THE KING’S BUSINESS
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well at all times and in all places. A man who would help men by intimate fellowship with them must cultivate a still more inti mate fellowship with God. Simon and those who were with Him followed Him not to imitate Hi% wise example, but to get Him to do what they thought wise. Jesus has many* such followers. Their thought was, a great revival is in the air and Jesus must not waste time out in the desert in prayer. To Jesus those hurrying crowds' was the rea son for hurrying away from and not back to Capernaum. This leper would have fled from a rabbi: he flees to Jesus. He had no precedent for his act, but faith does not ask precedents. There is nothing like a sense of our need and of our utter ruin without Christ to ' make us forget all difficulties and cast all doubts to the winds and get right to His feet. In verse 40 we find faith in Jesus’ divine power, but questioning concerning the greatness of His divine love. Note well the word “compassion” in verse 41: Our Lord’s miracles were the simple spontane ous expression of His compassionate love Matt. 14:14). So far from being, at this stage of His ministry, credentials to which He wished to refer, they were rather hin drances and He strove to keep them from observation as far a£ possible (v. 43). But love was more than prudence to Jesus; and where suffering came to Him for help, He could no more keep from helping than the ' sun can keep from shining upon everything in its path. Touching the leper made Jesus ceremonially unclean, but it made the leper clean (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). If we would heal the leprosy that shuts the ieper out from the society of the clean, we must come as near to the drunkard, the rumseller and the harlot as Jesus did, and stretch out the hand of love and touch them. “I will ,” said Jesus, “be thou clean.” These are the words of a fanatic, a charlatan, or of God Wednesday, May 26. Mark 1:40-45.
(cf. Gen. 1:3; Ps. 33:9; Mark 4:39; 5:41; Heb. 1:3). Which they were the sequel shows. Thursday, May 27. Mark 2:1-5; As soon as it is known that Jesus is really in any church or home, the people will come. He could not see a crowd in the synagogue, on the street, in a home, in a social gather ing, anywhere, without making known to them the life-giving, joy-bringing Word of God. Here is a lesson for us much needed ■today. “He preached the Word" and that alone. It required four men to get the one man to Christ, but it is worth the most per sistent effort of four men to get one man to Jesus and it often requires it. They brought him to Jesus because there was no one else who could help and they were con fident He could and would. It took much persistence and scheming and toil to get the man to Jesus, but they never gave up until the man was at Jesus’ feet Less earnest men would have waited for the “more favor able opportunity,” but they had no guar antee there would ever be a more favorable opportunity. Jesus could be reached now, provided they were earnest enough to over come the difficulties, and they were. They got the man to Jesus in a very irregular way, but they got him there. Jesus was mightily pleased with their irregularity and to have His meeting disturbed for such a purpose. He was not concerned about building sermons, but about saving men. They got what they sought, but much more besides. It was because of their faith that Jesus did what they sought. Their faith was a faith that could be seen; true faith always can be seen for it materializes in works (Jas. 2:18). Nothing is more needed today than the faith that has legs and hands and feet. Jesus forgave the man’s sin be fore He healed his palsy. _The need of for giveness was the sorer and deeper need then the need of healing and sin must be gotten rid of before sickness could. If we remove misery, we must first remove sin. The great defect of modern philanthropy is
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