The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 137

Ver. 17.-Present power. One of the noblest of the psalms commences with that verse which it would have been well worth while to have lived Po long and stormy life to have written, "God is our Refuge and Strength, a. very present Help in tronble." Who can estimate the thousands of thousands of tempest-tossed human souls to whom these words have brought help and comfort! The latter pa.rt of this passage is in very close relation to our text. It brings before our minds- I. THE COMPARATIVE :i-.'EABNEss OF GoD TO us. It may indeed be objected that the Omuipresent One, being everywhere, cannot be more truly in one place than in another. Doubtless that is so. But God may be more manifestly present, and therefore more present tc O'Ur consciousness, in one place than in another. So the old Hebrew worshipper felt as he drew near Jerusalem, as he entered the precincts of the temple, llS he went into the court of the Jews, as he saw the priests enter the sanctuary itself. And once in the history of mankind God did so visit us that he was "manifest in the flesh;" he was "Emmanuel, God with us "-with us in a sense in which he wa.s not before and has not been a~ain. There is a sense in which God is nearer to us in the sanctuary and at the table of the Lord than elsewhere. He has promised to meet us there; we go there on purpose to be in his presence; therefore to our consciousness he is in a peculiar sense present with us-onr very present Saviour. II. THE PRESENCE OF HIB POWER. "The power of the Lord was present." Any Israelite of aucient time would have told you that God's power was present in the sky, in the sea, in the corn, in the rain. But he was more impressed with the power of God as manifested in the storm in harvest-time, or in the overthrow of Sennacherib's mighty host. Yet this was only in his imagination; the power of God was as truly and as graciously present in the oniinary and the regular as in the miraculous, We a.re inclined to think that Divine power is most rnar,ifest in the shaking thunder or in the flashing lightniug, or in the upheaving earthquake; but the _wiser_ we are, the more we ., observe these things, and (consequemly) understand the lovmg-krndness of the Lord," the more we perceive that God's power is as present in the common and the continuous as in the startlina and the exceptional, is "very present" in the unfolding morning and the descending niaht, in the growing of the grass and the ripening of the corn and the blooming of the fl~were. God's power is present with us always and everywhere, if we have bl!t eyes to see it and hearts to feel it. III. THE PRESENCE OF HIB HEALING POWER. 1. A very beneficent power la that of pealing; perha.p~- we never praise God quite so fwlingly as when we bless him that ea. v. l-3!l.J 'l'Irn GOSl'r·:L ACUORD[XG TO ST. LJ;Kf. 12: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - .. he 111\s hcnlcd our sicknesses." God bas always been healing men, Ho has supplie,l us with the substanced which are fittcrl to restore, and he has given us a bo<lily system c.f such o natnre thrit it ha~ great recuperative powers. There are but few among those who have rc11ehed man~ood and womanhood who have not had occasion to know that the power of the Lord 1~ present to heal us now. In the hour of conva- leecence they gave him the glory and offered their renewed life to him. What are they doing now that health hos heen restored and confirmed? 2. And this healing; of the body is but the picture anrl the promise of the healing of the heart. When ,Jesus Chri~t went from village to village, healing all manner of diseases, it was partly, if not princi- pally, to say to all men everywhere of every age, "Un<lerstand, ye blind souls that walk in darkness, I am the Light of the world; come to me, that you may see indeed l Ye strengthlees and sick ones in need of spiritual healing, I am the Divine Restorer; come unto me, that ye may be strong indeed! Ye dying ones, I am the Resurrection and the Life; come unto me, that you may live indeed I "-C. Vere. 18-25.-Superabounding kindnes,. We learn from these words-- I. CHBIBT'B CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS OWN GREATNESS. He assumes the right to forgive men their sins (ver. 20), nnd, when this right is challenged by those present, he assert., 1t (ver. 24). And he does not dispute that this is a Divine prerogative. When it iB claimed that only God cau forgive sins (ver. 21), his reply is one that confirms rather than questions that doctrine. To a very large extent our Lord's Divinity was in abey- ance, He was voluntarily accepting limitations which caused him to be numbered among the human and the fiuite. But his authority and power were in him, poten- tially; they were under a commanding restraint. Here and there, now and again, as on this occasion, it seemed fitting that they should be put forth. And it magnifies "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," that all the while that he was stooping to such lowliness, such poverty, such endurance, he was conscious of the fact that Divine right and Divine power were within hiw, to be exerci~ed when he wonld. The Son of man bad power on earth to forgive sins. II. His AUTHENTICATION OF IT. His greatness was often questioned, sometimrs denied; and often our Master allowed men to think of him as the Teacher or the Prophet whom they were to judge by his life or by his doctrine. But sometimes he vindicated his claims in a way that completely silenced, if it did not convince, his critics. He authenticated himself by some deed of mighty power. He did so now. Not that the exercise of healing power was one whit more Divine an act than the forgiveness of sin; not that an act of pity for bodily incapacity was greater or worthier than one of mercy and succour to the soul. That could not be. But that the working of the miracle was a more obvious and signal indication of the Divine than an act of forgive- ness. And by this gmcious and mighty work our Lord proved himself to be the One who had a right to say," Thy sins be forgiven thee." We may s:i.y that the gospel of Jesus Christ is now authenticated by its power. We are sure tho.t the message of gra.co and mercy which we pr-each does come from God because (among other reasons for our assurance) we witness the mighty power of Christian truth. We find it doing what nothing else ever tried to do-enlightening multitudes of dark minds, redeeming and restoring foul hearts, transforming evil lives, lifting men up from the dust and the mire of sin and shame aii.d bidding them walk in the ways of righteousness. III. OUB APPROACH TO THE SA vrouB. It was the approach of this man to the Lord that led to Uhrist's words of mercy and then to his deed of power. The man could not and would not keep away from bis presence; he was resolved to make his appeal to the great Healer, cost what it might to reach his ear. This is the approach that is successful-seeking the Lord with the whole heart, with a fixed intent to seek until he is found. Not a languid interest in Christ, not a pursuit of righteousness which may be turned aside by the first curiosity or indulgence that offers itself; but o holy earnestness which will not be denied, which, if one entrance is blocked, will find another, which knocks till the door is opene<l,-this is the search that succeeda. Not, indeed, that Christ is hard to find or reluctant to bestow; but that, for our sake, he cioos often cause us to continue in our seeking that our ble1sedness may be the fuller and our faith the !inner aucl our new life the deeper for our patience and ow- pel'sistency. LUKIL K  1.10 TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. uaa:. [c:n. v. 1-3!'1.