In John 20 we have a Scriptural illustration of affection for Christ; Mary Magdalene came early, when it was yet dark to the sepulcher. she did not wait for sunrise, but while nature was still shrouded in darkness, her affection hastens to the only spot on earth that had an interest for her—the grave of her Lord. O what a character this stamps upon the earth, it was the grave of Jesus! Beloved reader, has the world this character to you?
Now observe, the Person of the Blessed Lord was engaging the affections of the heart of Mary, and hence, how could she domicile where He was not?
Not so with Peter and John. Having satisfied themselves that the sepulcher was empty, having carefully examined the empty grave, and had seen the garments of death left behind by the mighty Conqueror who had risen out of them, they returned to their own home. But look at Mary. She has no home, and in more ways than one did this devoted woman stand “without;” for not finding her Lord, she was truly without home, or cheer, or solace in her sorrow, a broken-hearted woman whom none can comfort; and yet it is a lovely sight, to see her in all her genuine personal love for Christ, standing weeping, stooping down, and looking into His grave!
Ah! Is this not rare—the spirit of it I mean—in these days? If I were asked what is the characteristic feature of the present time, what should I say? If I spoke the truth, I should say, “Heartlessness as to Christ.”
Is it nothing to you, dear young reader, that Christ is rejected, and cast out by the mass? O! is it not very little thought of, and lightly esteemed? The absence of affection accounts for the little loyalty there is to the Lord Jesus. How few hearts are really true to Him! It is not possible to drill them into it; and mere knowledge cannot secure it. There is no lack of information as to Christ and His interests, yet it is a dry, cold thing, because it is not Christ. The question for the moment is, “What think ye of Christ?”
Another truth of exceeding beauty may be seen here, namely, How genuine affection gauges everything—measures everything. To Him whom she thought was the gardener, she says, “Sir, if thou hast borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Observe, she does not say who it is, but “Him;” gauging everyone’s thought by her own; and as her thoughts were full of Him, she supposed everyone else was like herself! Alas! how little of this we find in ourselves or around us!
Observe too, how her affection was the gauge of her ability. “I will take Him away.” If she had reasoned or calculated, she might well have hesitated, ere she proposed such a task; but affection never calculates; its power or ability is itself.
Now the moment has come for Jesus to make Himself known. What a moment for Him—for her! He fulfills John 10, and “calleth His own sheep by name,” and she answered to John 10, “My sheep hear My voice.” He gives her to hear her name from His own very lips— “Mary!”
What a scene it is! The history of the nurse garden, its blight and sin, all reversed. The history of the first garden, with a fallen man and woman driven out by the hand of God, is closed at the cross of Jesus, and here in this second garden, we find a risen Man and a redeemed woman, whose affection for His Person the blessed Lord appreciates at such worth, that He commissions her to be the bearer to His disciples, of the most wonderful tidings that human lips ever announced, “Go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father; and to My God and your God.”
May the Lord awaken in the hearts of His people, such true self-judgment as will lead to more whole-hearted devotedness, at all cost, to His Person, honor and interests!
Out of Touch
Only a smile, yes, only a smile
That a woman o ‘erburdened with grief
Expected from you; ‘twould have given her relief,
For her heart ached sore the while;
But weary and cheerless she went away,
Because, as it happened, that very day
You were “out of touch” with your Lord.
Only a word, yes, only a word,
That the Spirit’s small voice whispered “speak”;
But the worker passed onward unblessed and weak
Whom you were meant to have stirred
To courage, devotion and love anew,
Because when the message came to you,
You were “out of touch” with your Lord.
Only a note, yes, only a note
To a friend in a distant land;
The Spirit said “write”, but then you had planned
Some different work, and you thought
It mattered little. You did not know
‘Twould have saved a soul from sin and woe,
You were “out of touch” with your Lord.
Only a song, yes, only a song
That the Spirit said “sing tonight,
Thy voice is thy Master’s by purchased right”;
But you thought, “ ‘Mid this motley throng,
I care not to sing of the city of gold”—
And the heart that your words might have reached grew cold,
You were “out of touch” with your Lord.
Only a day, yes, only a day!
But O, can you guess, my friend,
Where the influence reaches, and where it will end,
Of the hours that you frittered away?
The Master’s command is “Abide in Me”:
And fruitless and vain will your service be,
If “out of touch” with your Lord.