Category: Devotions

The first thing that demands our attention in this passage is the message which John the Baptist sends to our Lord Jesus Christ. He “sent two of his disciples, and said unto Him, Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?“

This question did not arise from doubt or unbelief on the part of John. We do that holy man injustice if we interpret it in such a way. It was asked for the benefit of his disciples: it was meant to give them an opportunity of hearing from Christ’s own lips the evidence of His divine mission. No doubt John the Baptist felt that his own ministry was ended; something within him told him that he would never come forth from Herod’s prisonhouse, but would surely die. He remembered the ignorant jealousies that had already been shown by his disciples towards the disciples of Christ. He took the most likely course to dispel those jealousies forever: he sent his followers to “hear and see” for themselves.

In these verses the great Head of the Church winds up His first charge to those whom He sends forth to make known His Gospel. He declares three great truths, which form a fitting conclusion to the whole discourse.

In the first place, He bids us remember that His Gospel will not cause peace and agreement wherever it comes. “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” The object of His first coming on earth was not to set up a millennial kingdom in which all would be of one mind, but to bring in the Gospel, which would lead to strifes and divisions. We have no right to be surprised if we see this continually fulfilled: we are not to think it strange if the Gospel rends asunder families, and causes estrangement between the nearest relations. It is sure to do so in many cases, because of the deep corruption of man’s heart. So long as one man believes, and another remains unbelieving, so long as one is resolved to keep his sins, and another is desirous to give them up, the result of the preaching of the Gospel must needs be division. For this the Gospel is not to blame, but the heart of man.

To do good to souls in this world is very hard. All who try it find this out by experience: it needs a large stock of courage, faith, patience, and perseverance. Satan will fight vigorously to maintain his kingdom; human nature is desperately wicked: to do harm is easy; to do good is hard.

The Lord Jesus knew this well, when He sent forth His disciples to preach the Gospel for the first time. He knew what was before them, if they did not. He took care to supply them with a list of encouragements, in order to cheer them when they felt cast down. Weary missionaries abroad, or fainting ministers at home, disheartened teachers of schools, and desponding visitors of districts, would do well to study often the nine verses we have just read. Let us mark what they contain.

The truths contained in these verses should be pondered by all who try to do good in the world. To the selfish man who cares for nothing but his own ease or comfort, there may seem to be little in them: to the minister of the Gospel, and to every one who seeks to save souls, these verses ought to be full of interest. No doubt there is much in them which applies especially to the days of the apostles; but there is much also which applies to all times.

We see, for one thing, that those who would do good to souls, must be moderate in their expectations. They must not think that universal success will attend their labours: they must reckon on meeting with much opposition; they must make up their minds to be “hated,” persecuted, and ill-used, and that too by their nearest relations. They will often find themselves like “sheep in the midst of wolves.”

This chapter is one of peculiar solemnity. Here is the record of the first ordination which ever took place in the Church of Christ. The Lord Jesus chooses and sends forth the twelve apostles. Here is an account of the first charge ever delivered to newly ordained Christian ministers. The Lord Jesus Himself delivers it. Never was there so important an ordination! Never was there so solemn a charge!

There are three lessons which stand out prominently on the face of the first fifteen verses of this chapter. Let us take them in order.

We are taught, in the first place, that all ministers are not necessarily good men. We see our Lord choosing a Judas Iscariot to be one of His apostles. We cannot doubt that He who knew all hearts, knew well the characters of the men whom He chose; and He includes in the list of His apostles one who was a traitor!

There are four lessons in this passage which deserve close attention. Let us mark them each in succession.

Let us mark, in the first place, that strong faith in Christ may sometimes be found where it might least have been expected.

Who would have thought that two blind men would have called our Lord the “Son of David”? They could not, of course, have seen the miracles that He did: they could only know Him by common report. But the eyes of their understanding were enlightened, if their bodily eyes were dark; they saw the truth which scribes and Pharisees could not see; they saw that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. They believed that He was able to heal them.

Let us mark, in this passage, the gracious name by which the Lord Jesus speaks of Himself. He calls Himself “the Bridegroom.”

What the bridegroom is to the bride, the Lord Jesus is to the souls of all who believe in Him. He loves them with a deep and everlasting love; He takes them into union with Himself: they are “one with Christ and Christ in them.” He pays all their debts to God; He supplies all their daily need; He sympathizes with them in all their troubles; He bears with all their infirmities, and does not reject them for a few weaknesses. He regards them as part of Himself: those that persecute and injure them are persecuting Him. The glory that He has received from His Father they will one day share with Him, and where He is, there shall they be. Such are the privileges of all true Christians. They are the Lamb’s wife. (Rev. 19:7) Such is the portion to which faith admits us. By it God joins our poor sinful souls to one precious Husband; and those whom God thus joins together shall never be put asunder. Blessed indeed are they that believe!

Let us notice, in the first part of this passage, our Lord’s knowledge of men’s thoughts.

There were certain of the scribes who found fault with the words which Jesus spoke to a man sick of the palsy: they said secretly among themselves, “This man blasphemeth.” They probably supposed that no one knew what was going on in their minds: they had yet to learn that the Son of God could read hearts, and discern spirits. Their malicious thought was publicly exposed: they were put to an open shame. Jesus “knew their thoughts.”

The subject of these seven verses is deep and mysterious. The casting out of a devil is here described with special fullness. It is one of those passages which throw strong light on a dark and difficult point.

Let us settle it firmly in our minds that there is such a being as the devil. It is an awful truth, and one too much overlooked. There is an unseen spirit ever near us, of mighty power, and full of endless malice against our souls. From the beginning of creation he has laboured to injure man; until the Lord comes the second time and binds him, he will never cease to tempt, and practise mischief. In the days when our Lord was upon earth, it is clear that He had a peculiar power over the bodies of certain men and women, as well as over their souls. Even in our own times there may be more of this bodily possession than some suppose, though confessedly in a far less degree than when Christ came in the flesh. But that the devil is ever near us, and ever ready to ply our hearts with temptations, ought never to be forgotten.

In the first part of these verses we see a striking example of our Lord’s wisdom in dealing with those who professed a willingness to be His disciples. The passage throws so much light on a subject frequently misunderstood in these days, that it deserves more than ordinary attention.

A certain Scribe offers to follow our Lord whithersoever He goes. It was a remarkable offer, when we consider the class to which the man belonged, and the time at which it was made. But the offer receives a remarkable answer. It is not directly accepted, nor yet flatly rejected. Our Lord only makes the solemn reply, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.”