whom we are told, that "Daniel prospered," and that "the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." No. XXII, 21st Sunday after Trinity.-The Nobleman whose Son was Sick at Capernaum. "THERE WAS A CERTAIN NOBLEMAN, WHOSE SON WAS SICK AT CAPERNAUM. WHEN HE HEARD THAT JESUS WAS COME OUT OF JUDEA INTO GALILEE, HE WENT UNTO HIM, AND BESOUGHT HIM THAT HE WOULD COME DOWN, AND HEAL HIS SON FOR HE WAS AT THE POINT OF DEATH. THEN SAID JESUS UNTO HIM, EXCEPT YE SEE SIGNS AND WONDERS, YE WILL NOT BELIEVE. THE NOBLEMAN SAITH UNTO HIM, SIR, COME DOWN ERE MY CHILD DIE. JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, GO THY WAY; THY SON LIVETH. AND THE MAN BELIEVED THE WORD THAT JESUS HAD SPOKEN UNTO HIM, AND HE WENT HIS WAY. AND AS HE WAS NOW GOING DOWN, HIS SERVANTS MET HIM, AND TOLD HIM, SAYING, THY SON LIVETH. THEN INQUIRED HE OF THEM THE HOUR WHEN HE BEGAN TO AMEND. AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM, YESTERDAY AT THE SEVENTH HOUR THE FEVER LEFT HIM. SO THE FATHER KNEW THAT IT WAS AT THE SAME HOUR, IN THE WHICH JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, THY SON LIVETH AND HIMSELF BELIEVED, AND nis WHOLE HOUSE.-John iv. 46-53. INTRODUCTORY. CHRIST, after working His first miracle, the turning water into wine, at Cana of Galilee, had gone up to Jerusalem in Judea and commenced His Father's ministry. He had then returned to Galilee through Samaria, and was stationed again at Cana, when this nobleman, or courtier, or ruler, came from Capernaum, which was twenty-three miles distant from Cana, to make the petition on behalf of his son. The incidents connected with his interview with Christ are fully detailed in the passage of Scripture already quoted. Much useless inquiry has been spent in order to discover who this "nobleman" was. It is generally allowed that he was an officer of the court of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee; but whether he was the Chuza mentioned by St. Luke, or the Manaen spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles, or the Palatinus that Jerome says he was, it is now vain for us to inquire. His conduct in many ways bears a great resemblance to that of Naaman the Syrian, and is very different from that of the undoubting centurion, who, considering that he was unworthy that Christ should come under his roof, believed that if He spake the word only his servant would be healed. LESSONS TO BE LEARNED. I. THAT WHILE THE MAN WHO HAS BUT A LITTLE FAITH IS SOMETIMES TESTED BY GOD IN ORDER THAT HIS FAITH MAY BE DEVELOPED, YET HIS PETITION IS NOT REJECTED. This nobleman had a certain amount of faith. It led him to journey from Capernaumn to Cana for the purpose of petitioning Christ. It induced him to receive with a certain amount of belief the injunction, "Go thy way; thy son liveth." But it was not strong enough to convince him that the Lord could heal the sick at a distance as well as at hand, nor to assure him that the cure of his son was the result of Christ's power, until he had made inquiry of his servants at what hour the sick youth had begun to amend, and they had replied to him that it was at the seventh hour (that is either one o'clock or seven o'clock), the same hour in which Jesus had said unto him, "Thy son liveth." His faith was very weak. It was therefore Christ's object to adopt such a line of conduct towards him as would tend to develop that little spark of faith that he had to a brighter flame, and, as would be likely, to arouse in the hearts of the people that were around some warmer feelings of attachment than they could at that time have felt, when their attitude towards Christ was of such a character as to call forth from Him the sad commentary, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. The miracles of Christ were always wrought so as not only to benefit the physical condition of the afflicted one, but also to edify the souls of those that were associated in any way with the scene of the miracle. Hence the modes and manners in which, and the conditions under which, a miracle was wrought varied in each individual case. In the present case Christ saw that what was wanted for the spiritual advancement of this nobleman and of all those around him, was increase of faith; and accordingly the miracle is effected under circumstances calculated to strengthen the faith of the weak and the wavering. If we have but faith as a grain of mustard seed, and in the spirit of faith seek Christ, He will adopt such a method of treatment towards us that our faith shall grow into grander proportions and flourish in strength and beauty. II. THAT ILL IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE TURNED TO GOOD. IS OFTEN The smallness of the faith, the doubts, that is, of this nobleman turned in the end to the spiritual benefit of himself and of his whole house. As the Poet Laureate sings, there is oftentimes "more faith in honest doubt" than in the words of half our creeds. To many persons, their religious belief is a mere tacit, inoperative consent to the truth of certain dogmata which they have never had the earnestness to examine for thein selves. Such faith,-if we may call it faith,-is worthless in the eyes of God; and the first sign that a man is awakening to fuller yearnings after righteouness, and to deeper religious convictions, is oftentimes that he begins to feel doubts about the traditionary shibboleths of his sect or party. Through the storm of passion to the calm of peace, through the night of sorrow to the dawn of joy, through the dungeons of Doubting Castle to the brightness of the Delectable Mountains, through the waters of danger to the shore of safety, through the wilderness of error to the promised land of truth, through the dim twilight amidst which those who walk in a spiritually purblind condition clamber to the noonday splendour which they enjoy who have become "wise unto salvation through faith," this is the path along which God oftentimes leads His holiest saints. III. THAT NO WORLDLY POSITION IS FREE FROM CARE. This nobleman, whatever may have been his exact rank, was from his title a person of some dignity and of an elevated social position; yet sickness had invaded his household. "Uneasy oftentimes lies the head that wears a crown;" and no position, however exalted, can afford to its possessor an immunity from the ordinary ills of humanity-from sorrow, from temptation, from disappointment, from calamity, from sickness, and from death. These things might teach us sympathy with each other in virtue of our common liability to all the ills of life, and humbleness of mind in virtue of the weaknesses that we must recognise in ourselves. "Take physic, Pomp, Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, That thou may'st shake the superflux to theirs, IV. THAT INSTEAD OF QUESTIONING GOD'S DEALINGS, WE SHOULD PETITION FOR GOD'S MERCY. To the apparently discouraging utterance of our Lord, "Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe," the nobleman but replies with the more earnest and heart-reaching petition, "Sir, come down ere my child die." So, instead of indulging in subtle and unprofitable discussions about abstruse points of dogma, or minute details of worship, or insoluble questions concerning the attributes and the operations of Providence,—demanding certainty where probability only is to be attained, and passing judgment with our finite faculties upon the character and the decrees of the Infinite, we should, in all humility and in all earnestness and in all faith, pour forth before the throne of grace our sincere and heartfelt petitions. V. THAT DOMESTIC AFFLICTION OFTENTIMES BECOMES A HOUSEHOLD BLESSING. The illness of this nobleman's son was the instrument that God employed to bring all the family of the nobleman, as well as the nobleman himself, to a fuller knowledge of the truth. So, to men thoughtless in their hours of ease and prosperity, God sends adversity, affliction, discomfort, disease, and bereavement, to awaken them to a deeper thoughtfulness, to convince them how entirely dependent they are upon God for all their strength, their health, and their wealth, and to arouse in them a more humble and a more earnest faith. Happy are those who can turn physical losses to spiritual profit, and of whom it may be predicated by God, that "in their affliction they will seek Me early." VI. THAT CHRIST, WHO, UNSEEN BY THE SUFFERER, COULD CURE THE SICK BODY, CAN ALSO, THOUGH UNSEEN, HEAL THE AFFLICTED SOUL. |