The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 185

l'\ote: 1. The whisper straight from the heart of the God-Man to the heart of the ~ufferer: "iVeep nol I" 2. The touch of the open colfo1, cauAing ceremonial defilement, buL expressive of the attitude of him who is the "Resurrection and the Life:"" He came and tonch,•d the bier." 3. Th .. n, as the pRll-bearrrs stand still, the word with power: "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise!" \Vhat a change is wrought in that moment, end by that word I "Death is swRllowcd up in victory." Suggestive aud doquent when accepted 118 a eymbol of Saviour love and work. Debold in the ~ction a. Pf~~ure Rnd a prophecy. 1. Hearken to the voice of God, "Weep not I " Cure srn, 1t has been sn1d, "!"nd you cure sorrow." He who was made sin for us, of whom the forerunner had testified, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the ~in of the world I " could alone effectually wipe away the tear. The comfort of others plays on the surface; his comfort reaches into the hidden place, the hidden cause of all trouble-it is the cure of sin. Are there now only faint echoes-echoes becoming fainter and fainter as the ages roll on-of the sentence uttered at Nain? Nay; this B<Jotence, now that he has ascended aud is the Prince and Saviour, giving repentance and forgiveness of sins, is fuller in its vulume and mightier in its force. All that can give strength, thst can inspire with hope, is confirmed and sealed for evermore. " Weep not I " 0 bruised, broken heart, there is in the " strong Son of God, immortal Jove," an oil of joy for all your mourning, a garment of praise for every spirit of heavi- nees. 2. But the dead is there, with Christ; and the word for the dead is, "Arise I" Let us not think only of the physical death. The spiritual and the physical are always associated in the thought of Christ; and the work at Nain is a symbol of both. As special Christ-words conjoin •• Weep not I" and "Arise! n "He saith," writes St. Paul, quoting no particular saJ·ing of God, but the substance of all God's sayings," awako thou that sleepest, and arise from the dean, and Christ shall give thee light I" III. A SPECIAL APPLICATION OF THE SCENE AND ACTION. "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise I" This is the key-note of sermons and addresses to young men. Brother, too often asleep to the higher meanings of thine own existence-asleep and unconscious of the presence of him who loves thee, self-indulgent, dead in the death of the self- seeking worldly mind, the Lord is touching thy bier; the Lord is calling,'' Arise I" start from thy sad indifference. Give those who love thee the joy of the morning without clouds, the new, better life in God. Hear the voice of the Son of God, and thou too ehalt live. Vers. lB-35.-The message of John Baptist, and tM discowrse occasioned by it. Various answers, not now to be discussed, have been given to the question-Why did John send the two followers with the message recorded? The mesgage does seem to imply that the confidence of the Baptist had become overcast by the sorrow of the passing hour. Would it have been strange if, hearing of Jesus in the flood-tide of popular enthusiasm, working and speaking in the power of the Lord, a moment's feel- ing of weariness stole over the ardent spirit? "He there, and I here, withiu the dismal walls of the prison I He, thinking of all else, and no thought apparently of me I He increasing more anci more, like the sun advancing to the perfect day ; I decreasing more and more, my sun setting in the thick darkness! Can it be all a reality? Has my witness been wholly true i' What if-? what if-? Jesus of Nazareth, say, •-Art ihou really he i' Tell me, so soon to pass from this earthly scene, that I have followed no illusion-that verily there is none else to be looked for.'" Other thoughts may have filled the mind, other motives for the mission may have influenced; but it brings the passage very near to us when we trace in it the faltering of faith. For there are moments of faltering in the history of faith. The sky of ouT spiritual life is not always cloudless. .All the while the soul may be thirsting for the living God, but it cannot see him; from within there come voices demanding, "Where is thy God?" If a tormenting scepticism visited the honest heart of John, we can understand it, and feel the more our kinship with him. The wonderful thing would have been if misgiving had never ruffled the face of his heart; if no such film had gathered over his eye as that signified in the queslion, "Art thou he that should Coiile, or do we look for another ? " I. 'l"HE QUESTION HAS NOT YET BUN ITS OOUBSE. It expresses the attitude of the piety of the peu:ple, in the roll of whose greatest stands the Baptist':. nawe. It is ou. vu. 1-60.] 'JHE GOSPEL ACCOilDING TO ST. LUKE. 183