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T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
(3 ) The Devoted Disciple. When we come to these th ree little verses of our lesson (25-27) we bare our heads, and bow our knees. The picture of the little group of women— w ith John, the- beloved— is full of pathos. H is mother,— th e most blessed of all women, no t to be worshiped but to be reverenced above all women. If John th e B aptist could say “ I am not w orthy to tie His sandals,” w hat honor was Mary’s— to bear H im in h er womb and nurse Him a t h er breast! Now she looks upon Him ,,as He suffers to the death. She hears H is cry, “My God; my God, why h ast Thou forsaken Me?”; ; It seems almost; beyond belief, b u t the Scripture m ust be' fulfilled. Simeon had said, “A sword shall pierce through th in e own h e a rt.” A heart-broken Son and a h eart-b rok en mother, and a hu man ,tie th a t was to be forever severed. How tenderly though tfu l was our Lord in th e m idst of H is agony. He th ink s of th e world and its need. He th ink s of His m other and John. He th ink s of a righteous God, and of' th e ho rro r of sin as He bore it. He thinks of th e dying th ief and com forts him. He th ink s of F ath e r, and home, and etern al joys,— and can we no t believe th a t He was th ink ing of all of us—-in dividually? He surely was, and th is will help to make H im more real; more our .own. John was there, th e only one of the Twelve. John, the beloved, th e disciple whom Jesus loved. Love never faileth. He is th ere because he is faith fu l to .the last, -He is th ere because th e love of Christ is constraining him . He is th e re as a w itness to Christ’s suffering and death. He is th e re to be a comfort and help to th e mother. He is blessed in being th e re ; th e la st earth ly request of our Lord is made to John,— th e Lord bequeathing to John His own mother, and to His m other a love g ift in John. How strange it m ust have seemed to J o h n when in afte r years he penned
'th ese words and though t it all over again. He must have stayed his pen and raised his eyes in loving faith for a vision of th e One whom Stephen saw a t God’s rig h t hand. We cannot leave th e scene w ithout closing our eyes and bowing our h earts and telling th e d ear Lord w h at is in o u r h eart. May He give us grace to be John-like in our relation to H imself; devoted to every in te rest of H is and full of the joyful anticipation of seeing Him soon. John was one of th e “ sons of th u n d er” ,— sta lw art and strong for th e tru th ; b u t he was also th e son, beloved ■Of th e Lord. PRACTICAL POINTS. (1) The most self-confident become the most definite in denial. (2) An ounce of perform ance is worth a pound of promise. (3) P ete r was warned, weighed and found wanting.^ (4) P eter stood in w ith th e crowd, in stead of standing ou t w ith the Lord. W here do you stand? (5 ) P eter was long on profession, but sh o rt on power. ( 6 ) P eter learned a lesson which lasted a lifetime. (7) Love constrained John to come to th e cross. ( 8 ) Jesu s’ final bequest was to John. He gave unto him a mother, and unto h er, a son. “The Cross” said A lexander Mac- laren, “ is th e center of the world’s his to ry ; th e in carn ation of Christ and the crucifixion of our Lord are the pivots around which all LESSON the events of the ILLUSTRATIONS ages revolve. The W. H. P ik e testim ony of Christ was th e sp irit of prophecy, and th e grow ing power of Jesus is the sp irit of h istory.” And Bishop Newman said, “ I have traversed
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