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i66 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
which sin has made. Christ's message to all is " Come unto me " (Matt. xi. 28); for He has "made peace through the blood of his cross." It is true that Christ has sometimes to say " Depart " (Luke xiii. 27), but His characteristic word is " Come."
There are seven invitations, which may be arranged in order.
1. The Invitation to Zacchceus (Luke xix. 9). — This is (1) a person^ call. A letter addressed to " Anybody " would find its way to nobody. Zacchaeus could not pass this call to another. It is (2) a call that hastens. " Make haste " — " to-day." The evening before the Chicago fire Mr. Moody preached on " Now is the accepted time," and told his hearers to take that text home and think about it. Some of them had no time to think ; the fire came and devoured them. He never repeated that advice. It is (3) a humbling call — " Come down." In a certain hotel visitors are directed downstairs to find the elevator.
'Tis only lowly hearts can reach
The home above the skies; In lowly ways they find the road,
By coming down they rise.
But, abcive all, it is (4) an encouraging call, " To-day I must abide at thy house." Jesus has gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.^
2. The Invitation to the Heavy-laden (Matt. xi. 28). — (1) The invitation to Zacchaeus was personal, but it was also universal. There is none but is included in the title " sinner." The invitation to the heavy-laden is just as personal, but it may not be of so universal an application. There are some who are not heavy-laden — at least not yet. In the one case it is a state, in the other it is a feeling. We are all sinners whether we feel it or not ; only those who feel it labour and are heavy-laden. (2) Again, it is those who labour and are heavy-laden that are most likely to accept the invitation. They have come some way themselves. The historian of America, Francis Parkman, has a wonderful story to tell of the success of the early missionaries among the Hurons, but they had no success until the Hurons had suffered fearfully from the ferocity of the Iroquois and were
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in daily dread. An Indian tribe, after a toilsome march, pitched their tents on the banks of a mighty river and called it Alabama, which means " Here we rest."
Knowing that whate'er befalls us
He will order for the best ; We can say with hearts confiding, —
"Alabama! Here we rest."
3. The Invitation to Discipleship. " Come, follow me " (Luke xviii. 22). — For the call to rest is not a call to idleness. It is a call to rest of conscience. And no good work can be done without a conscience at rest. It is a call to service such as Christ Himself was occupied with, who " went about doing good." It is a call to surrender. He, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor. The rich young ruler refused to make it, but the disciples were able to say, " Lo, we have left all and have followed thee." It is a call to the surrender not only of the things of this world, but also of the personal will. " Come, follow me," was in invitation to say, " Not my will but thine be done."
4. The Invitation to Retirement (Mark vi. 31). — This is the present text. And here it is to be noticed that one of the leading thoughts of St. Mark's Gospel is that the life of Jesus is a life of alternate rest and victory, withdrawal and working. In the first chapter we find the retirement in Nazareth, the coming forth to be baptized; the withdrawal into the wilderness, the walk in Galilee ; the rest in the cool sanctuary, where the dawn breaks upon the kneeling man, and the going forth to preach to the heated and struggling crowd. Thus, once more, the withdrawal to the Mount of Olives is followed by the great conflict of the redeeming Passion, while that is succeeded by the withdrawal into the sepulchre. It is the book of the wars of the Lord and the rest of the Lord. The first rest was in Nazareth ; the first trophies were the four Apostles. The last rest is in the heaven of heavens, " in the privacy of glorious light " ; the last victory (for this great book never ended with the words " they were afraid ") is diffused over all time — " the Lord working with them, and confirming the work with signs following." ^
^ "W. Alexander, The Leading Ideas of the Gospels, 61,
i68 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
5. The Invitation to Peter (Matt. xiv. 29), " Come." — Our Lord invites without being asked to invite. But on this occasion He did not invite Peter to walk on the water until Peter said, " Bid me come unto thee." That was the disciple's first mistake. Christ never fails to give His invitation, and it is unwise as well as ungracious to ask to be invited. Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and told Him to cast Himself down from it. Peter would have succumbed to that temptation. He would have gone where he was not called to go, hoping that it would turn out all right. Still, Jesus said " Come," and Peter would have been held up in spite of his first mistake if he had trusted the Lord sufficiently. But it needs strong faith to be delivered from the consequence of our own follies, and the very folly itself is apt to weaken faith.