that of those whom he relieved. His would be tempered with pity for their spiritual maladies, of which, alas ! they had but little sense ; and his praises would be mixed with prayers, that they might flock around him to obtain those richer benefits, of which their present cures were but imperfect emblems.]
Not to indulge mere useless speculations on this exercise of divine power, let us inquire,
II. What reflections should it suggest to our minds?
If every separate miracle be replete with instruc- tion to us, much more may this accumulation of miracles afford us matter of useful
Improvement —
1. Let us seek healing from the hands of Jesus —
[It may be that our bodies are preserved in the unimpaired use of all their faculties. But are not our souls diseased ? Have we no intellectual blindness from which we need deliverance ? Do not our tongues need to be loosened, our ears to be un- stopped, or our limbs to be invigorated, for the daily perform- ance of our spiritual duties ? Surely, if we will examine our hearts, we shall find that the people who thronged to our Lord, were not in a more pitiable condition than ourselves ; yea, we are incomparably more miserable than they, because the con- sequences of our disorders are so much more awful, and our desire for the removal of them is so weak and faint. Let us seek a deep conviction of this truth. Let us, under a sense of our extreme wretchedness, apply to Jesus, and interest our friends and relatives in our behalf. Thus shall the predictions that were literally fulfilled by the miracles before us, receive their true, though mystical, accomplishment in the renovation of our souls'^.]
2. Let us on no account limit the power and grace
of Christ —
[The hand which, so easily and with such compassion, dis- pensed the blessings of health and strength, can surely with the same facility administer to our wants. Our lusts are so inveterate and our habits so deeply rooted, as to destroy the remotest hope of ever rescuing ourselves from their dominion. But the power and compassion of Jesus are the same as ever. The lapse of seventeen hundred years has made no change in him. " His hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor is his ear heavy that it cannot hear." Let us then guard against every unworthy, unbelieving thought. Let us be persuaded
^ Isai. XXXV. 5, 6.