn reb u k e th a t she has d a red co n tam in ate H im w ith h e r touch. A t last ‘sh e “to ld H im all th e tru th .” H e k n ew it alread y , b u t H e w ish ed to h e a r it
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