Jottings

by J. Miller | Category: Jottings | Jul 1966

The kindness of the Lord to womenfolk should touch our hearts. All of us have had mothers and many of us have or have had wives, and we know a little about the struggles, the trials and the sorrows of women, and also how women depend upon men. But there never was a man upon whom women could depend entirely, save One, even the Lord, and not they only but all others of mankind. We are told, in Luke 7.11-17, of the Lord paying a visit to the city of Nain, a city in Galilee. This is the only time that Nain is mentioned in the New Testament. His disciples were with Him and a great multitude. As He approached the gate of the city there was a dead young man being carried out. His mother was a widow and he was her only son. One can understand the great sorrow of this widow, stripped of her husband and her son by death. There were many of the people of the city with her, and it says, "When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto her, 'Weep not'," for evidently she was showing her uncontrollable sorrow, which we can quite understand. The Lord never said that people should not weep without giving them cause not to weep.

The Lord touched the bier, and the bearers stood still, and with the word of command that reached down to Hades, He said, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak." He both healed his body, and brought up his soul from Hades. Then with the lovingkindness that ever streamed forth from Him, He gave him to his mother. What a gift! a living son for one who was being taken to the burial. All the multitude who were there were mightily affected by what they had witnessed. 'And fear took hold on all: and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is arisen among us: and, God hath visited His people."

Luke 7.36-50 tells us of a woman of a very different kind. She is described as "a woman which was in the city, a sinner". Which city it was is not told, but that matters little to us now; it was what transpired in the house of a Pharisee in that city that matters and is of great interest to us. This woman who knew that the Lord was sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house brought an alabaster cruse of ointment, and, standing behind Him at his feet weeping, she wet His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet and anointed them. The Pharisee who saw all this said within himself, that this Man, if He were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is, that she is a sinner. The Lord knew well what was going on in Simon's heart, and He said, "Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee: A certain lender had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. When they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them, therefore, will love him most? Simon answered and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most."

The answer of the Pharisee was the correct one, that the one who is forgiven much, loves much. There was a time when vile and wicked sinners, like this sinner of the city, were convicted and converted. But in these days such as are saved by grace are generally young people who have known little of sin, of the lusts of the flesh, and of the world's temptations. What are the results of such early conversions? Is there the absence of appreciation of that great change of regeneration, and that great love which goes with the appreciation of great forgiveness? Is the consequence of such conversions, that there is but little higher in the conduct of such than of young folks in the world? Such considerations are of great importance.

This woman, who came to the Lord as a great sinner, went away forgiven, and was gloriously saved by the Lord, and in perfect peace. He

said, "Go in peace."

We have in Matthew 15.21-28, also in Mark 7.24-30, the story of another woman who came to the Lorain her distress. The Lord had gone from the land of the Jews to the parts of Tyre and Sidon. It is one of the rare occasions that He was found on foreign soil, though, of course, it was in the land which was promised to Abraham and his seed, which stretched from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. All the country which stretched to the east of the Mediterranean Sea was in promise given to Israel. But why did the Lord go into the parts of Tyre and Sidon? Perhaps this was for two reasons: (1) He was sickened by the sad formalism of the traditions of the Jewish elders, putting matters such as washing their hands before the moral requirements of the law and the moral basis of society in "Honour thy father and thy mother". It showed that their heart was far from God, and, said the Lord,

"In vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men."

The other cause (2) was because there was a woman in Tyre and Sidon who was up against the stern and dread reality of having a daughter who was demon-possessed. She came out of those borders and cried, "Have mercy on me, 0 Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon." Many men in the religious world are engaged in mere trifles, in traditions handed down to them from men who lived before them, and they know nothing of opposing the devil and his demons who are working to deceive souls to their doom, and they refuse to proclaim the gospel with its delivering and healing power to the souls of men. How sad! Alas, even the disciples had little sympathy with this woman in her dire need. They said to the Lord, "Send her away; for she crieth after us." They mistook what the woman said; it was not "after us", but it was after Him, the Lord Himself. She called Him Lord; she called Him Son of David. Could He fail to respond? He told her the first reason of His coming was to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel", and that it was not meet to cast the children's bread to the little dogs. But in her terrible trouble she was quite prepared to be as the little dogs that ate the crumbs that fell from the Master's table. He said, "0 woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour." Two Gentiles are spoken of as having great faith: this woman and the centurion of Matthew 8.5-13. The Lord spoke sometimes of the little faith of His disciples.

In Luke 10 we have the brief account of the Lord and His disciples coming to Bethany, and of a woman named Martha receiving the Lord into her house. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet and heard His word. Martha, in contrast, was cumbered or distracted about much serving, and she asked the Lord to bid Mary to come and help her. The Lord replied to her that she was troubled about preparing many things for Him and the rest, but He had not come to earth to be feasted. One thing was needful, and Mary had chosen the good part, which was to hear His word, and that would not be taken away from her. This short narrative of five verses has a weighty lesson for women and for us all.

The next narrative is that of John 11 in the raising of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary. This story is well known to all readers of the Bible. It was, I judge, to be the last of the Lord's miracles in proof of His deity, and was one that stirred the Jewish leaders to their depths in sullen and wicked opposition, as we gather from the words of Caiaphas, the high priest, in the council of the Jews (John 11.47-53), at which council they decided to put Him to death.

Then we have that sweet story in John 12.1-8, of them making the Lord a supper in Bethany. Lazarus was there sitting at meat, Martha was serving, and Mary, with her spikenard, anointed the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair. This was six days before He died. The mental savour of the ointment floats on to us in our day.

J. Miller | Jul 1966
Jottings