The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 471

t,y the bodily senses, he grasps theirs. For just as he went down amon~ the " multitude of impotent folk ,, that lay in the porches of Bethesda,· so .still he come• -down amongst our poor BUtfering humanity, himself a c. Man of 80lTOWS, ,and ,acquaintlld with grief.• And now the M.arab-like waters--tbe bitter wells of htimaa liCe-,he baa tor ever made sweet and wholesome by the healing influence of th&t oro-that tree so accursed for him, llO precious for us-upon which, for us all, he rnffered and"1ied. Yes, RS it has been beautifully said, "he has done all this. It was for this that he came- for this, among many other ressons. His 'was pre-eminently, u we know, a.painful life. He was acquainted with grief, and a :Man of sorrows; and this acquaintanceship was sought and formed for our sak011, beca11se no man knew what to do with grief. Our Lord crune hither, and, being made man, enterfd upon a brief pilgrimage in the earth-brief, yet sufficient to find out what was here, and what bad need to be done. And scarcely had he commenced his jourm!y before he met with that ancient form of Grief. She had been walking up and down the earth for thousands of years. She first appeared in the garden of Eden. She stood furth from behind the fatal tree, and emerged from those bounds which, before the first offence, she had never dared to croas; and ever since she had been going about and haunting me11. When Christ began his pilgrimage, be met her and she met him, and they looked one another in the face; and she never left him. • He was acquainted with grief.' And through this acquaintance- ship it would seem, M happens when a lower nature feels the influence of a hi~her, that she became changed. She had been hard and cold, she became tender anll gentla; she had been tyrannicnl and imperioua, but under the influence ·of that Divine Companion she lost her old harshnesB and severity, and seemed to do her work with a half-reluctance, and without the old readiness- to add torment to the unhappy. We cannot tell how it happened, but Grief, through her acquaiutance and fumiliarity with the Son of man, became like a new creature. lu her were seen a certain softness aoc\ pensiveness which she ·never had before; her form became altered -and her footsteps light; until she seemed to take the air of a sister of mercy, and to breathe forth a wondrous benediction while she walked with him. Doubtless it was his influenoe,tbat worked the change. It was he who turned that scourie of small cords, which she had carried from time immemorial, into a cross, and gave to her eyes that tenner look which seems to say, • I do not willingly afflict nor grieve you, 0 children of men.' 'l'hus they went through the world hand-in-hand, until he went out of it by the gate of the grave, tasting death for every man. And Grief has been acting ever since as one of his ministers, and representing him, and doing the work of mercy in his kingdom. She has given to men in tbese latter days more than she ever took away. She is a dispenser, not a spouec; her hands are full of goodly gifts, and though her discipline be painful, yet it is ever merciful; and, as a gentle almoner, she offers and bestows, wherever faith. and love dispose the heart to receive them, new and perfect pledges of eternal blessinij_ and glory.'' Thus has Christ transformed Grief and Pain, who is one of her chief ministers. Pain is still like the rough ore dug out of the heart of the earth ; but it need no longer be uaed, as it so long has been, to forge harsh chains of bondage, but ft may, it shall be, if only we be willing, fashioned into crowns of glory, yea, diadems for the blessed themselves. And : 2. By hi, acceptance of our pain as an offering 'IIJ6 may present to him. We often feel and say that all we do may and should be consecrated to him, and, without doubt, he accepts it. But this is not all that he is willing to accept. All that we have to bear he will also, and as willingly, accept. Was not his own offering unto God one in which he suffered? His submission rnther than his activity constituted the very essence of his sacrifice. Not alone were the·gold -,symbol Qf all man's wealth-and the frankincense-symbol of worship-presented to him; but the myrrh-symbol of suffering, of 110rrow, of pain, of death. For it was usrd in the embalming of the dead and for ministering relief to sufferers in their agony, and hence it was offered to our Lord upon the cross. And 80, from its constant associaiion with scenes of sadneBB and distress, it came to represent and symbolize all pain. And thit! was offered to the Lord, and may be and should be still. In our moments of most terrible ~ there is nothing better to do than to offer it all to·htm, for his'.glory, and so to lay xt at lhe feet of the King of sorrows. 3. And by the -Zati.on, lie makes fo..!!11.concerning it. (1) He has told us whence it caine; ~ence we. k:ow that it is not an inherent, a constituent, part of our nature, as Joy 18; 'bat 1t l a 522 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINR. [oa. UL 1-27.