,proofreaders4 ,,html version by ,al    
,haines4           ,,the ,,miracles ,,of
 ,,our ,,lord  ,,by  ,george ,mac,donald
   ,,the ,,miracles ,,of ,,our ,,lord   
#ahgj    ,,contents      ,i4            
,,introduction    ,,ii4 ,,the           
,,beginning ,,of ,,miracles   ,,iii4    
,,the ,,cure ,,of ,,simon',s ,,wife',s  
,,mother    ,,iv4 ,,miracles ,,of       
,,healing ,,unsolicited     ,v4         
,,miracles ,,of ,,healing ,,solicited   
,,by ,,the ,,suffers    ,,vi4 ,,miracles
 ,,granted ,,to ,,the ,,prayer ,,of     
,,friends   ,,vii4 ,,the ,,casting ,,out
 ,,of ,,devils  ,,viii4 ,,the ,,raising 
,,of ,,the ,,dead    ,,ix4 ,,the        
,,government ,,of ,,nature     ,x4      
,,miracles ,,of ,,destruction    ,,xi4  
,,the ,,resurrection   ,,xii4 ,,the     
,,transfiguration     ,i4               
,,introduction4   ,i have been requested
 to write some papers on our ,lord's    
miracles4 ,i venture the attempt in the 
belief that1 seeing they are one of the 
modes in which his unseen life found    

expression1 we are bound through them to
 arrive at some knowledge of that life4 
,for he has come1 ,the ,word of ,god1   
that we may know ,god3 every word of his
 then1 as needful to the knowing of     
himself1 is needful to the knowing of   
,god1 and we must understand1 as far as 
we may1 every one of his words and every
 one of his actions1 which1 with him1   
were only another form of word4 ,i      
believe this the immediate end of our   
creation4 ,and ,i believe that this will
 at length result in the unravelling for
 us of what must now1 more or less1     
appear to every man the knotted and     
twisted coil of the universe4  ,it seems
 to me that it needs no great power of  
faith to believe in the miracles--for   
true faith is a power1 not a mere       
yielding4 ,there are far harder things  
to believe than the miracles4 ,for a man
 is not required to believe in them save
 as believing in ,jesus4 ,if a man can  
believe that there is a ,god1 he may    
well believe that1 having made creatures

 capable of hungering and thirsting for 
him1 he must be capable of speaking a   
word to guide them in their feeling     
after him4 ,and if he is a grand ,god1 a
 ,god worthy of being ,god1 yea 7his    
metaphysics even may show the seeker71  
if he is a ,god capable of being ,god1  
he will speak the clearest grandest word
 of guidance which he can utter         
intelligible to his creatures4 ,for us1 
that word must simply be the gathering  
of all the expressions of his visible   
works into an infinite human face1      
lighted up by an infinite human soul    
behind it1 namely1 that potential       
essence of man1 if ,i may use a word of 
my own1 which was in the beginning with 
,god4 ,if ,god should thus hear the cry 
of the noblest of his creatures1 for    
such are all they who do cry after him1 
and in very deed show them his face1 it 
is but natural to expect that the deeds 
of the great messenger should be just   
the works of the ,father done in little4
 ,if he came to reveal his ,father in   

miniature1 as it were 7for in these     
unspeakable things we can but use       
figures1 and the homeliest may be the   
holiest71 to tone down his great voice1 
which1 too loud for men to hear it      
aright1 could but sound to them as an   
inarticulate thundering1 into such a    
still small voice as might enter their  
human ears in welcome human speech1 then
 the works that his ,father does so     
widely1 so grandly that they transcend  
the vision of men1 the ,son must do     
briefly and sharply before their very   
eyes4  ,this1 ,i think1 is the true     
nature of the miracles1 an epitome of   
,god's processes in nature beheld in    
immediate connection with their         
source--a source as yet lost to the eyes
 and too often to the hearts of men in  
the far-receding gradations of          
continuous law4 ,that men might see the 
will of ,god at work1 ,jesus did the    
works of his ,father thus4  ,here ,i    
will suppose some honest1 and therefore 
honourable1 reader objecting3 ,but do   

you not thus place the miracles in      
dignity below the ordinary processes of 
nature8 ,i answer3 ,the miracles are    
mightier far than any goings on of      
nature as beheld by common eyes1        
dissociating them from a living ,will2  
but the miracles are surely less than   
those mighty goings on of nature with   
,god beheld at their heart4 ,in the name
 of him who delighted to say ,my ,father
 is greater than ,i1 ,i will say that   
his miracles in bread and in wine were  
far less grand and less beautiful than  
the works of the ,father they           
represented1 in making the corn to grow 
in the valleys1 and the grapes to drink 
the sunlight on the hill-sides of the   
world1 with all their infinitudes of    
tender gradation and delicate mystery of
 birth4 ,but the ,son of the ,father be 
praised1 who1 as it were1 condensed     
these mysteries before us1 and let us   
see the precious gifts coming at once   
from gracious hands--hands that love    
could kiss and nails could wound4       

,there are some1 ,i think1 who would    
perhaps find it more possible to accept 
the ,new ,testament story if the        
miracles did not stand in the way4 ,but 
perhaps1 again1 it would be easier for  
them1 to accept both if they could once 
look into the true heart of these       
miracles4 ,so long as they regard only  
the surface of them1 they will1 most    
likely1 see in them only a violation of 
the laws of nature3 when they behold the
 heart of them1 they will recognize     
there at least a possible fulfilment of 
her deepest laws4  ,with such1 however1 
is not my main business now1 any more   
than with those who cannot believe in a 
,god at all1 and therefore to whom a    
miracle is an absurdity4 ,i may1        
however1 just make this one remark with 
respect to the latter--that perhaps it  
is better they should believe in no ,god
 than believe in such a ,god as they    
have yet been able to imagine4 ,perhaps 
thus they are nearer to a true          
faith--except indeed they prefer the    

notion of the ,unconscious generating   
the ,conscious1 to that of a            
self-existent ,love1 creative in virtue 
of its being love4 ,such have never     
loved woman or child save after a       
fashion which has left them content that
 death should seize on the beloved and  
bear them back to the maternal dust4    
,but ,i doubt if there can be any who   
thus would choose a sleep--walking ,pan 
before a wakeful ,father4 ,at least1    
they cannot know the ,father and choose 
the ,pan4  ,let us then recognize the   
works of the ,father as epitomized in   
the miracles of the ,son4 ,what in the  
hands of the ,father are the mighty     
motions and progresses and conquests of 
life1 in the hands of the ,son are      
miracles4 ,i do not myself believe that 
he valued the working of these miracles 
as he valued the utterance of the truth 
in words2 but all that he did had the   
one root1 obedience1 in which alone can 
any son be free4 ,and what is the       
highest obedience8 ,simply a following  

of the ,father--a doing of what the     
,father does4 ,every true father wills  
that his child should be as he is in his
 deepest love1 in his highest hope4 ,all
 that ,jesus does is of his ,father4    
,what we see in the ,son is of the      
,father4 ,what his works mean concerning
 him1 they mean concerning the ,father4 
,much as ,i shrink from the notion of a 
formal shaping out of design in any     
great life1 so unlike the endless       
freedom and spontaneity of nature 7and  
,he is the ,nature of nature71 ,i cannot
 help observing that his first miracle  
was one of creation--at least1 is to our
 eyes more like creation than almost any
 other--for who can say that it was     
creation1 not knowing in the least what 
creation is1 or what was the process in 
this miracle8     ,,ii4 ,,the           
,,beginning ,,of ,,miracles4   ,already 
,jesus had his disciples1 although as   
yet he had done no mighty works4 ,they  
followed him for himself and for his    
mighty words4 ,with his mother they     

accompanied him to a merry-making at a  
wedding4 ,with no retiring regard1 with 
no introverted look of                  
self-consciousness or self-withdrawal1  
but more human than any of the company1 
he regarded their rejoicings with       
perfect sympathy1 for1 whatever         
suffering might follow1 none knew so    
well as he that--    there is one   ,who
 makes the joy the last in every song4  
,the assertion in the old legendary     
description of his person and habits1   
that he was never known to smile1 ,i    
regard as an utter falsehood1 for to me 
it is incredible--almost as a           
geometrical absurdity4 ,in that glad    
company the eyes of a divine artist1    
following the spiritual lines of the    
group1 would have soon settled on his   
face as the centre whence radiated all  
the gladness1 where1 as ,i seem to see  
him1 he sat in the background beside his
 mother4 ,even the sunny face of the    
bridegroom would appear less full of    
light than his4 ,but something is at    

hand which will change his mood4 ,for no
 true man had he been if his mood had   
never changed4 ,his high1 holy1 obedient
 will1 his tender1 pure1 strong heart   
never changed1 but his mood1 his feeling
 did change4 ,for the mood must often1  
and in many cases ought to be the human 
reflex of changing circumstance4 ,the   
change comes from his mother4 ,she      
whispers to him that they have no more  
wine4 ,the bridegroom's liberality had  
reached the limit of his means1 for1    
like his guests1 he was1 most probably1 
of a humble calling1 a craftsman1 say1  
or a fisherman4 ,it must have been a    
painful little trial to him if he knew  
the fact2 but ,i doubt if he heard of   
the want before it was supplied4  ,there
 was nothing in this however to cause   
the change in our ,lord's mood of which 
,i have spoken4 ,it was no serious      
catastrophe1 at least to him1 that the  
wine should fail4 ,his mother had but   
told him the fact2 only there is more   
than words in every commonest speech    

that passes4 ,it was not his mother's   
words1 but the tone and the look with   
which they were interwoven that wrought 
the change4 ,she knew that her son was  
no common man1 and she believed in him1 
with an unripe1 unfeatured faith4 ,this 
faith1 working with her ignorance and   
her fancy1 led her to expect the great  
things of the world from him4 ,this was 
a faith which must fail that it might   
grow4 ,imperfection must fail that      
strength may come in its place4 ,it is  
well for the weak that their faith      
should fail them1 for it may at the     
moment be resting its wings upon the    
twig of some brittle fancy1 instead of  
on a branch of the tree of life4  ,but1 
again1 what was it in his mother's look 
and tone that should work the change in 
our ,lord's mood8 ,the request implied  
in her words could give him no offence1 
for he granted that request2 and he     
never would have done a thing he did not
 approve1 should his very mother ask    
him4 ,the thoughts of the mother lay not

 in her words1 but in the expression    
that accompanied them1 and it was to    
those thoughts that our ,lord replied4  
,hence his answer1 which has little to  
do with her spoken request1 is the key  
both to her thoughts and to his4 ,if we 
do not understand his reply1 we may     
misunderstand the miracle--certainly we 
are in danger of grievously             
misunderstanding him--a far worse evil4 
,how many children are troubled in heart
 that ,jesus should have spoken to his  
mother as our translation compels them  
to suppose he did speak6 ,woman1 what   
have ,i to do with thee8 ,mine hour is  
not yet come4 ,his hour for working the 
miracle had come1 for he wrought it2 and
 if he had to do with one human soul at 
all1 that soul must be his mother4 ,the 
woman1 too1 sounds strange in our ears4 
,this last1 however1 is our fault3 we   
allow words to sink from their high     
rank1 and then put them to degraded     
uses4 ,what word so full of grace and   
tender imagings to any true man as that 

one word6 ,the ,saviour did use it to   
his mother2 and when he called her      
woman1 the good custom of the country   
and the time was glorified in the word  
as it came from his lips fulfilled1 of  
humanity2 for those lips were the open  
gates of a heart full of infinite       
meanings4 ,hence whatever word he used  
had more of the human in it than that   
word had ever held before4  ,what he did
 say was this--,woman1 what is there    
common to thee and me8 ,my hour is not  
yet come4 ,what6 was not their humanity 
common to them8 ,had she not been fit1  
therefore chosen1 to bear him8 ,was she 
not his mother8 ,but his words had no   
reference to the relation between them2 
they only referred to the present       
condition of her mind1 or rather the    
nature of the thought and expectation   
which now occupied it4 ,her hope and his
 intent were at variance2 there was no  
harmony between his thought and hers2   
and it was to that thought and that hope
 of hers that his words were now        

addressed4 ,to paraphrase the words--and
 if ,i do so with reverence and for the 
sake of the spirit which is higher than 
the word1 ,i think ,i am allowed to do  
so--  ,woman1 what is there in your     
thoughts now that is in sympathy with   
mine8 ,also the hour that you are       
expecting is not come yet4  ,what1 then1
 was in our ,lord's thoughts8 and what  
was in his mother's thoughts to call    
forth his words8 ,she was thinking the  
time had come for making a show of his  
power--for revealing what a great man he
 was--for beginning to let that glory   
shine1 which was1 in her notion1 to     
culminate in the grandeur of a righteous
 monarch--a second ,solomon1 forsooth1  
who should set down the mighty in the   
dust1 and exalt them of low degree4     
,here was the opportunity for working   
like a prophet of old1 and revealing of 
what a mighty son she was the favoured  
mother4  ,and of what did the glow of   
her face1 the light in her eyes1 and the
 tone with which she uttered the words1 

,they have no wine1 make ,jesus think8  
,perhaps of the decease which he must   
accomplish at ,jerusalem2 perhaps of a  
throne of glory betwixt the two thieves2
 certainly of a kingdom of heaven not   
such as filled her imagination1 even    
although her heaven-descended ,son was  
the king thereof4 ,a kingdom of exulting
 obedience1 not of acquiescence1 still  
less of compulsion1 lay germed in his   
bosom1 and he must be laid in the grave 
ere that germ could send up its first   
green lobes into the air of the human   
world4 ,no throne1 therefore1 of earthly
 grandeur for him6 no triumph for his   
blessed mother such as she dreamed6     
,there was nothing common in their      
visioned ends4 ,hence came the change of
 mood to ,jesus1 and hence the words    
that sound at first so strange1 seeming 
to have so little to do with the words  
of his mother4  ,but no change of mood  
could change a feeling towards mother or
 friends4 ,the former1 although she     
could ill understand what he meant1     

never fancied in his words any          
unkindness to her4 ,she1 too1 had the   
face of the speaker to read2 and from   
that face came such answer to her prayer
 for her friends1 that she awaited no   
confirming words1 but in the confidence 
of a mother who knew her child1 said at 
once to the servants1 ,whatsoever he    
saith unto you1 do it4  ,if any one     
object that ,i have here imagined too   
much1 ,i would remark1 first1 that the  
records in the ,gospel are very brief   
and condensed2 second1 that the germs of
 a true intelligence must lie in this   
small seed1 and our hearts are the soil 
in which it must unfold itself2 third1  
that we are bound to understand the     
story1 and that the foregoing are the   
suppositions on which ,i am able to     
understand it in a manner worthy of what
 ,i have learned concerning ,him4 ,i am 
bound to refuse every interpretation    
that seems to me unworthy of ,him1 for  
to accept such would be to sin against  
the ,holy ,ghost4 ,if ,i am wrong in my 

idea either of that which ,i receive or 
of that which ,i reject1 as soon as the 
fact is revealed to me ,i must cast the 
one away and do justice to the other4   
,meantime this interpretation seems to  
me to account for our ,lord's words in a
 manner he will not be displeased with  
even if it fail to reach the mark of the
 fact4 ,that ,st ,john saw1 and might   
expect such an interpretation to be     
found in the story1 barely as he has    
told it1 will be rendered the more      
probable if we remember his own similar 
condition and experience when he and his
 brother ,james prayed the ,lord for the
 highest rank in his kingdom1 and       
received an answer which evidently      
flowed from the same feeling to which ,i
 have attributed that given on this     
occasion to his mother4  ',fill the     
water-pots with water4' ,and they filled
 them up to the brim4 ',draw out now1   
and bear unto the governor of the       
feast4' ,and they bare it4 ',thou hast  
kept the good wine until now4' ,it is   

such a thing of course that1 when our   
,lord gave them wine1 it would be of the
 best1 that it seems almost absurd to   
remark upon it4 ,what the ,father would 
make and will make1 and that towards    
which he is ever working1 is the ,best2 
and when our ,lord turns the water into 
wine it must be very good4  ,it is like 
his ,father1 too1 not to withhold good  
wine because men abuse it4 ,enforced    
virtue is unworthy of the name4 ,that   
men may rise above temptation1 it is    
needful that they should have           
temptation4 ,it is the will of him who  
makes the grapes and the wine4 ,men will
 even call ,jesus himself a wine-bibber4
 ,what matters it1 so long as he works  
as the ,father works1 and lives as the  
,father wills8  ,i dare not here be     
misunderstood4 ,god chooses that men    
should be tried1 but let a man beware of
 tempting his neighbour4 ,god knows how 
and how much1 and where and when3 man is
 his brother's keeper1 and must keep him
 according to his knowledge4 ,a man may 

work the will of ,god for others1 and be
 condemned therein because he sought his
 own will and not ,god's4 ,that our     
,lord gave this company wine1 does not  
prove that he would have given any      
company wine4 ,to some he refused even  
the bread they requested at his hands4  
,because he gave wine to the            
wedding-guests1 shall man dig a pit at  
the corner of every street1 that the    
poor may fall therein1 spending their   
money for that which is not bread1 and  
their labour for that which satisfieth  
not8 ,let the poor man be tempted as    
,god wills1 for the end of ,god is      
victory2 let not man tempt him1 for his 
end is his neighbour's fall1 or at best 
he heeds it not for the sake of gain1   
and he shall receive according to his   
works4  ,to him who can thank ,god with 
free heart for his good wine1 there is a
 glad significance in the fact that our 
,lord's first miracle was this turning  
of water into wine4 ,it is a true symbol
 of what he has done for the world in   

glorifying all things4 ,with his divine 
alchemy he turns not only water into    
wine1 but common things into radiant    
mysteries1 yea1 every meal into a       
eucharist1 and the jaws of the sepulchre
 into an outgoing gate4 ,i do not mean  
that he makes any change in the things  
or ways of ,god1 but a mighty change in 
the hearts and eyes of men1 so that     
,god's facts and ,god's meanings become 
their faiths and their hopes4 ,the      
destroying spirit1 who works in the     
commonplace1 is ever covering the deep  
and clouding the high4 ,for those who   
listen to that spirit great things      
cannot be4 ,such are there1 but they    
cannot see them1 for in themselves they 
do not aspire4 ,they believe1 perhaps1  
in the truth and grace of their first   
child3 when they have spoiled him1 they 
laugh at the praises of childhood4 ,from
 all that is thus low and wretched1     
incapable and fearful1 he who made the  
water into wine delivers men1 revealing 
heaven around them1 ,god in all things1 

truth in every instinct1 evil withering 
and hope springing even in the path of  
the destroyer4  ,that the wine should be
 his first miracle1 and that the feeding
 of the multitudes should be the only   
other creative miracle1 will also       
suggest many thoughts in connection with
 the symbol he has left us of his       
relation to his brethren4 ,in the wine  
and the bread of the eucharist1 he      
reminds us how utterly he has given1 is 
giving1 himself for the gladness and the
 strength of his ,father's children4    
,yea more2 for in that he is the        
radiation of the ,father's glory1 this  
bread and wine is the symbol of how     
utterly the ,father gives himself to his
 children1 how earnestly he would have  
them partakers of his own being4 ,if    
,jesus was the son of the ,father1 is it
 hard to believe that he should give men
 bread and wine8  ,it was not his power1
 however1 but his glory1 that ,jesus    
showed forth in the miracle4 ,his power 
could not be hidden1 but it was a poor  

thing beside his glory4  ,yea1 power in 
itself is a poor thing4 ,if it could    
stand alone1 which it cannot1 it would  
be a horror4 ,no amount of lonely power 
could create4 ,it is the love that is at
 the root of power1 the power of power1 
which alone can create4 ,what then was  
this his glory8 ,what was it that made  
him glorious8 ,it was that1 like his    
,father1 he ministered to the wants of  
men4 ,had they not needed the wine1 not 
for the sake of whatever show of his    
power would he have made it4 ,the       
concurrence of man's need and his love  
made it possible for that glory to shine
 forth4 ,it is for this glory most that 
we worship him4 ,but power is no object 
of adoration1 and they who try to       
worship it are slaves4 ,their worship is
 no real worship4 ,those who trembled at
 the thunder from the mountain went and 
worshipped a golden calf2 but ,moses    
went into the thick darkness to find his
 ,god4  ,how far the expectation of the 
mother ,mary that her son would1 by     

majesty of might1 appeal to the wedding 
guests1 and arouse their enthusiasm for 
himself1 was from our ,lord's thoughts1 
may be well seen in the fact that the   
miracle was not beheld even by the ruler
 of the feast2 while the report of it   
would probably receive little credit    
from at least many of those who partook 
of the good wine4 ,so quietly was it    
done1 so entirely without pre-intimation
 of his intent1 so stolenly1 as it were1
 in the two simple ordered acts1 the    
filling of the water-pots with water1   
and the drawing of it out again1 as to  
make it manifest that it was done for   
the ministration4 ,he did not do it even
 for the show of his goodness1 but to be
 good4 ,this alone could show his       
,father's goodness4 ,it was done because
 here was an opportunity in which all   
circumstances combined with the bodily  
presence of the powerful and the prayer 
of his mother1 to render it fit that the
 love of his heart should go forth in   
giving his merry-making brothers and    

sisters more and better wine to drink4  
,and herein we find another point in    
which this miracle of ,jesus resembles  
the working of his ,father4 ,for ,god   
ministers to us so gently1 so stolenly1 
as it were1 with such a quiet1 tender1  
loving absence of display1 that men     
often drink of his wine1 as these       
wedding guests drank1 without knowing   
whence it comes--without thinking that  
the giver is beside them1 yea1 in their 
very hearts4 ,for ,god will not compel  
the adoration of men3 it would be but a 
pagan worship that would bring to his   
altars4 ,he will rouse in men a sense of
 need1 which shall grow at length into a
 longing2 he will make them feel after  
him1 until by their search becoming able
 to behold him1 he may at length reveal 
to them the glory of their ,father4 ,he 
works silently--keeps quiet behind his  
works1 as it were1 that he may truly    
reveal himself in the right time4 ,with 
this intent also1 when men find his wine
 good and yet do not rise and search for

 the giver1 he will plague them with    
sore plagues1 that the good wine of life
 may not be to them1 and therefore to   
him and the universe1 an evil thing4 ,it
 would seem that the correlative of     
creation is search2 that as ,god has    
made us1 we must find him2 that thus our
 action must reflect his2 that thus he  
glorifies us with a share in the end of 
all things1 which is that the ,father   
and his children may be one in thought1 
judgment1 feeling1 and intent1 in a     
word1 that they may mean the same thing4
 ,st ,john says that ,jesus thus        
manifested forth his glory1 and his     
disciples believed on him4 ,i doubt if  
any but his disciples knew of the       
miracle2 or of those others who might   
see or hear of it1 if any believed on   
him because of it4 ,it is possible to   
see a miracle1 and not believe in it2   
while many of those who saw a miracle of
 our ,lord believed in the miracle1 and 
yet did not believe in him4  ,i wonder  
how many ,christians there are who so   

thoroughly believe ,god made them that  
they can laugh in ,god's name2 who      
understand that ,god invented laughter  
and gave it to his children4 ,such      
belief would add a keenness to the zest 
in their enjoyment1 and slay that       
sneering laughter of which a man        
grimaces to the fiends1 as well as that 
feeble laughter in which neither heart  
nor intellect has a share4 ,it would    
help them also to understand the depth  
of this miracle4 ,the ,lord of gladness 
delights in the laughter of a merry     
heart4 ,these wedding guests could have 
done without wine1 surely without more  
wine and better wine4 ,but the ,father  
looks with no esteem upon a bare        
existence1 and is ever working1 even by 
suffering1 to render life more rich and 
plentiful4 ,his gifts are to the        
overflowing of the cup2 but when the cup
 would overflow1 he deepens its hollow1 
and widens its brim4 ,our ,lord is      
profuse like his ,father1 yea1 will1 at 
his own sternest cost1 be lavish to his 

brethren4 ,he will give them wine       
indeed4 ,but even they who know whence  
the good wine comes1 and joyously thank 
the giver1 shall one day cry out1 like  
the praiseful ruler of the feast to him 
who gave it not1 ,thou hast kept the    
good wine until now4     ,,iii4 ,,the   
,,cure ,,of ,,simon',s ,,wife',s        
,,mother4   ,in respect of the purpose  
,i have in view1 it is of little        
consequence in what order ,i take the   
miracles4 ,i choose for my second       
chapter the story of the cure of ,st    
,peter's mother-in-law4 ,bare as the    
narrative is1 the event it records has  
elements which might have been moulded  
with artistic effect--on the one side   
the woman tossing in the folds of the   
fever1 on the other the entering ,life4 
,but it is not from this side that ,i   
care to view it4  ,neither do ,i wish to
 look at it from the point of view of   
the bystanders1 although it would appear
 that we had the testimony of three of  
them in the three ,gospels which contain

 the story4 ,we might almost determine  
the position in the group about the bed 
occupied by each of the three1 from the 
differences between their testimonies4  
,one says ,jesus stood over her2        
another1 he touched her hand2 the third1
 he lifted her up3 they agree that the  
fever left her1 and she ministered to   
them4--,in the present case1 as in      
others behind1 ,i mean to regard the    
miracle from the point of view of the   
person healed4  ,pain1 sickness1        
delirium1 madness1 as great             
infringements of the laws of nature as  
the miracles themselves1 are such       
veritable presences to the human        
experience1 that what bears no relation 
to their existence1 cannot be the ,god  
of the human race4 ,and the man who     
cannot find his ,god in the fog of      
suffering1 no less than he who forgets  
his ,god in the sunshine of health1 has 
learned little either of ,st ,paul or   
,st ,john4 ,the religion whose light    
renders no dimmest glow across this evil

 air1 cannot be more than a dim reflex  
of the true4 ,and who will mourn to find
 this out8 ,there are1 perhaps1 some so 
anxious about themselves that1 rather   
than say1 ,i have it not3 it is a better
 thing than ,i have ever possessed1 they
 would say1 ,i have the precious thing1 
but in the hour of trial it is of little
 avail4 ,let us rejoice that the glory  
is great1 even if we dare not say1 ,it  
is mine4 ,then shall we try the more    
earnestly to lay hold upon it4  ,so long
 as men must toss in weary fancies all  
the dark night1 crying1 ,would ,god it  
were morning1 to find1 it may be1 when  
it arrives1 but little comfort in the   
grey dawn1 so long must we regard ,god  
as one to be seen or believed in--cried 
unto at least--across all the dreary    
flats of distress or dark mountains of  
pain1 and therefore those who would help
 their fellows must sometimes look for  
him1 as it were1 through the eyes of    
those who suffer1 and try to help them  
to think1 not from ours1 but from their 

own point of vision4 ,i shall therefore 
now write almost entirely for those to  
whom suffering is familiar1 or at least 
well known4 ,and first ,i would remind  
them that all suffering is against the  
ideal order of things4 ,no man can love 
pain4 ,it is an unlovely1 an ugly1      
abhorrent thing4 ,the more true and     
delicate the bodily and mental          
constitution1 the more must it recoil   
from pain4 ,no one1 ,i think1 could     
dislike pain so much as the ,saviour    
must have disliked it4 ,god dislikes it4
 ,he is then on our side in the matter4 
,he knows it is grievous to be borne1 a 
thing he would cast out of his blessed  
universe1 save for reasons4  ,but one   
will say--,how can this help me when the
 agony racks me1 and the weariness rests
 on me like a gravestone8--,is it       
nothing1 ,i answer1 to be reminded that 
suffering is in its nature              
transitory--that it is against the first
 and final will of ,god--that it is a   
means only1 not an end8 ,is it nothing  

to be told that it will pass away8 ,is  
not that what you would8 ,god made man  
for lordly skies1 great sunshine1 gay   
colours1 free winds1 and delicate       
odours2 and however the fogs may be     
needful for the soul1 right gladly does 
he send them away1 and cause the        
dayspring from on high to revisit his   
children4 ,while they suffer he is      
brooding over them an eternal day1      
suffering with them but rejoicing in    
their future4 ,he is the ,god of the    
individual man1 or he could be no ,god  
of the race4  ,i believe it is          
possible--and that some have achieved   
it--so to believe in and rest upon the  
immutable ,health--so to regard one's   
own sickness as a kind of passing       
aberration1 that the soul is thereby    
sustained1 even as sometimes in a weary 
dream the man is comforted by telling   
himself it is but a dream1 and that     
waking is sure4 ,god would have us      
reasonable and strong4 ,every effort of 
his children to rise above the invasion 

of evil in body or in mind is a pleasure
 to him4 ,few1 ,i suppose1 attain to    
this2 but there is a better thing which 
to many1 ,i trust1 is easier--to say1   
,thy will be done4  ,but now let us look
 at the miracle as received by the      
woman4  ,she had a great fever4 ,she was
 tossing from side to side in vain      
attempts to ease a nameless misery4 ,her
 head ached1 and forms dreary1 even in  
their terror1 kept rising before her in 
miserable and aimless dreams2 senseless 
words went on repeating themselves ill  
her very brain was sick of them2 she was
 destitute1 afflicted1 tormented2 now   
the centre for the convergence of       
innumerable atoms1 now driven along in  
an uproar of hideous globes2 faces      
grinned and mocked at her2 her mind ever
 strove to recover itself1 and was ever 
borne away in the rush of invading      
fancies2 but through it all was the     
nameless unrest1 not an aching1 nor a   
burning1 nor a stinging1 but a bodily   
grief1 dark1 drear1 and nameless4 ,how  

could they have borne such before ,he   
had come8  ,a sudden ceasing of motions 
uncontrolled2 a coolness gliding through
 the burning skin2 a sense of waking    
into repose2 a consciousness of         
all-pervading well-being1 of strength   
conquering weakness1 of light displacing
 darkness1 of urging life at the heart2 
and behold6 she is sitting up in her    
bed1 a hand clasping hers1 a face       
looking in hers4 ,he has judged the evil
 thing1 and it is gone4 ,he has saved   
her out of her distresses4 ,they fold   
away from off her like the cerements of 
death4 ,she is new-born--new-made--all  
things are new-born with her--and he who
 makes all things new is there4 ,from   
him1 she knows1 has the healing flowed4 
,he has given of his life to her4 ,away1
 afar behind her floats the cloud of her
 suffering4 ,she almost forgets it in   
her grateful joy4 ,she is herself now4  
,she rises4 ,the sun is shining4 ,it had
 been shining all the time--waiting for 
her4 ,the lake of ,galilee is glittering

 joyously4 ,that too sets forth the law 
of life4 ,but the fulfilling of the law 
is love3 she rises and ministers4  ,i am
 tempted to remark in passing1 although 
,i shall have better opportunity of     
dealing with the matter involved1 that  
there is no sign of those whom our ,lord
 cures desiring to retain the privileges
 of the invalid4 ,the joy of health is  
labour4 ,he who is restored must be     
fellow-worker with ,god4 ,this woman1   
lifted out of the whelming sand of the  
fever and set upon her feet1 hastens to 
her ministrations4 ,she has been used to
 hard work4 ,it is all right now2 she   
must to it again4  ,but who was he who  
had thus lifted her up8 ,she saw a young
 man by her side4 ,is it the young man1 
,jesus1 of whom she has heard8 for      
,capernaum is not far from ,nazareth1   
and the report of his wisdom and        
goodness must have spread1 for he had   
grown in favour with man as well as with
 ,god4 ,is it he1 to whom ,god has given
 such power1 or is it ,john1 of whom she

 has also heard8 ,whether he was a      
prophet or a son of the prophets1       
whether he was ,jesus or ,john1 she     
waits not to question2 for here are     
guests2 here is something to be done4   
,questions will keep2 work must be      
despatched4 ,it is the day1 and the     
night is at hand4 ,she rose and         
ministered unto them4  ,but if we ask   
who he is1 this is the answer3 ,he is   
the ,son of ,god come to do the works of
 his ,father4 ,where1 then1 is the      
healing of the ,father8 ,all the world  
over1 in every man's life and knowledge1
 almost in every man's personal         
experience1 although it may be          
unrecognized as such4 ,for just as in   
certain moods of selfishness our hearts 
are insensible to the tenderest love of 
our surrounding families1 so the        
degrading spirit of the commonplace     
enables us to live in the midst of      
ministrations1 so far from knowing them 
as such1 that it is hard for us to      
believe that the very heart of ,god     

would care to do that which his hand    
alone can do and is doing every moment4 
,i remind my reader that ,i have taken  
it for granted that he confesses there  
is a ,god1 or at least hopes there may  
be a ,god4 ,if any one interposes1      
saying that science nowadays will not   
permit him to believe in such a being1  
,i answer it is not for him ,i am now   
writing1 but for such as have gone      
through a different course of thought   
and experience from his4 ,to him ,i may 
be honoured to say a word some day4 ,i  
do not think of him now4 ,but to the    
reader of my choice ,i do say that ,i   
see no middle course between believing  
that every alleviation of pain1 every   
dawning of hope across the troubled     
atmosphere of the spirit1 every case of 
growing well again1 is the doing of     
,god1 or that there is no ,god at       
all--none at least in whom ,i could     
believe4 ,had ,christians been believing
 in ,god better1 more grandly1 the      
present phase of unbelief1 which no     

doubt is needful1 and must appear some  
time in the world's history1 would not  
have appeared in our day4 ,no doubt it  
has come when it must1 and will vanish  
when it must2 but those who do believe  
are more to blame for it1 ,i think1 than
 those who do not believe4 ,the common  
kind of belief in ,god is rationally    
untenable4 ,half to an insensate nature1
 half to a living ,god1 is a worship    
that cannot stand4 ,god is all in all1  
or no ,god at all4 ,the man who goes to 
church every ,sunday1 and yet trembles  
before chance1 is a ,christian only     
because ,christ has claimed him2 is not 
a ,christian as having believed in ,him4
 ,i would not be hard4 ,there are so    
many degrees in faith6 ,a man may be on 
the right track1 may be learning of     
,christ1 and be very poor and weak4 ,but
 ,i say there is no standing room1 no   
reality of reason1 between absolute     
faith and absolute unbelief4 ,either not
 a sparrow falls to the ground without  
,him1 or there is no ,god1 and we are   

fatherless children4 ,those who attempt 
to live in such a limbo as lies between 
the two1 are only driven of the wind and
 tossed4  ,has my reader ever known the 
weariness of suffering1 the clouding of 
the inner sky1 the haunting of spectral 
shapes1 the misery of disordered laws1  
when nature is wrong within him1 and her
 music is out of tune and harsh1 when he
 is shot through with varied griefs and 
pains1 and it seems as there were no    
life more in the world1 save of         
misery--pain1 pain ever1 for ever8      
,then1 surely1 he has also known the    
turn of the tide1 when the pain begins  
to abate1 when the sweet sleep falls    
upon soul and body1 when a faint hope   
doubtfully glimmers across the gloom6   
,or has he known the sudden waking from 
sleep and from fever at once1 the       
consciousness that life is life1 that   
life is the law of things1 the coolness 
and the gladness1 when the garments of  
pain which1 like that fabled garment of 
,dejanira1 enwrapped and ate into his   

being1 have folded back from head and   
heart1 and he looks out again once more 
new-born8 ,it is ,god4 ,this is his     
will1 his law of life conquering the law
 of death ,tell me not of natural laws1 
as if ,i were ignorant of them1 or meant
 to deny them4 ,the question is whether 
these laws go wheeling on of themselves 
in a symmetry of mathematical shapes1 or
 whether their perfect order1 their     
unbroken certainty of movement1 is not  
the expression of a perfect intellect   
informed by a perfect heart4 ,law is    
truth3 has it a soul of thought1 or has 
it not8 ,if not1 then farewell hope and 
love and possible perfection4 ,but for  
me1 ,i will hope on1 strive on1 fight   
with the invading unbelief2 for the     
horror of being the sport of insensate  
law1 the more perfect the more terrible1
 is hell and utter perdition4 ,if a man 
tells me that science says ,god is not a
 likely being1 ,i answer1 ,probably     
not--such as you1 who have given your   
keen1 admirable1 enviable powers to the 

observation of outer things only1 are   
capable of supposing him2 but that the  
,god ,i mean may not be the very heart  
of the lovely order you see so much     
better than ,i1 you have given me no    
reason to fear4 ,my ,god may be above   
and beyond and in all that4  ,in this   
matter of healing1 then1 as in all the  
miracles1 we find ,jesus doing the works
 of the ,father4 ,god is our ,saviour3  
the ,son of ,god comes healing the      
sick--doing that1 ,i repeat1 before our 
eyes1 which the ,father1 for his own    
reasons1 some of which ,i think ,i can  
see well enough1 does from behind the   
veil of his creation and its laws4 ,the 
cure comes by law1 comes by the         
physician who brings the law to bear    
upon us2 we awake1 and lo6 ,i it is ,god
 the ,saviour4 ,every recovery is as    
much his work as the birth of a child2  
as much the work of the ,father as if it
 had been wrought by the word of the    
,son before the eyes of the multitude4  
,need ,i1 to combat again the vulgar    

notion that the essence of the miracles 
lies in their power1 dwell upon this    
miracle further8 ,surely1 no one who    
honours the ,saviour will for a moment  
imagine him1 as he entered the chamber  
where the woman lay tormented1 saying to
 himself1 ,here is an opportunity of    
showing how mighty my ,father is6 ,no4  
,there was suffering2 here was healing4 
,what ,i could imagine him saying to    
himself would be1 ,here ,i can help6    
,here my ,father will let me put forth  
my healing1 and give her back to her    
people4 ,what should we think of a rich 
man1 who1 suddenly brought into contact 
with the starving upon his own estate1  
should think within himself1 ,here is a 
chance for me6 ,now ,i can let them see 
how rich ,i am6 and so plunge his hands 
in his pockets and lay gold upon the    
bare table8 ,the receivers might well be
 grateful2 but the arm of the poor      
neighbour put under the head of the     
dying man1 would gather a deeper        
gratitude1 a return of tenderer love4   

,it is heart alone that can satisfy     
heart4 ,it is the love of ,god alone    
that can gather to itself the love of   
his children4 ,to believe in an almighty
 being is hardly to believe in a ,god at
 all4 ,to believe in a being who1 in his
 weakness and poverty1 if such could be1
 would die for his creatures1 would be  
to believe in a ,god indeed4     ,,iv4  
,,miracles ,,of ,,healing ,,unsolicited4
   ,in my last chapter ,i took the      
healing of ,simon's wife's mother as a  
type of all such miracles1 viewed from  
the consciousness of the person healed4 
,in the multitude of cases--for it must 
not be forgotten that there was a       
multitude of which we have no individual
 record--the experience must have been  
very similar4 ,the evil thing1 the      
antagonist of their life1 departed2 they
 knew in themselves that they were      
healed2 they beheld before them the face
 and form whence the healing power had  
gone forth1 and they believed in the    
man4 ,what they believed about him1     

farther than that he had healed them and
 was good1 ,i cannot pretend to say4    
,some said he was one thing1 some       
another1 but they believed in the man   
himself4 ,they felt henceforth the      
strongest of ties binding his life to   
their life4 ,he was now the central     
thought of their being4 ,their minds lay
 open to all his influences1 operating  
in time and by holy gradations4 ,the    
well of life was henceforth to them an  
unsealed fountain1 and endless currents 
of essential life began to flow from it 
through their existence4 ,high love     
urging gratitude awoke the conscience to
 intenser life2 and the healed began to 
recoil from evil deeds and vile thoughts
 as jarring with the new friendship4    
,mere acquaintance with a good man is a 
powerful antidote to evil2 but the      
knowledge of such a man1 as those healed
 by him knew him1 was the mightiest of  
divine influences4  ,in these miracles  
of healing our ,lord must have laid one 
of the largest of the foundation-stones 

of his church4 ,the healed knew him     
henceforth1 not by comprehension1 but   
with their whole being4 ,their very life
 acknowledged him4 ,they returned to    
their homes to recall and love afresh4  
,i wonder what their talk about him was 
like4 ,what an insight it would give    
into our common nature1 to know how     
these men and women thought and spoke   
concerning him6 ,but the time soon      
arrived when they had to be public      
martyrs--that is1 witnesses to what they
 knew1 come of it what might4 ,after our
 ,lord's departure came the necessity   
for those who loved him to gather       
together1 thus bearing their testimony  
at once4 ,next to his immediate         
disciples1 those whom he had cured must 
have been the very heart of the young   
church4 ,imagine the living strength of 
such a heart--personal love to the      
personal helper the very core of it4    
,the church had begun with the first    
gush of affection in the heart of the   
mother ,mary1 and now great was the     

company of those that published the good
 news to the world4 ,the works of the   
,father had drawn the hearts of the     
children1 and they spake of the ,elder  
,brother who had brought those works to 
their doors4 ,the thoughtful            
remembrances of those who had heard him 
speak2 the grateful convictions of those
 whom he had healed2 the tender memories
 of those whom he had taken in his arms 
and blessed--these were the fine fibrous
 multitudinous roots which were to the  
church existence1 growth1 and           
continuance1 for these were they which  
sucked in the dews and rains of that    
descending ,spirit which was the life of
 the tree4 ,individual life is the life 
of the church4  ,but one may say3 ,why  
then did he not cure all the sick in    
,juda8 ,simply because all were not     
ready to be cured4 ,many would not have 
believed in him if he had cured them4   
,their illness had not yet wrought its  
work1 had not yet ripened them to the   
possibility of faith2 his cure would    

have left them deeper in evil than      
before4 ,he did not many mighty works   
there because of their unbelief4 ,god   
will cure a man1 will give him a fresh  
start of health and hope1 and the man   
will be the better for it1 even without 
having yet learned to thank him2 but to 
behold the healer and acknowledge the   
outstretched hand of help1 yet not to   
believe in the healer1 is a terrible    
thing for the man2 and ,i think the     
,lord kept his personal healing for such
 as it would bring at once into some    
relation of heart and will with himself2
 whence arose his frequent demand of    
faith--a demand apparently always       
responded to3 at the word1 the          
flickering belief1 the smoking flax1    
burst into a flame4 ,evil1 that is1     
physical evil1 is a moral good--a mighty
 means to a lofty end4 ,pain is an evil2
 but a good as well1 which it would be a
 great injury to take from the man      
before it had wrought its end4 ,then it 
becomes all evil1 and must pass4  ,i now

 proceed to a group of individual cases 
in which1 as far as we can judge from   
the narratives1 our ,lord gave the gift 
of restoration unsolicited4 ,there are  
other instances of the same1 but they   
fall into other groups1 gathered because
 of other features4  ,the first is that1
 recorded by ,st ,luke alone1 of the    
woman which had a spirit of infirmity   
eighteen years1 and was bowed together1 
and could in no wise lift up herself4   
,it may be that this belongs to the     
class of demoniacal possession as well1 
but ,i prefer to take it here2 for ,i am
 very doubtful whether the expression in
 the narrative--a spirit of infirmity1  
even coupled with that of our ,lord in  
defending her and himself from the      
hypocritical attack of the ruler of the 
synagogue1 this woman--whom ,satan hath 
bound1 renders it necessary to regard it
 as one of the latter kind4 ,this is1   
however1 a matter of small              
importance--at least from our present   
point of view4  ,bowed earthwards1 the  

necessary blank of her eye the ground   
and not the horizon1 the form divine    
deformed towards that of the four-footed
 animals1 this woman had been in bondage
 eighteen years4 ,necessary as it is to 
one's faith to believe every trouble    
fitted for the being who has to bear it1
 every physical evil not merely the     
result of moral evil1 but antidotal     
thereto1 no one ought to dare judge of  
the relation between moral condition and
 physical suffering in individual cases4
 ,our ,lord has warned us from that4    
,but in proportion as love and truth    
prevail in the hearts of men1 physical  
evil will vanish from the earth4 ,the   
righteousness of his descendants will   
destroy the disease which the           
unrighteousness of their ancestor has   
transmitted to them4 ,but1 ,i repeat1 to
 destroy this physical evil save by the 
destruction of its cause1 by the        
redemption of the human nature from     
moral evil1 would be to ruin the world4 
,what in this woman it was that made it 

right she should bear these bonds for   
eighteen years1 who can tell8 ,certainly
 it was not that ,god had forgotten her4
 ,what it may have preserved her from1  
one may perhaps conjecture1 but can     
hardly have a right to utter4 ,neither  
can we tell how she had borne the sad   
affliction2 whether in the lovely       
patience common amongst the daughters of
 affliction1 or with the natural        
repining of one made to behold the sun1 
and doomed ever to regard the ground    
upon which she trod4 ,while patience    
would have its glorious reward in the   
cure1 it is possible that even the      
repinings of prideful pain might be     
destroyed by the grand deliverance1 that
 gratitude might beget sorrow for       
vanished impatience4 ,anyhow the right  
hour had come when the darkness must fly
 away4  ,supported1 ,i presume1 by the  
staff which yet more assimilated her to 
the lower animals1 she had crept to the 
synagogue--a good sign surely1 for the  
synagogue was not its ruler4 ,there is  

no appearance from the story1 that she  
had come there to seek ,jesus1 or even  
that when in his presence she saw him   
before the word of her deliverance had  
gone forth4 ,most likely1 being bowed   
together1 she heard him before she saw  
him4  ,but he saw her4 ,our translation 
says he called her to him4 ,i do not    
think this is correct4 ,i think the     
word1 although it might mean that1 does 
mean simply that he addressed her4      
,going to her1 ,i think1 and saying1    
,woman1 thou art loosed from thy        
infirmity1 he laid his hands on her1 and
 immediately she was made straight1 and 
glorified ,god4 ,what an uplifting6--a  
type of all that ,god works in his human
 beings4 ,the head1 down-bent with sin1 
care1 sorrow1 pain1 is uplifted2 the    
grovelling will sends its gaze          
heavenward2 the earth is no more the one
 object of the aspiring spirit2 we lift 
our eyes to ,god2 we bend no longer even
 to his will1 but raise ourselves up    
towards his will1 for his will has      

become our will1 and that will is our   
sanctification4  ,although the woman did
 not beg the ,son to cure her1 she may  
have prayed the ,father much4 ,anyhow   
proof that she was ready for the miracle
 is not wanting4 ,she glorified ,god4   
,it is enough4 ,she not merely thanked  
the man who had wrought the cure1 for of
 this we cannot doubt2 but she glorified
 the known ,saviour1 ,god1 from whom    
cometh down every good gift and every   
perfect gift4  ,she had her share in the
 miracle ,i think too1 as1 in his       
perfect bounty1 ,god gives a share to   
every one in what work ,he does for him4
 ,i mean1 that1 with the given power1   
she had to lift herself up4 ,such active
 faith is the needful response in order 
that a man may be a child of ,god1 and  
not the mere instrument upon which his  
power plays a soulless tune4  ,in this  
preventing of prayer1 in this answering 
before the call1 in this bringing of the
 blessing to the door1 according to     
which ,i have grouped this with the     

following miracles1 ,jesus did as his   
,father is doing every day4 ,he was     
doing the works of his ,father4 ,if men 
had no help1 no deliverance from the    
ills which come upon them1 even those   
which they bring upon themselves1 except
 such as came at their cry2 if no       
salvation descended from ,god1 except   
such as they prayed for1 where would the
 world be8 in what case would the       
generations of men find themselves8 ,but
 the help of ,god is ever coming1 ever  
setting them free whom ,satan hath      
bound2 ever giving them a fresh occasion
 and a fresh impulse to glorify the ,god
 of their salvation4 ,for with every    
such recovery the child in the man is   
new-born--for some precious moments at  
least2 a gentleness of spirit1 a wonder 
at the world1 a sense of the blessedness
 of being1 an openness to calm yet      
rousing influences1 appear in the man4  
,these are the descending angels of     
,god4 ,the passion that had blotted out 
the child will revive2 the strife of the

 world will renew wrath and hate2       
ambition and greed will blot out the    
beauty of the earth2 envy of others will
 blind the man to his own blessedness2  
and self-conceit will revive in him all 
those prejudices whose very strength    
lies in his weakness2 but the man has   
had a glimpse of the peace to gain which
 he must fight with himself2 he has for 
one moment felt what he might be if he  
trusted in ,god2 and the memory of it   
may return in the hour of temptation4   
,as the commonest things in nature are  
the most lovely1 so the commonest       
agencies in humanity are the most       
powerful4 ,sickness and recovery        
therefrom have a larger share in the    
divine order of things for the          
deliverance of men than can show itself 
to the keenest eyes4 ,isolated in       
individuals1 the facts are unknown2 or1 
slow and obscure in their operation1 are
 forgotten by the time their effects    
appear4 ,many things combine to render  
an enlarged view of the moral influences

 of sickness and recovery impossible4   
,the kingdom cometh not with            
observation1 and the working of the     
leaven of its approach must be chiefly  
unseen4 ,like the creative energy       
itself1 it works in secret shadow1 far  
from all men's sight4  ,the teaching of 
our ,lord which immediately follows     
concerning the small beginnings of his  
kingdom1 symbolized in the grain of     
mustard seed and the leaven1 may1 ,i    
think1 have immediate reference to the  
cure of this woman1 and show that he    
regarded her glorifying of ,god for her 
recovery as one of those beginnings of a
 mighty growth4 ,we do find the same    
similes in a different connection in ,st
 ,matthew and ,st ,mark2 but even if we 
had no instances of fact1 it would be   
rational to suppose that the ,lord1 in  
the varieties of place1 audience1 and   
occasion1 in the dullness likewise of   
his disciples1 and the perfection of the
 similes he chose1 would again and again
 make use of the same4  ,i now come to  

the second miracle of the group1 namely 
that1 recorded by all the ,evangelists  
except ,st ,john1 of the cure of the man
 with the withered hand4 ,this1 like the
 preceding1 was done in the synagogue4  
,and ,i may remark1 in passing1 that all
 of this group1 with the exception of   
the last--one of very peculiar          
circumstance--were performed upon the   
,sabbath1 and each gave rise to         
discussion concerning the lawfulness of 
the deed4 ,st ,mark says they watched   
,jesus to see whether he would heal the 
man on the ,sabbath-day2 ,st ,luke adds 
that he knew their thoughts1 and        
therefore met them with the question of 
its lawfulness2 ,st ,matthew says they  
challenged him to the deed ,joy asking  
him whether it was lawful4 ,the mere    
watching could hardly have taken place  
without the man's perceiving something  
in motion which had to do with him4 ,but
 there is no indication of a request4   
,there cannot surely be many who have   
reached half the average life of man    

without at some time having felt the    
body a burden in some way1 and regarded 
a possible deliverance from it as an    
enfranchisement4 ,if the spirit of man  
were fulfilled of the ,spirit of ,god1  
the body would simply be a living house1
 an obedient servant--yes1 a humble     
mediator1 by the senses1 between his    
thoughts and ,god's thoughts2 but when  
every breath has1 as it were1 to be sent
 for and brought hither with much labour
 and small consolation--when pain turns 
faith into a mere shadow of hope--when  
the withered limb hangs irresponsive1   
lost and cumbersome1 an inert simulacrum
 of power1 swinging lifeless to and     
fro2--then even the physical man        
understands his share in the groaning of
 the creation after the sonship4 ,when1 
at a word issuing from such a mouth as  
that of ,jesus of ,nazareth1 the poor1  
withered1 distorted1 contemptible hand  
obeyed and1 responsive to the spirit    
within1 spread forth its fingers1 filled
 with its old human might1 became       

capable once more of the grasp of       
friendship1 of the caress of love1 of   
the labour for the bread that sustains  
the life1 little would the man care that
 other men--even rulers of synagogues1  
even ,scribes and ,pharisees1 should    
question the rectitude of him who had   
healed him4 ,the power which restored   
the gift of ,god and completed humanity1
 must be of ,god4 ,argument upon        
argument might follow from old books and
 old customs and learned                
interpretations1 wherein man set forth  
the will of ,god as different from the  
laws of his world1 but the man whose    
hand was restored whole as the other1   
knew it fitting that his hands should   
match4 ,they might talk2 he would thank 
,god for the crooked made straight4     
,bewilder his judgment they might with  
their glosses upon commandment and      
observance2 but they could not keep his 
heart from gladness2 and1 being glad1   
whom should he praise but ,god8 ,if     
there was another giver of good things  

he knew nothing of him4 ,the hand was   
now as ,god had meant it to be4 ,nor    
could he behold the face of ,jesus1 and 
doubt that such a man would do only that
 which was right4 ,it was not ,satan1   
but ,god that had set him free4  ,here1 
plainly by the record1 our ,lord gave   
the man his share1 not of mere          
acquiescence1 but of active will1 in the
 miracle4 ,if man is the child of ,god1 
he must have a share in the works of the
 ,father4 ,without such share in the    
work as faith gives1 cure will be of    
little avail4 ,stretch forth thine hand1
 said the ,healer2 and the man made the 
effort2 and the withered hand obeyed1   
and was no more withered4 ,in the act   
came the cure1 without which the act had
 been confined to the will1 and had     
never taken form in the outstretching4  
,it is the same in all spiritual        
redemption4  ,think for a moment with   
what delight the man would employ his   
new hand4 ,this right hand would        
henceforth be ,god's hand4 ,but was not 

the other hand ,god's too8--,god's as   
much as this8 ,had not the power of ,god
 been always present in that left hand1 
whose unwithered life had ministered to 
him all these years8 ,was it not the    
life of ,god that inspired his whole    
frame8 ,by the loss and restoration in  
one part1 he would understand possession
 in the whole4  ,but as the withered and
 restored limb to the man1 so is the    
maimed and healed man to his brethren4  
,in every man the power by which he does
 the commonest things is the power of   
,god4 ,the power is not of us4 ,our     
power does it2 but we do not make the   
power4 ,this1 plain as it is1 remains1  
however1 the hardest lesson for a man to
 learn with conviction and thanksgiving4
 ,for ,god has1 as it were1 put us just 
so far away from ,him that we can       
exercise the divine thing in us1 our own
 will1 in returning towards our source4 
,then we shall learn the fact that we   
are infinitely more great and blessed in
 being the outcome of a perfect         

self-constituting will1 than we could be
 by the conversion of any imagined      
independence of origin into fact for    
us--a truth no man can understand1 feel1
 or truly acknowledge1 save in          
proportion as he has become one with his
 perfect origin1 the will of ,god4      
,while opposition exists between the    
thing made and the maker1 there can be  
but discord and confusion in the        
judgment of the creature4 ,no true      
felicitous vision of the facts of the   
relation between his ,god and him2 no   
perception of the mighty liberty        
constituted by the holy dependence      
wherein the will of ,god is the         
absolutely free choice of the man2 no   
perception of a unity such as cannot    
exist between independent wills1 but    
only in unspeakable love and tenderness 
between the causing ,will and the caused
 will1 can yet have place4 ,those who   
cannot see how the human will should be 
free in dependence upon the will of     
,god1 have not realized that the will of

 ,god made the will of man2 that1 when  
most it pants for freedom1 the will of  
man is the child of the will of ,god1   
and therefore that there can be no      
natural opposition or strife between    
them4 ,nay1 more1 the whole labour of   
,god is that the will of man should be  
free as his will is free--in the same   
way that his will is free--by the       
perfect love of the man for that which  
is true1 harmonious1 lawful1 creative4  
,if a man say1 ,but might not the will  
of ,god make my will with the intent of 
over-riding and enslaving it8 ,i answer1
 such a ,will could not create1 could   
not be ,god1 for it involves the false  
and contrarious4 ,that would be to make 
a will in order that it might be no     
will4 ,to create in order to uncreate is
 something else than divine4 ,but a free
 will is not the liberty to do whatever 
one likes1 but the power of doing       
whatever one sees ought to be done1 even
 in the very face of otherwise          
overwhelming impulse4 ,there lies       

freedom indeed4  ,i come now to the case
 of the man who had been paralysed for  
eight-and-thirty years4 ,there is great 
pathos in the story4 ,for many1 at      
least1 of these years1 the man had      
haunted the borders of legendary magic1 
for ,i regard the statement about the   
angel troubling the pool as only the    
expression of a current superstition4   
,oh1 how different from the healing of  
our ,lord6 ,what he had to bestow was   
free to all4 ,the cure of no man by his 
hand weakened that hand for the cure of 
the rest4 ,none were poorer that one was
 made rich4 ,but this legend of the     
troubling of the pool fostered the evil 
passion of emulation1 and that in a most
 selfish kind4 ,nowhere in the divine   
arrangements is my gain another's loss4 
,if it be said that this was the mode in
 which ,god determined which was to be  
healed1 ,i answer that the effort       
necessary was contrary to all we admire 
most in humanity4 ,according to this    
rule1 ,sir ,philip ,sidney ought to have

 drunk the water which he handed to the 
soldier instead4 ,does the doctrine of  
,christ1 and by that ,i insist we must  
interpret the ways of ,god1 countenance 
a man's hurrying to be before the rest1 
and gain the boon in virtue t of having 
the least need of it1 inasmuch as he was
 the ablest to run and plunge first into
 the eddies left by the fantastic angel8
 ,or if the triumph were to be gained by
 the help of friends1 surely he was in  
most need of the cure who like this     
man--a man such as we hope there are    
few--had no friends either to plunge him
 in the waters of fabled hope1 or to    
comfort him in the seasons of           
disappointment which alone divided the  
weary months of a life passed in empty  
expectation4  ,but the ,master comes    
near4 ,in him the power of life rests as
 in its own calm home1 its crystal      
shrine1 and he that believeth in him    
shall not need to make haste4 ,he knew  
it was time this man should be healed1  
and did not wait to be asked4 ,indeed   

the man did not know him2 did not even  
know his name4 ,wilt thou be made whole8
 ,sir1 ,i have no man1 when the water is
 troubled1 to put me into the pool3 but 
while ,i am coming1 another steppeth    
down before me4 ,rise1 take up thy bed1 
and walk4  ,our ,lord delays the cure in
 this case with no further speech4 ,the 
man knows nothing about him1 and he     
makes no demand upon his faith1 except  
that of obedience4 ,he gives him        
something to do at once4 ,he will find  
him again by and by4 ,the man obeys1    
takes up his bed1 and walks4  ,he sets  
an open path before us2 we must walk in 
it4 ,more1 we must be willing to believe
 that the path is open1 that we have    
strength to walk in it4 ,god's gift     
glides into man's choice4 ,it is needful
 that we should follow with our effort  
in the track of his foregoing power4 ,to
 refuse is to destroy the gift4 ,his    
cure is not for such as choose to be    
invalids4 ,they must be willing to be   
made whole1 even if it should involve   

the carrying of their beds and walking4 
,some keep in bed who have strength     
enough to get up and walk4 ,there is a  
self-care and a self-pity1 a laziness   
and conceit of incapacity1 which are as 
unhealing for the body as they are      
unhealthy in the mind1 corrupting all   
dignity and destroying all sympathy4    
,who but invalids need like miracles    
wrought in them8 ,yet some invalids are 
not cured because they will not be      
healed4 ,they will not stretch out the  
hand2 they will not rise2 they will not 
walk2 above all things1 they will not   
work4 ,yet for their illness it may be  
that the work so detested is the only   
cure1 or if no cure yet the best        
amelioration4 ,labour is not in itself  
an evil like the sickness1 but often a  
divine1 a blissful remedy4 ,nor is the  
duty or the advantage confined to those 
who ought to labour for their own       
support4 ,no amount of wealth sets one  
free from the obligation to work--in a  
world the ,god of which is ever working4

 ,he who works not has not yet          
discovered what ,god made him for1 and  
is a false note in the orchestra of the 
universe4 ,the possession of wealth is  
as it were pre-payment1 and involves an 
obligation of honour to the doing of    
correspondent work4 ,he who does not    
know what to do has never seriously     
asked himself what he ought to do4  ,but
 there is a class of persons1 the very  
opposite of these1 who1 as extremes     
meet1 fall into a similar fault4 ,they  
will not be healed either4 ,they will   
not take the repose in which ,god giveth
 to his beloved4 ,some sicknesses are to
 be cured with rest1 others with labour4
  ,the right way is all--to meet the    
sickness as ,god would have it met1 to  
submit or to resist according to the    
conditions of cure4 ,whatsoever is not  
of faith is sin2 and she who will not go
 to her couch and rest in the ,lord1 is 
to blame even as she who will not rise  
and go to her work4  ,there is reason to
 suppose that this man had brought his  

infirmity upon himself--,i do not mean  
by the mere neglect of physical laws1   
but by the doing of what he knew to be  
wrong4 ,for the ,lord1 although he      
allowed the gladness of the deliverance 
full sway at first1 when he found him   
afterwards did not leave him without the
 lesson that all health and well-being  
depend upon purity of life3 ,behold1    
thou art made whole3 sin no more lest a 
worse thing come unto thee4 ,it is the  
only case of recorded cure in which     
,jesus gives a warning of the kind4     
,therefore ,i think the probability is  
as ,i have stated it4 ,hence1 the fact  
that we may be ourselves to blame for   
our sufferings is no reason why we      
should not go to ,god to deliver us from
 them4 ,david the king knew this1 and   
set it forth in that grand poem1 the    
#ajgth ,psalm4  ,in the very next case  
we find that ,jesus will not admit the  
cause of the man's condition1 blindness 
from his birth1 to be the sin either of 
the man himself1 or of his parents4 ,the

 probability seems1 to judge from their 
behaviour in the persecution that       
followed1 that both the man and his     
parents were people of character1       
thought1 and honourable prudence4 ,he   
was born blind1 ,jesus said1 that the   
works of ,god should be made manifest in
 him4 ,what works1 then8 ,the work of   
creation for one1 rather than the work  
of healing4 ,the man had suffered       
nothing in being born blind4 ,god had   
made him only not so blessed as his     
fellows1 with the intent of giving him  
equal faculty and even greater enjoyment
 afterwards1 with the honour of being   
employed for the revelation of his works
 to men4 ,in him ,jesus created sight   
before men's eyes4 ,for1 as at the first
 ,god said1 ,let there be light1 so the 
work of ,god is still to give light to  
the world1 and ,jesus must work his     
work1 and be the light of the           
world--light in all its degrees and     
kinds1 reaching into every corner where 
work may be done1 arousing sleepy       

hearts1 and opening blind eyes4  ,jesus 
saw the man1 the disciples asked their  
question1 and he had no sooner answered 
it1 than he spat on the ground1 made    
clay of the spittle1 and anointed the   
eyes of the blind man with the          
clay4--,why this mediating clay8 ,why   
the spittle and the touch8--,because the
 man who could not see him must yet be  
brought into sensible contact with      
him--must know that the healing came    
from the man who touched him4 ,our ,lord
 took pains about it because the man was
 blind4 ,and for the man's share in the 
miracle1 having blinded him a second    
time as it were with clay1 he sends him 
to the pool to wash it away3 clay and   
blindness should depart together by the 
act of the man's faith4 ,it was as if   
the ,lord said1 ,i blinded thee3 now1 go
 and see4 ,here1 then1 are the links of 
the chain by which the ,lord bound the  
man to himself4 ,the voice1 if heard by 
the man1 which defended him and his     
parents from the judgment of his        

disciples2 the assertion that he was the
 light of the world--a something which  
others had and the blind man only knew  
as not possessed by him2 the sound of   
the spitting on the ground2 the touch of
 the speaker's fingers2 the clay on his 
eyes2 the command to wash2 the journey  
to the pool2 the laving water2 the      
astonished sight4 ,he went his way1     
therefore1 and washed1 and came seeing4 
,but who can imagine1 save in a         
conception only less dim than the man's 
blindness1 the glory which burst upon   
him when1 as the restoring clay left his
 eyes1 the light of the world invaded   
his astonished soul8 ,the very idea may 
well make one tremble4 ,blackness of    
darkness--not an invading stranger1 but 
the home-companion always there--the    
negation never understood because the   
assertion was unknown--creation not     
erased and treasured in the memory1 but 
to his eyes uncreated6--,blackness of   
darkness64444 ,the glory of the         
celestial blue6 ,the towers of the great

 ,jerusalem dwelling in the awful space6
 ,the room6 ,the life6 ,the             
tenfold-glorified being6 ,any wonder    
might follow on such a wonder4 ,and the 
whole vision was as fresh as if he had  
that moment been created1 the first of  
men4  ,but the best remained behind4 ,a 
man had said1 ,i am the light of the    
world1 and lo6 here was the light of the
 world4 ,the words had been vague as a  
dark form in darkness1 but now the thing
 itself had invaded his innermost soul4 
,but the face of the man who was this   
light of the world he had not seen4 ,the
 creator of his vision he had not yet   
beheld4 ,but he believed in him1 for he 
defended him from the same charge of    
wickedness from which ,jesus had        
defended him4 ,give ,god the praise1    
they said2 we know that this man is a   
sinner4 ,god heareth not sinners1 he    
replied2 and this man hath opened my    
eyes4 ,it is no wonder that when ,jesus 
found him and asked him1 ,dost thou     
believe on the ,son of ,god8 he should  

reply1 ,who is he1 ,lord1 that ,i might 
believe on him8 ,he was ready4 ,he had  
only to know which was he1 that he might
 worship him4 ,here at length was the   
,light of the world before him--the man 
who had said1 ,i am the light of the    
world1 and straightway the world burst  
upon him in light6 ,would this man ever 
need further proof that there was indeed
 a ,god of men8 ,i suspect he had a     
grander idea of the ,son of ,god than   
any of his disciples as yet4 ,the       
would-be refutations of experience1 for 
since the world began was it not heard  
that any man opened the eyes of one that
 was born blind2 the objections of the  
religious authorities1 ,this man is not 
of ,god1 because he keepeth not the     
,sabbath day2 endless possible          
perplexities of the understanding1 and  
questions of the how and the why1 could 
never touch that man to the shaking of  
his confidence3 ,one thing ,i know1 that
 whereas ,i was blind1 now ,i see4 ,the 
man could not convince the ,jews that   

,jesus must be a good man2 neither could
 he doubt it himself1 whose very being1 
body and soul and spirit1 had been      
enlightened and glorified by him4 ,with 
light in the eyes1 in the brain1 in the 
heart1 light permeating and unifying his
 physical and moral nature1 asserting   
itself in showing the man to himself one
 whole--how could he doubt6  ,the       
miracles were for the persons on whom   
they passed4 ,to the spectators they    
were something1 it is true2 but they    
were of unspeakable value to1 and of    
endless influence upon their subjects4  
,the true mode in which they reached    
others was through the healed           
themselves4 ,and the testimony of their 
lives would go far beyond the testimony 
of their tongues4 ,their tongues could  
but witness to a fact2 their lives could
 witness to a truth4  ,in this miracle  
as in all the rest1 ,jesus did in little
 the great work of the ,father2 for how 
many more are they to whom ,god has     
given the marvel of vision than those   

blind whom the ,lord enlightened6 ,the  
remark will sound feeble and far-fetched
 to the man whose familiar spirit is    
that ,mephistopheles of the commonplace4
 ,he who uses his vision only for the   
care of his body or the indulgence of   
his mind--how should he understand the  
gift of ,god in its marvel8 ,but the man
 upon whose soul the grandeur and glory 
of the heavens and the earth and the sea
 and the fountains of waters have once  
arisen will understand what a divine    
invention1 what a mighty gift of ,god is
 this very common thing--these eyes to  
see with--that light which enlightens   
the world1 this sight which is the      
result of both4 ,he will understand what
 a believer the man born blind must have
 become1 yea1 how the mighty inburst of 
splendour might render him so capable of
 believing that nothing should be too   
grand and good for him to believe       
thereafter--not even the doctrine       
hardest to commonplace humanity1 though 
the most natural and reasonable to those

 who have beheld it--that the ,god of   
the light is a faithful1 loving1        
upright1 honest1 and self-denying being1
 yea utterly devoted to the uttermost   
good of those whom he has made4  ,such  
is the ,father of lights who enlightens 
the world and every man that cometh into
 it4 ,every pulsation of light on every 
brain is from him4 ,every feeling of law
 and order is from him4 ,every hint of  
right1 every desire after the true1     
whatever we call aspiration1 all longing
 for the light1 every perception that   
this is true1 that that ought to be     
done1 is from the ,father of lights4    
,his infinite and varied light gathered 
into one point--for how shall we speak  
at all of these things if we do not     
speak in figures8--concentrated and     
embodied in ,jesus1 became the light of 
the world4 ,for the light is no longer  
only diffused1 but in him man beholds   
the light and whence it flows4 ,not     
merely is our chamber enlightened1 but  
we see the lamp4 ,and so we turn again  

to ,god1 the ,father of lights1 yea even
 of ,the ,light of the ,world4          
,henceforth we know that all the light  
wherever diffused has its centre in     
,god1 as the light that enlightened the 
blind man flowed from its centre in     
,jesus4 ,in other words1 we have a      
glimmering1 faint1 human perception of  
the absolute glory4 ,we know what ,god  
is in recognizing him as our ,god4      
,jesus did the works of the ,father4    
,the next miracle--recorded by ,st ,luke
 alone--is the cure of the man with the 
dropsy1 wrought also upon the ,sabbath1 
but in the house of one of the chief of 
the ,pharisees4 ,thither our ,lord had  
gone to an entertainment1 apparently    
large1 for the following parable is     
spoken to those which were bidden1 when 
he marked how they chose out the chief  
rooms4  ,footnote3 #a4 ,not rooms1 but  
reclining places at the table4 ,hence   
the possibility at least is suggested1  
that the man was one of the guests4 ,no 
doubt their houses were more accessible 

than ours1 and it was not difficult for 
one uninvited to make his way in1       
especially upon occasion of such a      
gathering4 ,but ,i think the word       
translated before him means opposite to 
him at the table2 and that the man was  
not too ill to appear as a guest4 ,the  
took him and healed him and let him go1 
of our translation1 is against the      
notion rather1 but merely from its      
indefiniteness being capable of meaning 
that he sent him away2 but such is not  
the meaning of the original4 ,that      
merely implies that he took him1 went to
 him and laid his hands upon him1 thus  
connecting the cure with himself1 and   
then released him1 set him free1 took   
his hands off him1 turning at once to   
the other guests and justifying himself 
by appealing to their own righteous     
conduct towards the ass and the ox4 ,i  
think the man remained reclining at the 
table1 to enjoy the appetite of health  
at a good meal2 if1 indeed1 the gladness
 of the relieved breath1 the sense of   

lightness and strength1 the             
consciousness of a restored obedience of
 body1 not to speak of the presence of  
him who had cured him1 did not make him 
too happy to care about his dinner4 ,i  
come now to the last of the group1      
exceptional in its nature1 inasmuch as  
it was not the curing of a disease or   
natural defect1 but the reparation of an
 injury1 or hurt at least1 inflicted by 
one of his own followers4 ,this miracle 
also is recorded by ,st ,luke alone4    
,the other evangelists relate the       
occasion of the miracle1 but not the    
miracle itself2 they record the blow1   
but not the touch4 ,i shall not1        
therefore1 compare their accounts1 which
 have considerable variety1 but no      
inconsistency4 ,i shall confine myself  
to the story as told by ,st ,luke4      
,peter1 intending1 doubtless1 to cleave 
the head of a servant of the high priest
 who had come out to take ,jesus1 with  
unaccustomed hand1 probably trembling   
with rage and perhaps with fear1 missed 

his well-meant aim1 and only cut off the
 man's ear4 ,jesus said1 ,suffer ye thus
 far4 ,i think the words should have a  
point of interrogation after them1 to   
mean1 ,is it thus far ye suffer8 ,is    
this the limit of your patience8 but ,i 
do not know4 ,with the words1 he touched
 his ear and healed him4 ,hardly had the
 wound reached the true sting of its    
pain1 before the gentle hand of him whom
 the servant had come to drag to the    
torture1 dismissed the agony as if it   
had never been4 ,whether he restored the
 ear1 or left the loss of it for a      
reminder to the man of the part he had  
taken against his ,lord1 and the return 
the ,lord had made him1 we do not know4 
,neither do we know whether he turned   
back ashamed and contrite1 now that in  
his own person he had felt the life that
 dwelt in ,jesus1 or followed out the   
capture to the end4 ,possibly the blow  
of ,peter was the form which the favour 
of ,god took1 preparing the way1 like   
the blindness from the birth1 for the   

glory that was to be manifested in him4 
,but the ,lord would countenance no     
violence done in his defence4 ,they     
might do to him as they would4 ,if his  
,father would not defend him1 neither   
would he defend himself4  ,within sight 
of the fearful death that awaited him1  
his heart was no whit hardened to the   
pain of another4 ,neither did it make   
any difference that it was the pain of  
an enemy--even an enemy who was taking  
him to the cross4 ,there was suffering2 
here was healing4 ,he came to do the    
works of him that sent him4 ,he did good
 to them that hated him1 for his ,father
 is the ,saviour of men1 saving them out
 of their distresses4     ,v4 ,,miracles
 ,,of ,,healing ,,solicited ,,by ,,the  
,,sufferers4   ,i come now to the second
 group of miracles1 those granted to the
 prayers of the sufferers4 ,but before  
,i make any general remarks on the      
speciality of these1 ,i must speak of   
one case which appears to lie between   
the preceding group and this4 ,it is    

that of the woman who came behind ,jesus
 in the crowd2 and involves peculiar    
difficulties1 in connection with the    
facts which render its classification   
uncertain4  ,at ,capernaum1 apparently1 
our ,lord was upon his way with ,jairus 
to visit his daughter1 accompanied by a 
crowd of people who had heard the       
request of the ruler of the synagogue4  
,a woman who had been ill for twelve    
years1 came behind him and touched the  
hem of his garment4 ,this we may regard 
as a prayer in so far as she came to    
him1 saying within herself1 ,if ,i may  
but touch his garment1 ,i shall be      
whole4 ,but1 on the other hand1 it was  
no true prayer in as far as she expected
 to be healed without the knowledge and 
will of the healer4 ,although she came  
to him1 she did not ask him to heal her4
 ,she thought with innocent theft to    
steal from him a cure4  ,what follows   
according to ,st ,matthew's account1    
occasions me no difficulty4 ,he does not
 say that the woman was cured by the    

touch2 he says nothing of her cure until
 ,jesus had turned and seen her1 and    
spoken the word to her1 whereupon he    
adds3 ,and the woman was made whole from
 that hour4 ,but ,st ,mark and ,st ,luke
 represent that the woman was cured upon
 the touch1 and that the cure was only  
confirmed afterwards by the words of our
 ,lord4 ,they likewise represent ,jesus 
as ignorant of what had taken place1    
except in so far as he knew that1       
without his volition1 some cure had been
 wrought by contact with his person1 of 
which he was aware by the passing from  
him of a saving influence4 ,by this1 in 
the heart of a crowd which pressed upon 
him so that many must have come into    
bodily contact with him1 he knew that   
some one had touched him with special   
intent4 ,no perplexity arises from the  
difference between the accounts1 for    
there is only difference1 not           
incongruity3 the two tell more than the 
one2 it is from the nature of the added 
circumstances that it springs1 for those

 circumstances necessarily involve      
inquiries of the most difficult nature4 
,nor can ,i in the least pretend to have
 satisfied myself concerning them4 ,in  
the first place comes the mode of the   
cure1 which seems at first sight        
7dissociated1 observe1 from the will of 
the healer7 to partake of the nature of 
magic--an influence without a sufficient
 origin4 ,not for a moment would ,i     
therefore yield to an inclination to    
reject the testimony4 ,i have no right  
to do so1 for it deals with             
circumstances concerning which my       
ignorance is all but complete4 ,i cannot
 rest1 however1 without seeking to come 
into some spiritual relation with the   
narrative1 that is1 to find some        
credible supposition upon which1 without
 derogating from the lustre of the      
object of the whole history1 the thing  
might take place4 ,the difficulty1 ,i   
repeat1 is1 that the woman could be     
cured by the garment of ,jesus1 without 
7not against7 the will of ,jesus4 ,i    

think that the whole difficulty arises  
from our ignorance--a helpless          
ignorance--of the relations of thought  
and matter4 ,i use the word thought     
rather than spirit1 because in          
reflecting upon spirit 7which is        
thought71 people generally represent to 
themselves a vague form of matter4 ,all 
religion is founded on the belief or    
instinct--call it what we will--that    
matter is the result of mind1 spirit1   
thought4 ,the relation between them is  
therefore simply too close1 too near for
 us to understand4 ,here is what ,i am  
able to suggest concerning the account  
of the miracle as given by ,st ,mark and
 ,st ,luke4  ,if even in what we call   
inanimate things there lies a healing   
power in various kinds2 if1 as is not   
absurd1 there may lie in the world      
absolute cure existing in analysis1 that
 is parted into a thousand kinds and    
forms1 who can tell what cure may lie in
 a perfect body1 informed1 yea1 caused1 
by a perfect spirit8 ,if stones and     

plants can heal by the will of ,god in  
them1 might there not dwell in the      
perfect health of a body1 in which dwelt
 the ,son of ,god1 a necessarily healing
 power8 ,it may seem that in the fact of
 the many crowding about him1 concerning
 whom we have no testimony of influence 
received1 there lies a refutation of his
 supposition4 ,but who can tell what he 
may have done even for them without     
their recognizing it save in conscious  
well-being8 ,besides1 those who crowded 
nearest him would mostly be of the      
strongest who were least in need of a   
physician1 and in whose being           
consequently there lay not that bare    
open channel hungering for the precious 
life-current4 ,and who can tell how the 
faith of the heart1 calming or arousing 
the whole nature1 may have rendered the 
very person of the woman more fit than  
the persons of others in the crowd to   
receive the sacred influence8 ,for      
although she did not pray1 she had the  
faith as alive though as small as the   

mustard seed4 ,why might not health from
 the fountain of health flow then into  
the empty channel of the woman's        
weakness8 ,it may have been so4 ,i      
shrink from the subject1 ,i confess1    
because of the vulgar forms such        
speculations have assumed in our days1  
especially in the hands of those who    
savour unspeakably more of the charlatan
 than the prophet4 ,still1 one must be  
honest and truthful even in regard to   
what he has to distinguish1 as he can1  
into probable and impossible4 ,fact is  
not the sole legitimate object of human 
inquiry4 ,if it were1 farewell to all   
that elevates and glorifies human       
nature--farewell to ,god1 to religion1  
to hope6 ,it is that which lies at the  
root of fact1 yea1 at the root of law1  
after which the human soul hungers and  
longs4  ,in the preceding remarks ,i    
have anticipated a chapter to follow--a 
chapter of speculation1 which may ,god  
make humble and right4 ,but some remark 
was needful here4 ,what must be to some 

a far greater difficulty has yet to be  
considered4 ,it is the representation of
 the ,lord's ignorance of the cure1 save
 from the reaction upon his own person  
of the influence which went out from him
 to fill that vacuum of suffering which 
the divine nature abhors3 he did not    
know that his body was about to radiate 
health4 ,but this gives me no concern4  
,our ,lord himself tells us in one case1
 at least1 that he did not know1 that   
only his ,father knew4 ,he could discern
 a necessary result in the future1 but  
not the day or the hour thereof4        
,omniscience is a consequence1 not an   
essential of the divine nature4 ,god    
knows because he creates4 ,the ,father  
knows because he orders4 ,the ,son knows
 because he obeys4 ,the knowledge of the
 ,father must be perfect2 such knowledge
 the ,son neither needs nor desires4    
,his sole care is to do the will of the 
,father4 ,herein lies his essential     
divinity4 ,although he knew that one of 
his apostles should betray him1 ,i doubt

 much whether1 when he chose ,judas1 he 
knew that he was that one4 ,we must take
 his own words as true4 ,not only does  
he not claim perfect knowledge1 but he  
disclaims it4 ,he speaks once1 at least1
 to his ,father with an if it be        
possible4 ,those who believe omniscience
 essential to divinity1 will therefore  
be driven to say that ,christ was not   
divine4 ,this will be their punishment  
for placing knowledge on a level with   
love4 ,no one who does so can worship in
 spirit and in truth1 can lift up his   
heart in pure adoration4 ,he will       
suppose he does1 but his heaven will be 
in the clouds1 not in the sky4  ,but now
 we come to the holy of holies of the   
story--the divinest of its divinity4    
,jesus could not leave the woman with   
the half of a gift4 ,he could not let   
her away so poor4 ,she had stolen the   
half3 she must fetch the other          
half--come and take it from his hand4   
,that is1 she must know who had healed  
her4 ,her will and his must come        

together2 and for this her eyes and his1
 her voice and his ears1 her ears and   
his voice must meet4 ,it is the only    
case recorded in which he says          
,daughter4 ,it could not have been      
because she was younger than himself2   
there could not have been much          
difference between their ages in that   
direction4 ,let us see what lies in the 
word4  ,with the modesty belonging to   
her as a woman1 intensified by the      
painful shrinking which had its origin  
in the peculiar nature of her suffering1
 she dared not present herself to the   
eyes of the ,lord1 but thought merely to
 gather from under his table a crumb    
unseen4 ,and ,i do not believe that our 
,lord in calling her had any desire to  
make her tell her tale of grief1 and1 in
 her eyes1 of shame4 ,it would have been
 enough to him if she had come and stood
 before him1 and said nothing4 ,nor had 
she to appear before his face with only 
that poor remnant of strength which had 
sufficed to bring her to the hem of his 

garment behind him2 for now she knew in 
herself that she was healed of her      
plague1 and the consciousness must have 
been strength4 ,yet she trembled when   
she came4 ,filled with awe and          
gratitude1 she could not stand before   
him2 she fell down at his feet4 ,there1 
hiding her face in her hands1 ,i        
presume1 she forgot the surrounding     
multitude1 and was alone in the chamber 
of her consciousness with the ,son of   
,man4 ,her love1 her gratitude1 her holy
 awe unite in an impulse to tell him    
all4 ,when the lower approaches the     
higher in love1 even between men1 the   
longing is to be known2 the prayer is   
,know me4 ,this was ,david's prayer to  
,god1 ,search me and know me4 ,there    
should be no more concealment4 ,besides1
 painful as it was to her to speak1 he  
had a right to know all1 and know it he 
should4 ,it was her sacrifice offered   
unto the ,lord4 ,she told him all the   
truth4 ,to conceal anything from him now
 would be greater pain than to tell all1

 for the thing concealed would be as a  
barrier between him and her2 she would  
be simple--one-fold2 her whole being    
should lie open before him4 ,i do not   
for a moment mean that such thoughts1   
not to say words1 took shape in her     
mind2 but sometimes we can represent a  
single consciousness only by analysing  
it into twenty thoughts4 ,and he        
accepted the offering4 ,he let her      
speak1 and tell all4  ,but it was       
painful4 ,he understood it well4 ,his   
heart yearned towards the woman to      
shield her from her own innocent shame1 
to make as it were a heaven about her   
whose radiance should render it by      
clarity invisible4 ,her story appealed  
to all that was tenderest in humanity2  
for the secret which her modesty had    
hidden1 her conscience had spoken aloud4
 ,therefore the tenderest word that the 
language could afford must be hers4     
,daughter1 he said4 ,it was the fullest 
reward1 the richest acknowledgment he   
could find of the honour in which he    

held her1 his satisfaction with her     
conduct1 and the perfect love he bore   
her4 ,the degrading spirit of which ,i  
have spoken1 the spirit of the          
commonplace1 which lowers everything to 
the level of its own capacity of belief1
 will say that the word was an eastern  
mode in more common use than with us4 ,i
 say that whatever ,jesus did or said1  
he did and said like other men--he did  
and said as no other man did or said4   
,if he said ,daughter1 it meant what any
 man would mean by it2 it meant what no 
man could mean by it--what no man was   
good enough1 great enough1 loving enough
 to mean by it4 ,in him the ,father     
spoke to this one the eternal truth of  
his relation to all his daughters1 to   
all the women he has made1 though       
individually it can be heard only by    
those who lift up the filial eyes1 lay  
bare the filial heart4 ,he did the      
works1 he spoke the words of him that   
sent him4 ,well might this woman1 if she
 dared not lift the downcast eye before 

the men present1 yet depart in shameless
 peace3 he who had healed her had called
 her ,daughter4 ,everything on earth is 
paltry before such a word4 ,it was the  
deepest gift of the divine nature--the  
recognition of the eternal in her by him
 who had made it4 ,between the true     
father and the true daughter nothing is 
painful4 ,i think also that very        
possibly some compunction arose in her  
mind1 the moment she knew herself       
healed1 at the mode in which she had    
gained her cure4 ,hence when the ,lord  
called her she may have thought he was  
offended with her because of it4        
,possibly her contrition for the little 
fault1 if fault indeed it was1 may have 
increased the agony of feeling with     
which she forced rather than poured out 
her confession4 ,but he soothes her with
 gentle1 consoling1 restoring words3 ,be
 of good comfort4 ,he heals the shy     
suffering spirit1 wherein old dints of  
deep wounds did remain4 ,he confirms the
 cure she feared perhaps might be taken 

from her again4 ,go in peace1 and be    
whole of thy plague4 ,nay1 more1 he     
attributes her cure to her own faith4   
,thy faith hath made thee whole4 ,what  
wealth of tenderness6 ,she must not be  
left in her ignorance to the danger of  
associating power with the mere garment 
of the divine4 ,she must be brought face
 to face with her healer4 ,she must not 
be left kneeling on the outer threshold 
of the temple4 ,she must be taken to the
 heart of the ,saviour1 and so redeemed1
 then only redeemed utterly4 ,there is  
no word1 no backward look of reproach   
upon the thing she had condemned4 ,if it
 was evil it was gone from between them 
for ever4 ,confessed1 it vanished4 ,her 
faith was an ignorant faith1 but1       
however obscured in her consciousness1  
it was a true faith4 ,she believed in   
the man1 and our ,lord loved the modesty
 that kept her from pressing into his   
presence4 ,it may indeed have been the  
very strength of her faith working in   
her ignorance that caused her to extend 

his power even to the skirts of his     
garments4 ,and there he met the         
ignorance1 not with rebuke1 but with the
 more grace4 ,if even her ignorance was 
so full of faith1 of what mighty        
confidence was she not capable6 ,even   
the skirt of his garment would minister 
to such a faith4 ,it should be as she   
would4 ,through the garment of his ,son1
 the ,father would cure her who believed
 enough to put forth her hand and touch 
it4 ,the kernel-faith was none the worse
 that it was closed in the uncomely     
shell of ignorance and mistake4 ,the    
,lord was satisfied with it4 ,when did  
he ever quench the smoking flax8 ,see   
how he praises her4 ,he is never slow to
 commend4 ,the first quiver of the      
upturning eyelid is to him faith4 ,he   
welcomes the sign1 and acknowledges it2 
commends the feeblest faith in the      
ignorant soul1 rebukes it as little only
 in apostolic souls where it ought to be
 greater4 ,thy faith hath saved thee4   
,however poor it was1 it was enough for 

that4 ,between death and the least      
movement of life there is a gulf wider  
than that fixed between the gates of    
heaven and the depths of hell4 ,he said 
,daughter4  ,i come now to the first    
instance of plain request--that of the  
leper who fell down before him1 saying1 
,lord1 if thou wilt1 thou canst make me 
clean--a prayer lovely in the simplicity
 of its human pleading--appeal to the   
power which lay in the man to whom he   
spoke3 his power was the man's claim2   
the relation between them was of the    
strongest--that between plenty and need1
 between strength and weakness1 between 
health and disease--poor bonds          
comparatively between man and man1 for  
man's plenty1 strength1 and health can  
only supplement1 not satisfy the need2  
support the weakness1 not change it into
 strength2 mitigate the disease of his  
fellow1 not slay it with invading life2 
but in regard to ,god1 all whose power  
is creative1 any necessity of his       
creatures is a perfect bond between them

 and him2 his magnificence must flow    
into the channels of the indigence he   
has created4  ,observe how ,jesus       
responds in the terms of the man's      
request4 ,the woman found the healing   
where she sought it--in the hem of his  
garment4 ,one man says1 ,come with me2  
the ,lord goes4 ,another says1 ,come not
 under my roof1 ,i am not worthy2 the   
,lord remains4 ,here the man says1 ,if  
thou wilt2 the ,lord answers1 ,i will4  
,but he goes far beyond the man's       
request4  ,i need say nothing of the    
grievous complaint under which he       
laboured4 ,it was sore to the mind as   
well as the body1 for it made of the man
 an outcast and ashamed4 ,no one would  
come near him lest he should share his  
condemnation4 ,physical evil had1 as it 
were1 come to the surface in him4 ,he   
was full of leprosy4 ,men shrink more   
from skin-diseases than from any        
other4#b ,footnote #b3 ,and they are    
amongst the hardest to cure2 just as the
 skin-diseases of the soul linger long  

after the heart is greatly cured4       
,witness the petulance1 fastidiousness1 
censoriousness1 social self-assertion1  
general disagreeableness of so many good
 people--all in the moral               
skin--repulsive exceedingly4 ,i say good
 people2 ,i do not say very good1 nor do
 ,i say ,christ-like1 for that they are 
not4  ,jesus could have cured him with a
 word4 ,there was no need he should     
touch him4 ,no need did ,i say8 ,there  
was every need4 ,for no one else would  
touch him4 ,the healthy human hand1     
always more or less healing1 was never  
laid on him2 he was despised and        
rejected4 ,it was a poor thing for the  
,lord to cure his body2 he must comfort 
and cure his sore heart4 ,of all men a  
leper1 ,i say1 needed to be touched with
 the hand of love4 ,spenser says1       
,entire affection hateth nicer hands4   
,it was not for our master1 our brother1
 our ideal man1 to draw around him the  
skirts of his garments and speak a lofty
 word of healing1 that the man might at 

least be clean before he touched him4   
,the man was his brother1 and an evil   
disease cleaved fast unto him4 ,out went
 the loving hand to the ugly skin1 and  
there was his brother as he should      
be--with the flesh of a child4 ,i thank 
,god that the touch went before the     
word4 ,nor do ,i think it was the touch 
of a finger1 or of the finger-tips4 ,it 
was a kindly healing touch in its nature
 as in its power4 ,oh blessed leper6    
thou knowest henceforth what kind of a  
,god there is in the earth--not the ,god
 of the priests1 but a ,god such as     
himself only can reveal to the hearts of
 his own4 ,that touch was more than the 
healing4 ,it was to the leper what the  
word ,daughter was to the woman in the  
crowd1 what the ,neither do ,i was to   
the woman in the temple--the sign of the
 perfect presence4 ,outer and inner are 
one with him3 the outermost sign is the 
revelation of the innermost heart4  ,let
 me linger one moment upon this coming  
together of creative health and         

destroying disease4 ,the health must    
flow forth2 the disease could not enter3
 ,jesus was not defiled by the touch4   
,not that even if he would have been1 he
 would have shrunk and refrained2 he    
respected the human body in most evil   
case1 and thus he acknowledged it his   
own4 ,but my reader must call up for    
himself the analogies--only ,i cannot   
admit that they are mere                
analogies--between the cure of the body 
and the cure of the soul3 here they were
 combined in one act1 for that touch    
went to the man's heart4 ,i can only    
hint at them here4 ,hand to hand is     
enough for the cure of the bodily       
disease2 but heart to heart will ,jesus 
visit the man who in deepest defilement 
of evil habits1 yet lifts to him a      
despairing cry4 ,the healthful heart of 
the ,lord will cure the heart spotted   
with the plague3 it will come again as  
the heart of a child4 ,only this kind   
goeth not out save by prayer and        
abstinence4  ,the ,lord gave him        

something to do at once1 and something  
not to do4 ,he was to go to the priest1 
and to hold his tongue4 ,it is easier to
 do than to abstain2 he went to the     
priest2 he did not hold his tongue4     
,that the ,lord should send him to the  
priest requires no explanation4 ,the    
sacred customs of his country our ,lord 
in his own person constantly recognized4
 ,that he saw in them more than the     
priests themselves was no reason for    
passing them by4 ,the testimony which he
 wished the man to bear concerning him  
lay in the offering of the gift which   
,moses had commanded4 ,his healing was  
in harmony with all the forms of the    
ancient law2 for it came from the same  
source1 and would in the lapse of ages  
complete what the law had but begun4    
,this the man was to manifest for him4  
,the only other thing he required of    
him--silence--the man would not1 at     
least did not1 yield4 ,the probability  
is that he needed the injunction for his
 own sake more than for the master's    

sake2 that he was a talkative1          
demonstrative man1 whose better life was
 ever in danger of evaporating in words2
 and that the ,lord required silence of 
him1 that he might think1 and give the  
seed time to root itself well before it 
shot its leaves out into the world4 ,are
 there not some in our own day1 who1    
having had a glimpse of truth across the
 darkness of a moral leprosy1 instantly 
begin to blaze abroad the matter1 as if 
it were their part at once to call to   
their fellows1 and teach them out of an 
intellectual twilight1 in which they can
 as yet see men only as trees walking1  
instead of retiring into the wilderness1
 for a time at least1 to commune with   
their own hearts1 and be still8 ,but he 
meant well1 nor is it any wonder that   
such a man should be incapable of such a
 sacrifice4 ,the ,lord had touched him4 
,his nature was all in commotion with   
gratitude4 ,his self-conceit swelled    
high4 ,his tongue would not be still4   
,perhaps he judged himself a leper      

favoured above his fellow-lepers4       
,nothing would more tend to             
talkativeness than such a selfish       
mistake4 ,he would be grateful4 ,he     
would befriend his healer against his   
will4 ,he would work for him--alas6 only
 to impede the labours of the ,wise2 for
 the ,lord found his popularity a great 
obstacle to the only success he sought4 
,he went out and began to blaze abroad  
the matter1 insomuch that ,jesus could  
no more openly enter into the city4 ,his
 nature could not yet understand the    
kingdom that cometh not with            
observation1 and from presumption       
mingled with affection1 he would serve  
the ,lord after a better fashion than   
that of doing his will4 ,and he had his 
reward4 ,he had his share in bringing   
his healer to the cross4  ,obedience is 
the only service4         99       99   
99       99       99  ,i take now the   
cure of the ten lepers1 done apparently 
in a village of ,galilee towards        
,samaria4 ,they stood afar off in a     

group1 probably afraid of offending him 
by any nearer approach1 and cried aloud1
 ,jesus1 ,master1 have mercy on us4     
,instead of at once uttering their cure1
 he desired them to go and show         
themselves to the priests4 ,this may    
have been partly for the sake of the    
priests1 partly perhaps for the         
justification of his own mission1 but   
more certainly for the sake of the men  
themselves1 that he might1 in accordance
 with his frequent practice1 give them  
something wherein to be obedient4 ,it   
served also1 as the sequel shows1 to    
individualize their relation to him4    
,the relation as a group was not        
sufficient for the men4 ,between him and
 them it must be the relation of man to 
man4 ,individual faith must1 as it were1
 break up the group--to favour a far    
deeper reunion4 ,its bond was now a     
common suffering2 it must be changed to 
a common faith in the healer of it4 ,his
 intention wrought in them--at first    
with but small apparent result4 ,they   

obeyed1 and went to go to the priests1  
probably wondering whether they would be
 healed or not1 for the beginnings of   
faith are so small that they can hardly 
be recognized as such4 ,going1 they     
found themselves cured4 ,nine of them   
held on their way1 obedient2 while the  
tenth1 forgetting for the moment in his 
gratitude the word of the ,master1      
turned back and fell at his feet4 ,a    
moral martinet1 a scribe1 or a          
,pharisee1 might have said ,the nine    
were right1 the tenth was wrong3 he     
ought to have kept to the letter of the 
command4 ,not so the ,master3 he        
accepted the gratitude as the germ of an
 infinite obedience4 ,real love is      
obedience and all things beside4 ,the   
,lord's own devotion was that which     
burns up the letter with the consuming  
fire of love1 fulfilling and setting it 
aside4 ,high love needs no letter to    
guide it4 ,doubtless the letter is all  
that weak faith is capable of1 and it is
 well for those who keep it6 ,but it is 

ill for those who do not outgrow and    
forget it6 ,forget it1 ,i say1 by       
outgrowing it4 ,the ,lord cared little  
for the letter of his own commands2 he  
cared all for the spirit1 for that was  
life4  ,this man was a stranger1 as the 
,jews called him1 a ,samaritan4         
,therefore the ,lord praised him to his 
followers4 ,it was as if he had said1   
,see1 ,jews1 who think yourselves the   
great praisers of ,god6 here are ten    
lepers cleansed3 where are the nine8    
,one comes back to glorify ,god--a      
,samaritan6 ,to the man himself he says1
 ,arise1 go thy way2 thy faith hath made
 thee whole4 ,again this commending of  
individual faith6 ,was it not the faith 
of the others too that had healed them8 
,doubtless4 ,if they had had enough to  
bring them back1 he would have told them
 that their faith had saved them4 ,but  
they were content to be healed1 and     
until their love1 which is the deeper   
faith1 brought them to the ,master's    
feet1 their faith was not ripe for      

praise4 ,but it was not for their blame1
 it was for the ,samaritan's praise that
 he spoke4 ,probably this man's faith   
had caused the cry of all the ten2      
probably he was the salt of the little  
group of outcasts--the tenth1 the       
righteous man4 ,hence they were         
contented1 for the time1 with their     
cure3 he forgot the cure itself in his  
gratitude4 ,a moment more1 and with     
obedient feet he would overtake them on 
their way to the priest4  ,i may not    
find a better place for remarking on the
 variety of our ,lord's treatment of    
those whom he cured2 that is1 the       
variety of the form in which he conveyed
 the cure4 ,in the record ,i do not     
think we find two cases treated in the  
same manner4 ,there is no massing of the
 people with him4 ,in his behaviour to  
men1 just as in their relation to his   
,father1 every man is alone with him4   
,in this case of the ten1 as ,i have    
said1 ,i think he sent them away1       
partly1 that this individuality might   

have an opportunity of asserting itself4
 ,they had stood afar off1 therefore he 
could not lay the hand of love on each4 
,but now one left the group and brought 
his gratitude to the ,master's feet1 and
 with a loud voice glorified ,god the   
,healer4  ,in reflecting then on the    
details of the various cures we must    
seek the causes of their diversity      
mainly in the individual differences of 
the persons cured1 not forgetting1 at   
the same time1 that all the accounts are
 brief1 and that our capacity is poor   
for the task4 ,the whole divine         
treatment of man is that of a father to 
his children--only a father infinitely  
more a father than any man can be4      
,before him stands each1 as much an     
individual child as if there were no one
 but him4 ,the relation is awful in its 
singleness4 ,even when ,god deals with a
 nation as a nation1 it is only as by   
this dealing the individual is aroused  
to a sense of his own wrong1 that he can
 understand how the nation has sinned1  

or can turn himself to work a change4   
,the nation cannot change save as its   
members change2 and the few who begin   
the change are the elect of that nation4
 ,ten righteous individuals would have  
been just enough to restore life to the 
festering masses of ,sodom--festering   
masses because individual life had      
ceased1 and the nation or community was 
nowhere4 ,even nine could not do it3    
,sodom must perish4 ,the individuals    
must perish now2 the nation had perished
 long since4 ,all communities are for   
the divine sake of individual life1 for 
the sake of the love and truth that is  
in each heart1 and is not               
cumulative--cannot be in two as one     
result4 ,but all that is precious in the
 individual heart depends for existence 
on the relation the individual bears to 
other individuals3 alone--how can he    
love8 alone--where is his truth8 ,it is 
for and by the individuals that the     
individual lives4 ,a community is the   
true development of individual          

relations4 ,its very possibility lies in
 the conscience of its men and women4   
,no setting right can be done in the    
mass4 ,there are no masses save in      
corruption4 ,vital organizations result 
alone from individualities and          
consequent necessities1 which fitting   
the one into the other1 and working for 
each other1 make combination not only   
possible but unavoidable4 ,then the     
truth which has informed in the         
community reacts on the individual to   
perfect his individuality4 ,in a word1  
the man1 in virtue of standing alone in 
,god1 stands with his fellows1 and      
receives from them divine influences    
without which he cannot be made perfect4
 ,it is in virtue of the living         
consciences of its individuals that a   
common conscience is possible to a      
nation4  ,i cannot work this out here1  
but ,i would avoid being misunderstood4 
,although ,i say1 every man stands alone
 in ,god1 ,i yet say two or many can    
meet in ,god as they cannot meet save in

 ,god2 nay1 that only in ,god can two or
 many truly meet2 only as they recognize
 their oneness with ,god can they become
 one with each other4  ,in the variety  
then of his individual treatment of the 
sick1 ,jesus did the works of his       
,father as his ,father does them4 ,for  
the ,spirit of ,god speaks to the spirit
 of the man1 and the ,providence of ,god
 arranges everything for the best good  
of the individual--counting the very    
hairs of his head4 ,every man had a cure
 of his own2 every woman had a cure of  
her own--all one and the same in        
principle1 each individual in the       
application of the principle4 ,this was 
the foundation of the true church4 ,and 
yet the members of that church will try 
to separate upon individual and         
unavoidable differences6  ,but once more
 the question recurs3 ,why say so often 
that this and that one's faith had saved
 him8 ,was it not enough that he had    
saved them8--,our ,lord would knit the  
bond between him and each man by        

arousing the man's individuality1 which 
is1 in deepest fact1 his conscience4    
,the cure of a man depended upon no     
uncertain or arbitrary movement of the  
feelings of ,jesus4 ,he was always ready
 to heal4 ,no one was ever refused who  
asked him4 ,it rested with the man3 the 
healing could not have its way and enter
 in1 save the man would open his door4  
,it was there for him if he would take  
it1 or rather when he would allow him to
 bestow it4 ,hence the question and the 
praise of the patient's faith4 ,there   
was no danger then of that diseased     
self-consciousness which nowadays is    
always asking1 ,have ,i faith8 ,have ,i 
faith8 searching1 in fact1 for grounds  
of self-confidence1 and turning away the
 eyes in the search from the only source
 whence confidence can flow--the natal  
home of power and love4 ,how shall faith
 be born but of the beholding of the    
faithful8 ,this diseased                
self-contemplation was not indeed a     
,jewish complaint at all1 nor possible  

in the bodily presence of the ,master4  
,hence the praise given to a man's faith
 could not hurt him2 it only made him   
glad and more faithful still4 ,this     
disease itself is in more need of his   
curing hand than all the leprosies of   
,judaea and ,samaria4  ,the cases which 
remain of this group are of blind       
men--the first1 that recorded by ,st    
,matthew of the two who followed ,jesus1
 crying1 ,thou ,son of ,david1 have     
mercy on us4 ,he asked them if they     
believed that he was able to do the     
thing for them1 drawing1 ,i say1 the    
bond between them closer thereby4 ,they 
said they did believe it1 and at once he
 touched their eyes--again the bodily   
contact1 as in the case of the blind man
 already considered--especially needful 
in the case of the blind1 to associate  
the healing with the healer4 ,but there 
are differences between the cases4 ,the 
man who had not asked to be healed was  
as it were put through a longer process 
of cure--,i think that his faith and his

 will might be called into exercise2 and
 the bodily contact was made closer to  
help the development of his faith and   
will3 he made clay and put it on his    
eyes1 and the man had to go and wash4   
,where the prayer and the confession of 
faith reveal the spiritual contact      
already effected1 the cure is immediate4
 ,according to your faith1 the ,lord    
said1 be it unto you4  ,on these men1 as
 on the leper1 he laid the charge of    
silence1 by them1 as by him1 sadly      
disregarded4 ,the fact that he went into
 the house1 and allowed them to follow  
him there before he cured them1 also    
shows that he desired in their case1    
doubtless because of circumstances1 to  
avoid publicity1 a desire which they    
foiled4 ,their gladness overcame1 if not
 their gratitude1 yet the higher faith  
that is one with obedience4 ,when the   
other leper turned back to speak his    
gratitude1 it was but the delay of a    
moment in the fulfilling of the command4
 ,but the gratitude that disobeys an    

injunction1 that does what the man is   
told not to do1 and so plunges into the 
irretrievable1 is a virtue that needs a 
development amounting almost to a       
metamorphosis4  ,in the one remaining   
case there is a slight confusion in the 
records4 ,st ,luke says that it was     
performed as ,jesus entered into        
,jericho2 ,st ,mark says it was as he   
went out of ,jericho1 and gives the name
 and parentage of the blind beggar2     
indeed his account is considerably more 
minute than that of the others4 ,st     
,matthew agrees with ,st ,mark as to the
 occasion1 but says there were two blind
 men4 ,we shall follow the account of   
,st ,mark4  ,bartimaeus1 having learned 
the cause of the tumultuous passing of  
feet1 calls1 like those former two blind
 men1 upon the ,son of ,david to have   
mercy on him4#c ,footnote #c3 ,in these 
two cases1 the cry is upon the ,son of  
,david3 ,i wonder if this had come to be
 considered by the blind the correct    
formula of address to the new prophet4  

,but the cases are almost too few to    
justify even a passing conjecture at    
generalization4  ,the multitude finds   
fault with his crying and calling4 ,i   
presume he was noisy in his eagerness   
after his vanished vision1 and the      
multitude considered it indecorous4 ,or 
perhaps the rebuke arose from that      
common resentment of a crowd against any
 one who makes himself what they        
consider unreasonably conspicuous1      
claiming a share in the attention of the
 potentate to which they cannot         
themselves pretend4 ,but the ,lord      
stops1 and tells them to call the man2  
and some of them1 either being his      
friends1 or changing their tone when the
 great man takes notice of him1 begin to
 congratulate and comfort him4 ,he1     
casting away his garment in his         
eagerness1 rises1 and is led through the
 yielding crowd to the presence of the  
,lord4 ,to enter in some degree into the
 personal knowledge of the man before   
curing him1 and to consolidate his      

faith1 ,jesus1 the tones of whose voice1
 full of the life of ,god1 the          
cultivated hearing of a blind man would 
be best able to interpret1 began to talk
 a little with him4  ,what wilt thou    
that ,i should do unto thee8  ,lord1    
that ,i might receive my sight4  ,go thy
 way2 thy faith hath made thee whole4   
,immediately he saw2 and the first use  
he made of his sight was to follow him  
who had given it4  ,neither ,st ,mark   
nor ,st ,luke1 whose accounts are almost
 exactly the same1 says that he touched 
the man's eyes4 ,st ,matthew says he    
touched the eyes of the two blind men   
whom his account places in otherwise    
identical circumstances4 ,with a        
surrounding crowd who knew them1 ,i     
think the touching was less necessary   
than in private2 but there is no need to
 inquire which is the more correct      
account4 ,the former two may have       
omitted a fact1 or ,st ,matthew may have
 combined the story with that of the two
 blind men already noticed1 of which he 

is the sole narrator4 ,but in any case  
there are1 ,i think1 but two recorded   
instances of the blind praying for cure4
 ,most likely there were more1 perhaps  
there were many such4  ,i have now to   
consider1 as suggested by the idea of   
this group1 the question of prayer      
generally2 for ,jesus did the works of  
him who sent him3 as ,jesus did so ,god 
does4  ,i have not seen an argument     
against what is called the efficacy of  
prayer which appears to me to have any  
force but what is derived from some     
narrow conception of the divine nature4 
,if there be a ,god at all1 it is absurd
 to suppose that his ways of working    
should be such as to destroy his side of
 the highest relation that can exist    
between him and those whom he has cared 
to make--to destroy1 ,i mean1 the       
relation of the will of the creator to  
the individual will of his creature4    
,that ,god should bind himself in an    
iron net of his own laws--that his laws 
should bind him in any way1 seeing they 

are just his nature in action--is       
sufficiently absurd2 but that such laws 
should interfere with his deepest       
relation to his creatures1 should be    
inconsistent with the highest           
consequences of that creation which     
alone gives occasion for those          
laws--that1 in fact1 the will of ,god   
should be at strife with the foregoing  
action of ,god1 not to say with the very
 nature of ,god--that he should1 with an
 unchangeable order of material causes  
and effects1 cage in for ever the winged
 aspirations of the human will which he 
has made in the image of his own will1  
towards its natural air of freedom in   
,his will1 would be pronounced          
inconceivable1 were it not that it has  
been conceived and uttered--conceived   
and uttered1 however1 only by minds to  
which the fact of this relation was1 if 
at all present1 then only in the vaguest
 and most incomplete form4 ,that he     
should not leave himself any willing    
room towards those to whom he gave need1

 room to go wrong1 will to turn and look
 up and pray and hope1 is to me         
grotesquely absurd4 ,it is far easier to
 believe that as both--the laws of      
nature1 namely1 and the human           
will--proceed from the same eternally   
harmonious thought1 they too are so in  
harmony1 that for the perfect operation 
of either no infringement upon the other
 is needful2 and that what seems to be  
such infringement would show itself to a
 deeper knowledge of both as a perfectly
 harmonious co-operation4 ,nor would it 
matter that we know so little1 were it  
not that with each fresh discovery we   
are so ready to fancy anew that now1 at 
last1 we know all about it4 ,we have    
neither humility enough to be faithful1 
nor faith enough to be humble4 ,unfit to
 grasp any whole1 yet with an inborn    
idea of wholeness which ought to be our 
safety in urging us ever on towards the 
,unity1 we are constantly calling each  
new part the whole1 saying we have found
 the idea1 and casting ourselves on the 

couch of self-glorification4 ,thus the  
very need of unity is by our pride      
perverted to our ruin4 ,we say we have  
found it1 when we have it not4 ,hence1  
also1 it becomes easy to refuse certain 
considerations1 yea1 certain facts1 a   
place in our system--for the system will
 cease to be a system at all the moment 
they are acknowledged4 ,they may have in
 them the very germ of life and truth2  
but what is that1 if they destroy this  
,babylon that we have built8 ,are not   
its forms stately and fair8 ,yea1 can   
there be statelier and fairer8 ,the main
 point is simply this1 that what it     
would not be well for ,god to give      
before a man had asked for it1 it may be
 not only well1 but best1 to give when  
he has asked4 ,footnote #d3 ,well and   
,best must be the same thing with ,god  
when he acts4  ,i believe that the first
 half of our training is up to the      
asking point2 after that the treatment  
has a grand new element in it4 ,for ,god
 can give when a man is in the fit      

condition to receive it1 what he cannot 
give before because the man cannot      
receive it4 ,how give instruction in the
 harmony of colours or tones to a man   
who cannot yet distinguish between shade
 and shade or tone and tone1 upon which 
distinction all harmony depends8 ,a man 
cannot receive except another will give2
 no more can a man give if another will 
not receive2 he can only offer4         
,doubtless1 ,god works on every man1    
else he could have no divine tendency at
 all2 there would be no thither for him 
to turn his face towards2 there could be
 at best but a sense of want4 ,but the  
moment the man has given in to ,god--to 
use a homely phrase--the spirit for     
which he prays can work in him all with 
him1 not now 7as it appeared then7      
against him4 ,every parent at all worthy
 of the relation must know that         
occasions occur in which the asking of  
the child makes the giving of the parent
 the natural correlative4 ,in a way     
infinitely higher1 yet the same at the  

root1 for all is of ,god1 ,he can give  
when the man asks what he could not give
 without1 because in the latter case the
 man would take only the husk of the    
gift1 and cast the kernel away--a husk  
poisonous without the kernel1 although  
wholesome and comforting with it4  ,but 
some will say1 ,we may ask1 but it is   
certain we shall not have everything we 
ask for4  ,no1 thank ,god1 certainly    
not2 we shall have nothing which we     
ourselves1 when capable of judging and  
choosing with open eyes to its true     
relation to ourselves1 would not wish   
and choose to have4 ,if ,god should give
 otherwise1 it must be as a healing     
punishment of inordinate and hurtful    
desire4 ,the parable of the father      
dividing his living at the prayer of the
 younger son1 must be true of ,god's    
individual sons1 else it could not have 
been true of the ,jews on the one hand  
and the ,gentiles on the other4 ,he will
 grant some such prayers because he     
knows that the swine and their husks    

will send back his son with quite       
another prayer on his lips4  ,if my     
supposed interlocutor answers1 ,what    
then is the good of praying1 if it is   
not to go by what ,i want8 ,i can only  
answer1 ,you have to learn1 and it may  
be by a hard road4 ,in the kinds of     
things which men desire1 there are      
essential differences4 ,in physical     
well-being1 there is a divine good4 ,in 
sufficient food and raiment1 there is a 
divine fitness4 ,in wealth1 as such1    
there is none4 ,a man may pray for money
 to pay his debts1 for healing of the   
sickness which incapacitates him for    
labour or good work1 for just judgment  
in the eyes of his fellow-men1 with an  
altogether different confidence from    
that with which he could pray for       
wealth1 or for bodily might to surpass  
his fellows1 or for vengeance upon those
 whose judgment of his merits differed  
from his own2 although even then the    
divine soul will with his ,saviour say1 
,if it be possible3 ,not my will but    

thine4 ,for he will know that ,god gives
 only the best4  ,but ,god does not even
 cure every one who asks him4 ,and so   
with the other things you say are good  
to pray for4  ,jesus did not cure all   
the ills in ,judaea4 ,but those he did  
cure were at least real ills and real   
needs4 ,there was a fitness in the      
condition of some1 a fitness favoured by
 his own bodily presence amongst them1  
which met the virtue ready to go out    
from him4 ,but ,god is ever present1 and
 ,i have yet to learn that any man      
prayed for money to be honest with and  
to meet the necessities of his family1  
and did the work of him who had called  
him from the market-place of the nation1
 who did not receive his penny a-day4   
,if to any one it seems otherwise1 ,i   
believe the apparent contradiction will 
one day be cleared up to his            
satisfaction4 ,god has not to satisfy   
the judgment of men as they are1 but as 
they will be and must be1 having learned
 the high and perfectly honest and grand

 way of things which is his will4 ,for  
,god to give men just what they want    
would often be the same as for a man to 
give gin to the night-wanderer whom he  
had it in his power to take home and set
 to work for wages4 ,but ,i must believe
 that many of the ills of which men     
complain would be speedily cured if they
 would work in the strength of prayer4  
,if the man had not taken up his bed    
when ,christ bade him1 he would have    
been a great authority with the scribes 
and chief priests against the divine    
mission of ,jesus4 ,the power to work is
 a diviner gift than a great legacy4    
,but these are individual affairs to be 
settled individually between ,god and   
his child4 ,they cannot be pronounced   
upon generally because of individual    
differences4 ,but here as there1 now as 
then1 the lack is faith4 ,a man may say1
 ,how can ,i have faith8 ,i answer1 ,how
 can you indeed1 who do the thing you   
know you ought not to do1 and have not  
begun to do the thing you know you ought

 to do8 ,how should you have faith8 ,it 
is not well that you should be cured    
yet4 ,it would have hurt these men to   
cure them if they would not ask4 ,and   
you do not pray4 ,the man who has prayed
 most is1 ,i suspect1 the least doubtful
 whether ,god hears prayer now as ,jesus
 heard it then4 ,that we doubt is well1 
for we are not yet in the empyrean of   
simple faith4 ,but ,i think the man who 
believes and prays now1 has answers to  
his prayers even better than those which
 came to the sick in ,juda2 for although
 the bodily presence of ,jesus made a   
difference in their favour1 ,i do       
believe that the ,spirit of ,god1 after 
widening its channels for nearly        
nineteen hundred years1 can flow in     
greater plenty and richness now4 ,hence 
the answers to prayer must not only not 
be of quite the same character as then1 
but they must be better1 coming yet     
closer to the heart of the need1 whether
 known as such by him who prays1 or not4
 ,but the change lies in man's power of 

reception1 for ,god is always the same  
to his children4 ,only1 being infinite1 
he must speak to them and act for them  
in the endless diversity which their    
growth and change render necessary4     
,thus only they can receive of his      
fulness who is all in all and           
unchangeable4  ,in our imperfect        
condition both of faith and of          
understanding1 the whole question of    
asking and receiving must necessarily be
 surrounded with mist and the           
possibility of mistake4 ,it can be      
successfully encountered only by the man
 who for himself asks and hopes4 ,it    
lies in too lofty regions and involves  
too many unknown conditions to be       
reduced to formulas of ours2 for ,god   
must do only the best1 and man is       
greater and more needy than himself can 
know4  ,yet he who asks shall           
receive--of the very best4 ,one promise 
without reserve1 and only one1 because  
it includes all1 remains3 the promise of
 the ,holy ,spirit to them who ask it4  

,he who has the ,spirit of ,god1 ,god   
himself1 in him1 has the ,life in him1  
possesses the final cure of all ill1 has
 in himself the answer to all possible  
prayer4     ,,vi4 ,,miracles ,,granted  
,,to ,,the ,,prayer ,,of ,,friends4     
,if we allow that prayer may in any case
 be heard for the man himself1 it almost
 follows that it must be heard for      
others4 ,it cannot well be in accordance
 with the spirit of ,christianity1 whose
 essential expression lies in the       
sacrifice of its founder1 that a man    
should be heard only when he prays for  
himself4 ,the fact that in cases of the 
preceding group faith was required on   
the part of the person healed as        
essential to his cure1 represents no    
different principle from that which     
operates in the cases of the present    
group4 ,true1 in these the condition is 
not faith on the part of the person     
cured1 but faith on the part of him who 
asks for his cure4 ,but the possession  
of faith by the patient was not in the  

least essential1 as far as the power of 
,jesus was concerned1 to his bodily     
cure1 although no doubt favourable      
thereto2 it was necessary only to that  
spiritual healing1 that higher cure1 for
 the sake of which chiefly the ,master  
brought about the lower4 ,in both cases1
 the requisition of faith is for the    
sake of those who ask--whether for      
themselves or for their friends1 it     
matters not4 ,it is a breath to blow the
 smoking flax into a flame--a word to   
draw into closer contact with himself4  
,he cured many without such demand1 as  
his ,father is ever curing without      
prayer4 ,cure itself shall sometimes    
generate prayer and faith4 ,well1       
therefore1 might the cure of others be  
sometimes granted to prayer4  ,beyond   
this1 however1 there is a great fitness 
in the thing4 ,for so are men bound     
together1 that no good can come to one  
but all must share in it4 ,the children 
suffer for the father1 the father       
suffers for the children1 and they are  

also blessed together4 ,if a spiritual  
good descend upon the heart of a leader 
of the nation1 the whole people might   
rejoice for themselves1 for they must be
 partakers of the unspeakable gift4 ,to 
increase the faith of the father may be 
more for the faith of the child1 healed 
in answer to his prayer1 than anything  
done for the child himself4 ,it is an   
enlarging of one of the many channels in
 which the divinest gifts flow4 ,for    
those gifts chiefly1 at first1 flow to  
men through the hearts and souls of     
those of their fellows who are nearer   
the ,father than they1 until at length  
they are thus brought themselves to     
speak to ,god face to face4  ,lonely as 
every man in his highest moments of     
spiritual vision1 yea in his simplest   
consciousness of duty1 turns his face   
towards the one ,father1 his own        
individual maker and necessity of his   
life2 painfully as he may then feel that
 the best beloved understands not as he 
understands1 feels not as he feels2 he  

is yet1 in his most isolated adoration  
of the ,father of his spirit1 nearer    
every one of the beloved than when eye  
meets eye1 heart beats responsive to    
heart1 and the poor dumb hand seeks by  
varied pressure to tell the emotion     
within4 ,often then the soul1 with its  
many organs of utterance1 feels itself  
but a songless bird1 whose broken       
twitter hardens into a cage around it2  
but even with all those organs of       
utterance in full play1 he is yet       
farther from his fellow-man than when he
 is praying to the ,father in a desert  
place apart4 ,the man who prays1 in     
proportion to the purity of his prayer1 
becomes a spiritual power1 a nerve from 
the divine brain1 yea1 perhaps a        
ganglion as we call it1 whence power    
anew goes forth upon his fellows4 ,he is
 a redistributor1 as it were1 of the    
divine blessing2 not in the exercise of 
his own will--that is the cesspool      
towards which all notions of priestly   
mediation naturally sink--but as the    

self-forgetting1 ,god-loving brother of 
his kind1 who would be in the world as  
,christ was in the world4 ,when a man   
prays for his fellow-man1 for wife or   
child1 mother or father1 sister or      
brother or friend1 the connection       
between the two is so close in ,god1    
that the blessing begged may well flow  
to the end of the prayer4 ,such a one   
then is1 in his poor1 far-off way1 an   
advocate with the ,father1 like his     
master1 ,jesus ,christ1 ,the ,righteous4
 ,he takes his friend into the presence 
with him1 or if not into the presence1  
he leaves him with but the veil between 
them1 and they touch through the veil4  
,the first instance we have in this     
kind1 occurred at ,cana1 in the centre  
of ,galilee1 where the first miracle was
 wrought4 ,it is the second miracle in  
,st ,john's record1 and is recorded by  
him only4 ,doubtless these two had      
especially attracted his nature--the    
turning of water into wine1 and the     
restoration of a son to his father4 ,the

 ,fatherhood of ,god created the        
fatherhood in man2 ,god's love man's    
love4 ,and what shall he do to whom a   
son is given whom yet he cannot keep8   
,the divine love in his heart cleaves to
 the child1 and the child is vanishing6 
,what can this nobleman do but seek the 
man of whom such wondrous rumours have  
reached his ears8  ,between ,cana and   
,tiberias1 from which came the father   
with his prayer1 was somewhere about    
twenty miles4  ,he is at the point of   
death1 said the father4  ,except ye see 
signs and wonders ye will not believe1  
said ,jesus4  ,sir1 come down ere my    
child die4  ,go thy way1 thy son liveth4
  ,if the nobleman might have understood
 the remark the ,lord made1 he was in no
 mood for principles1 and respectfully  
he expostulates with our ,lord for      
spending time in words when the need was
 so urgent4 ,the sun of his life was    
going down into the darkness4 ,he might 
deserve reproof1 but even reproof has   
its season4 ,sir1 come down ere my child

 die4 ,whatever the ,lord meant by the  
words he urged it no farther4 ,he sends 
him home with the assurance of the boy's
 recovery1 showing him none of the signs
 or wonders of which he had spoken4 ,had
 the man been of unbelieving kind he    
would1 when he returned and found that  
all had occurred in the most natural    
fashion1 that neither here had there    
been sign or wonder1 have gradually     
reverted to his old carelessness as to a
 higher will and its ordering of things 
below4 ,but instead of this1 when he    
heard that the boy began to get better  
the very hour when ,jesus spoke the     
word--a fact quite easy to set down as a
 remarkable coincidence--he believed1   
and all his people with him4 ,probably  
he was in ideal reality the head of his 
house1 the main source of household     
influences--if such1 then a man of      
faith1 for1 where a man does not himself
 look up to the higher1 the lower will  
hardly look faithfully up to him--surely
 a fit man to intercede for his son1    

with all his house ready to believe with
 him4 ,it may be said they too shared in
 the evidence--such as it was--not much 
of a sign or wonder to them4 ,true2 but 
people are not ready to believe the best
 evidence except they are predisposed in
 the direction of that evidence4 ,if it 
be said1 they should have thought for   
themselves1 ,i answer--,to think with   
their head was no bad sign that they did
 think for themselves4 ,a great deal of 
what is called freedom of thought is    
merely the self-assertion which would   
persuade itself of a freedom it would   
possess but cannot without an effort too
 painful for ignorance and              
self-indulgence4 ,the man would feel    
free without being free4 ,to assert     
one's individuality is not necessarily  
to be free3 it may indeed be but the    
outcome of absolute slavery4  ,but if   
this nobleman was a faithful man1 whence
 our ,lord's word1 ,except ye see signs 
and wonders ye will not believe8 ,i am  
not sure4 ,it may have been as a rebuke 

to those about him4 ,this man--perhaps1 
as is said1 a nobleman of ,herod's      
court--may not have been a pure-bred    
,jew1 and hence our ,lord's remark would
 bear an import such as he uttered more 
plainly in the two cases following1 that
 of the ,greek woman1 and that of the   
,roman centurion3 ,except ye see signs  
and wonders ye will not believe2 but    
this man--4 ,with this meaning ,i should
 probably have been content1 were it not
 that the words were plainly addressed  
to the man4 ,i do not think this would  
destroy the interpretation1 for the     
,lord may have wished to draw the man   
out1 and make him1 a ,gentile or        
doubtful kind of ,jew1 rebuke the       
disciples2 only the man's love for his  
son stood in the way3 he could think of 
nothing1 speak of nothing save his son2 
but it makes it unsatisfactory4 ,and    
indeed ,i prefer the following          
interpretation1 because we have the     
other meaning in other places2 also     
because this is of universal            

application1 and to us of these days    
appears to me of special significance   
and value1 applying to the men of       
science on the one hand1 and the men of 
superstition on the other4  ,my         
impression is1 that our ,lord1 seeing   
the great faith of the nobleman1        
grounded on what he had heard of the    
,master from others1 chiefly of his     
signs and wonders1 did in this remark   
require of him a higher faith still4 ,it
 sounds to me an expostulation with him4
 ,to express in the best way my feeling 
concerning it1 ,i would dare to imagine 
our ,lord speaking in this fashion3--   
,why did you not pray the ,father8 ,why 
do you want always to see8 ,the door of 
prayer has been open since ever ,god    
made man in his own image3 why are signs
 and wonders necessary to your faith8   
,but ,i will do just as my ,father would
 have done if you had asked him4 ,only  
when ,i do it1 it is a sign and a wonder
 that you may believe2 and ,i wish you  
could believe without it4 ,but believe  

then for the very work's sake1 if you   
cannot believe for the word and the     
truth's sake4 ,go thy way1 thy son      
liveth4  ,i would not be understood to  
say that the ,lord blamed him1 or others
 in him1 for needing signs and wonders3 
it was rather1 ,i think1 that the ,lord 
spoke out of the fulness of his         
knowledge to awake in them some infant  
sense of what constituted all his       
life--the presence of ,god2 just as the 
fingers of the light go searching in the
 dark mould for the sleeping seeds1 to  
touch and awake them4 ,the order of     
creation1 the goings on of life1 were   
ceaselessly flowing from the very heart 
of the ,father3 why should they seek    
signs and wonders differing from common 
things only in being uncommon8 ,in      
essence there was no difference4        
,uncommonness is not excellence1 even as
 commonness is not inferiority4 ,the    
sign1 the wonder is1 in fact1 the lower 
thing1 granted only because of men's    
hardness of heart and slowness to       

believe--in itself of inferior nature to
 ,god's chosen way4 ,yet1 if signs and  
wonders could help them1 have them they 
should1 for neither were they at        
variance with the holy laws of life and 
faithfulness3 they were but less usual  
utterances of the same4 ,go thy way3 thy
 son liveth4 ,the man1 noble-man        
certainly in this1 obeyed1 and found his
 obedience justify his faith4  ,but his 
son would have to work out his belief   
upon grounds differing from those his   
father had4 ,in himself he could but    
recognize the resumption of the natural 
sway of life4 ,he would not necessarily 
know that it was ,god working in him4   
,for the cause of his cure1 he would    
only hear the story of it from his      
father--good evidence--but he himself   
had not seen the face of the ,holy ,one 
as his father had4 ,in one sense or     
another1 he must seek and find him4     
,every generation must do its own       
seeking and its own finding4 ,the fault 
of the fathers often is that they expect

 their finding to stand in place of     
their children's seeking--expect the    
children to receive that which has      
satisfied the need of their fathers upon
 their testimony2 whereas rightly1 their
 testimony is not ground for their      
children's belief1 only for their       
children's search4 ,that search is faith
 in the bud4 ,no man can be sure till he
 has found for himself4 ,all that is    
required of the faithful nature is a    
willingness to seek4 ,he cannot even    
know the true nature of the thing he    
wants until he has found it2 he has but 
a dim notion of it1 a faint star to     
guide him eastward to the sunrise4      
,hopefully1 the belief of the father has
 the heart in it which will satisfy the 
need of the child2 but the doubt of this
 in the child1 is the father's first    
ground for hoping that the child with   
his new needs will find for himself the 
same well of life--to draw from it with 
a new bucket1 it may be1 because the old
 will hold water no longer3 its staves  

may be good1 but its hoops are worn     
asunder2 or1 rather1 it will be but a   
new rope it needs1 which he has to twist
 from the hemp growing in his own       
garden4 ,the son who was healed might   
have many questions to ask which the    
father could not answer1 had never      
thought of4 ,he had heard of the miracle
 of ,cana2 he had heard of many things  
done since3 he believed that the man    
could cure his son1 and he had cured    
him4 ,yes1 the son might say1 but ,i    
must know more of him2 for1 if what ,i  
hear now be true1 ,i must cast all at   
his feet4 ,he cannot be a healer only2  
he must be the very ,lord of ,life--it  
may be of the ,universe4 ,his simple    
human presence had in it something      
against the supposition--contained in it
 what must have appeared reason for     
doubting this conclusion from his deeds1
 especially to one who had not seen his 
divine countenance4 ,but to one at      
length enlightened of the great ,spirit1
 his humanity would contain the highest 

ground for believing in his divinity1   
for what it meant would come out ever   
and ever loftier and grander4 ,the ,lord
 who had made the ,universe--how should 
he show it but as the ,healer did8 ,he  
could not make the universe over again  
in the eyes of every man4 ,if he did1   
the heart of the man could not hold the 
sight4 ,he must reveal himself as the   
curing ,god--the ,god who set things    
which had gone wrong1 right again3 that 
could be done in the eyes of each       
individual man4 ,this man may be he--the
 ,messiah--,immanuel1 ,god with-us4  ,we
 can imagine such the further thoughts  
of the son--possibly of the father      
first--only he had been so full of the  
answer to his prayer1 of the cure of his
 son1 that he could not all at once     
follow things towards their grand       
conclusions4  ,in this case1 as in the  
two which follow1 the ,lord heals from a
 distance4 ,i have not much to remark   
upon this4 ,there were reasons for it2  
one perhaps the necessity of an         

immediate answer to the prayer2 another 
probably lay in its fitness to the faith
 of the supplicants4 ,for to heal thus1 
although less of a sign or a wonder to  
the unbelieving1 had in it an element of
 finer power upon the faith of such as  
came not for the sign or the wonder1 but
 for the cure of the beloved2 for he who
 loves can believe what he who loves not
 cannot believe2 and he who loves most  
can believe most4 ,in this respect1     
these cures were like the healing       
granted to prayer in all ages--not that 
,god is afar off1 for he is closer to   
every man than his own conscious being  
is to his unconscious being--but that we
 receive the aid from the ,unseen4      
,though there be no distance with ,god1 
it looks like it to men2 and when ,jesus
 cured thus1 he cured with the same     
appearances which attended ,god's       
ordinary healing4  ,the next case ,i    
take up is similar4 ,it belongs to      
another of my classes1 but as a case of 
possession there is little distinctive  

about it1 while as the record of the    
devotion of a mother to her daughter--a 
devotion quickening in her faith so rare
 and lovely as to delight the very heart
 of ,jesus with its humble intensity--it
 is one of the most beautiful of all the
 stories of healing4  ,the woman was a  
,greek1 and had not had the training of 
the ,jew for a belief in the ,messiah4  
,her misconceptions concerning the      
healer of whom she had heard must have  
been full of fancies derived from the   
legends of her race4 ,but she had yet   
been trained to believe1 for her mighty 
love of her own child was the best power
 for the development of the child-like  
in herself4  ,no woman can understand   
the possible depths of her own affection
 for her daughter4 ,i say daughter1 not 
child1 because although love is the same
 everywhere1 it is nowhere the same4 ,no
 two loves of individuals in the same   
correlation are the same4 ,much more the
 love of a woman for her daughter       
differs from the love of a father for   

his son--differs as the woman differs   
from the man4 ,there is in it a peculiar
 tenderness from the sense of the same  
womanly consciousness in both of        
undefendedness and self-accountable     
modesty--a modesty1 in this case1 how   
terribly tortured in the mother by the  
wild behaviour of the daughter under the
 impulses of the unclean spirit6 ,surely
 if ever there was a misery to drive a  
woman to the ,healer in an agony of     
rightful claim and prostrate entreaty1  
it was the misery of a mother whose     
daughter was thus possessed4 ,the divine
 nature of her motherhood1 of her       
womanhood1 drew her back to its source  
to find help for one who shared in the  
same1 but in whom its waters were sorely
 troubled and grievously defiled4  ,she 
came crying to him4 ,about him stood his
 disciples1 proud of being ,jews4 ,for  
their sakes this chosen ,gentile must be
 pained a little further1 must bear with
 her ,saviour her part of suffering for 
the redemption even of his chosen       

apostles4 ,they counted themselves the  
children1 and such as she the dogs4 ,he 
must show them the divine nature        
dwelling in her4 ,for the sake of this  
revelation he must try her sorely1 but  
not for long4  ,have mercy on me1 she   
cried1 ,o ,lord1 thou son of ,david2 my 
daughter is grievously vexed with a     
devil4  ,but not a word of reply came   
from the lips of the ,healer4 ,his      
disciples must speak first4 ,they must  
supplicate for their ,gentile sister4   
,he would arouse in them the disapproval
 of their own exclusiveness1 by putting 
it on for a moment that they might see  
it apart from themselves4  ,their hearts
 were moved for the woman4  ,send her   
away1 they said1 meaning1 ,give her what
 she wants2 but to move the heart of    
love to grant the prayer1 they--poor    
intercessors--added a selfish reason to 
justify the deed of goodness1 either    
that they would avoid being supposed to 
acknowledge her claim on a level with   
that of a ,jewess1 and would make of it 

what both ,puritans and priests would   
call an uncovenanted mercy1 or that they
 actually thought it would help to      
overcome the scruples of the ,master4   
,possibly it was both4 ,she crieth after
 us1 they said--meaning1 ,she is        
troublesome4 ,they would have him give  
as the ungenerous and the unjust give to
 the importunate4  ,but no healing could
 be granted on such a ground--not even  
to the prayer of an apostle4 ,the woman 
herself must give a better4  ,i am not  
sent1 he said1 but unto the lost sheep  
of the house of ,israel4  ,they         
understood the words falsely4 ,we know  
that he did come for the ,gentiles1 and 
he was training them to see what they   
were so slow to understand1 that he had 
other sheep which were not of this fold4
 ,he had need to begin with them thus   
early4 ,most of the troubles of his     
latest1 perhaps greatest apostle1 came  
from the indignation of ,jewish         
,christians that he preached the good   
news to the ,gentiles as if it had been 

originally meant for them4 ,they would  
have had them enter into its privileges 
by the gates of ,judaism4  ,what they   
did at length understand by these words 
is expressed in the additional word of  
our ,lord given by ,st ,mark3 ,let the  
children first be filled4 ,but even this
 they could not understand until        
afterwards4 ,they could not see that it 
was for the sake of the ,gentiles as    
much as the ,jews that ,jesus came to   
the ,jews first4 ,for whatever glorious 
exceptions there were amongst the       
,gentiles1 surpassing even similar      
amongst the ,jews2 and whatever the     
wide-spread refusal of the ,jewish      
nation1 he could not have been received 
amongst the ,gentiles as amongst the    
,jews4 ,in ,juda alone could the leaven 
work2 there alone could the mustard-seed
 take fitting root4 ,once rooted and up1
 it would become a great tree1 and the  
birds of the world would nestle in its  
branches4 ,it was not that ,god loved   
the ,jews more than the ,gentiles that  

he chose them first1 but that he must   
begin somewhere3 why1 ,god himself      
knows1 and perhaps has given us         
glimmerings4  ,upheld by her ,god-given 
love1 not yet would the woman turn away4
 ,even such hard words as these could   
not repulse her4  ,she came now and fell
 at his feet4 ,it is as the ,master     
would have it3 she presses only the     
nearer1 she insists only the more2 for  
the devil has a hold of her daughter4   
,lord1 help me1 is her cry2 for the     
trouble of her daughter is her own4 ,the
 ,help me is far more profound and      
pathetic than the most vivid blazon of  
the daughter's sufferings4  ,but he     
answered and said1--  ,it is not meet to
 take the children's bread1 and to cast 
it to dogs4 ,terrible words6 more       
dreadful far than any he ever spoke     
besides6 ,surely now she will depart in 
despair6 ,but the ,lord did not mean in 
them to speak his mind concerning the   
relation of ,jew and ,gentile2 for not  
only do the future of his church and the

 teaching of his ,spirit contradict it3 
but if he did mean what he said1 then he
 acted as was unmeet1 for he did cast a 
child's bread to a dog4 ,no4 ,he spoke  
as a ,jew felt1 that the elect ,jews    
about him might begin to understand that
 in him is neither ,jew nor ,gentile1   
but all are brethren4  ,and he has      
gained his point4 ,the spirit in the    
woman has been divinely goaded into     
utterance1 and out come the glorious    
words of her love and faith1 casting    
aside even insult itself as if it had   
never been--all for the sake of a       
daughter4 ,now1 indeed1 it is as he     
would have it4  ,yes1 ,lord2 yet the    
dogs under the table eat of the         
children's crumbs4  ,or1 as ,st ,matthew
 gives it3  ,truth1 ,lord3 yet the dogs 
eat of the crumbs which fall from their 
masters' table4  ,a retort quite ,greek 
in its readiness1 its symmetry1 and its 
point6 ,but it was not the intellectual 
merit of the answer that pleased the    
,master4 ,cleverness is cheap4 ,it is   

the faith he praises1 ,footnote #e3 ,far
 more precious than any show of the     
intellect1 even in regard of the        
intellect itself4 ,the quickness of her 
answer was the scintillation of her     
intellect under the glow of her         
affection4 ,love is the quickening nurse
 of the whole nature4 ,faith in ,god    
will do more for the intellect at length
 than all the training of the schools4  
,it will make the best that can be made 
of the whole man4 which was precious as 
rare--unspeakably precious even when it 
shall be the commonest thing in the     
universe1 but precious now as the first 
fruits of a world redeemed--precious now
 as coming from the lips of a           
,gentile--more precious as coming from  
the lips of a human mother pleading for 
her daughter4  ,o woman1 great is thy   
faith3 be it unto thee even as thou     
wilt4  ,or1 as ,st ,mark gives it1 for  
we cannot afford to lose a varying word1
  ,for this saying1 go thy way2 the     
devil is gone out of thy daughter4 ,the 

loving mother has conquered the         
tormenting devil4 ,she has called in the
 mighty aid of the original love4       
,through the channel of her love it     
flows1 new-creating1 and her daughter   
was made whole from that very hour4     
,where1 ,o disciples1 are your children 
and your dogs now8 ,is not the wall of  
partition henceforth destroyed8 ,no2 you
 too have to be made whole of a worse   
devil1 that of personal and national    
pride1 before you understand4 ,but the  
day of the ,lord is coming for you1     
notwithstanding ye are so incapable of  
knowing the signs and signals of its    
approach that1 although its banners are 
spread across the flaming sky1 it must  
come upon you as a thief in the night4  
,for the woman1 we may well leave her to
 the embraces of her daughter4 ,they are
 enough for her now4  ,but endless more 
will follow1 for ,god is exhaustless in 
giving where the human receiving holds  
out4 ,god be praised that there are such
 embraces in the world6 that there are  

mothers who are the salvation of their  
children6  ,we now complete a little    
family group1 as it were1 with the story
 of another foreigner1 a ,roman officer1
 who besought the ,lord for his servant4
 ,this captain was at ,capernaum at the 
time1 where ,i presume he had heard of  
the cure which ,jesus had granted to the
 nobleman for his son4 ,it seems almost 
clear from the quality of his faith1    
however1 that he must have heard much   
besides of ,jesus--enough to give him   
matter of pondering for some time1 for  
,i do not think such humble confidence  
as his could be1 like ,jonah's gourd1   
the growth of a night4 ,he was evidently
 a man of noble and large nature4       
,instead of lording it over the subject 
,jews of ,capernaum1 he had built them a
 synagogue2 and his behaviour to our    
,lord is marked by that respect which1  
shown to any human being1 but especially
 to a person of lower social condition1 
is one of the surest marks of a finely  
wrought moral temperament4 ,such a      

nature may be beautifully developed1 by 
a military training1 in which obedience 
and command go together2 and the        
excellence of faith and its instant     
response in action1 would be more       
readily understood by the thoughtful    
officer of a well-disciplined army than 
by any one to whom organization was     
unknown4 ,hence arose the parallel the  
centurion draws between his own and the 
,master's position1 which so pleased the
 ,lord by its direct simplicity4 ,but   
humble as the man was1 ,i doubt if      
anything less than some spiritual       
perception of the nobility of the       
character of ,jesus1 some perception of 
that which was altogether beyond even   
the power of healing1 could have        
generated such perfect reverence1 such  
childlike confidence as his4 ,it is no  
wonder the ,lord was pleased with it1   
for that kind of thing must be just what
 his ,father loves4  ,according to ,st  
,luke1 the ,roman captain considered    
himself so unworthy of notice from the  

carpenter's son--they of ,capernaum1    
which was his own city1 knew his reputed
 parentage well enough--that he got the 
elders of the ,jews to go and beg for   
him that he would come and heal his     
servant4 ,they bore testimony to his    
worth1 specifying that which would      
always be first in the eyes of such as  
they1 that he loved their nation1 and   
had built them a synagogue4 ,little they
 thought how the ,lord was about to     
honour him above all their nation and   
all its synagogues4 ,he went with them  
at once4  ,but before they reached the  
house1 the centurion had a fresh inroad 
of that divine disease1 humility1       
,footnote #f3 ,in him it was almost     
morbid1 one might be tempted to say1    
were it not that it was own sister to   
such mighty faith4 and had sent other   
friends to say1 ,lord1 trouble not      
thyself1 for ,i am not worthy that thou 
shouldest enter under my roof4          
,wherefore1 neither thought ,i myself   
worthy to come unto thee2 but say in a  

word1 and my servant shall be healed4   
,for ,i also am a man set under         
authority1 having under me soldiers1 and
 ,i say unto one1 ,go1 and he goeth2 and
 to another1 ,come1 and he cometh2 and  
to my servant1 ,do this1 and he doeth   
it4  ,this man was a philosopher3 he    
ascended from that to which he was      
accustomed to that to which he was not  
accustomed4 ,nor did his divine logic   
fail him4 ,he begins with acknowledging 
his own subjection1 and states his own  
authority2 then leaves it to our ,lord  
to understand that he recognizes in him 
an authority beyond all1 expecting the  
powers of nature to obey their ,master1 
just as his soldiers or his servants    
obey him4 ,how grandly he must have     
believed in him6  ,but beyond suspicion 
of flattery1 he avoids the face of the  
man whom in heart he worships4 ,how     
unlike those who press into the presence
 of a phantom-greatness6 ,a poor        
creature like me go and talk to him6 the
 ,roman captain would exclaim4 ,no1 ,i  

will worship from afar off4 ,and it is  
to be well heeded that the ,lord went no
 further--turned at once4 ,with the     
tax-gatherer ,zacchaeus he would go     
home1 if but to deliver him from the    
hopelessness of his self-contempt2 but  
what occasion was there here8 ,it was   
all right here4 ,the centurion was one  
who needed but to go on4 ,in heart and  
soul he was nearer the ,lord now than   
any of the disciples who followed him4  
,surely some one among the elders of the
 ,jews1 his friends1 would carry him the
 report of what the ,master said4 ,it   
would not hurt him4 ,the praise of the  
truly great will do no harm1 save it    
fall where it ought not1 on the heart of
 the little4 ,the praise of ,god never  
falls wrong1 therefore never does any   
one harm4 ,the ,lord even implies we    
ought to seek it4 ,his praise would but 
glorify the humility and the faith of   
this ,roman by making both of them      
deeper and nobler still4 ,there is      
something very grand in the ,lord's     

turning away from the house of the man  
who had greater faith than any he had   
found in ,israel2 for such were the     
words he spoke to those who followed    
him1 of whom in all likelihood the      
messenger elders were nearest4 ,having  
turned to say them1 he turned not again 
but went his way4 ,st ,luke1 whose      
narrative is in other respects much     
fuller than ,st ,matthew's 7who says    
that the centurion himself came to      
,jesus1 and makes no mention of the     
elders71 does not represent the ,master 
as uttering a single word of cure1 but  
implies that he just went away          
marvelling at him2 while they that were 
sent1 returning to the house1 found the 
servant whole that had been sick4 ,if   
any one ask how ,jesus could marvel1 ,i 
answer1 ,jesus could do more things than
 we can well understand4 ,the fact that 
he marvelled at the great faith1 shows  
that he is not surprised at the little1 
and therefore is able to make all       
needful and just1 yea1 and tender       

allowance4  ,here ,i cannot do better   
for my readers than give them four      
lines1 dear to me1 but probably unknown 
to most of them1 written1 ,i must tell  
them1 for the sake of their loving      
catholicity1 by an ,english ,jesuit of  
the seventeenth century4 ,they touch the
 very heart of the relation between     
,jesus and the centurion3--    ,thy ,god
 was making haste into thy roof2   ,thy 
humble faith and fear keeps ,him aloof3 
,he'll be thy guest2 because ,he may not
 be1   ,he'll come--into thy house8 ,no1
 into thee4  ,as ,i said1 we thus       
complete a kind of family group1 for    
surely the true servant is one of the   
family3 we have the prayer of a father  
for a son1 of a mother for a daughter1  
of a master for a servant4 ,alas6 the   
dearness of this latter bond is not now 
known as once4 ,there never was a rooted
 institution in parting with which      
something good was not lost for a time1 
however necessary its destruction might 
be for the welfare of the race4 ,there  

are fewer free servants that love their 
masters and mistresses now1 ,i fear1    
than there were ,roman bondsmen and     
bondswomen who loved theirs4 ,and1 on   
the other hand1 very few masters and    
mistresses regard the bond between them 
and their servants with half the respect
 and tenderness with which many among   
the ,romans regarded it4 ,slavery is a  
bad thing and of the devil1 yet mutual  
jealousy and contempt are worse4 ,but   
the time will yet come when a servant   
will serve for love as more than wages2 
and when the master of such a servant   
will honour him even to the making him  
sit down to meat1 and coming forth and  
serving him4  ,the next is the case of  
the palsied man1 so graphically given   
both by ,st ,mark and ,st ,luke1 and    
with less of circumstance by ,st        
,matthew4 ,this miracle also was done in
 ,capernaum1 called his own city4       
,pharisees and doctors of the law from  
every town in the country1 hearing of   
his arrival1 had gathered to him1 and   

were sitting listening to his teaching4 
,there was no possibility of getting    
near him1 and the sick man's friends had
 carried him up to the roof1 taken off  
the tiles1 and let him down into the    
presence4 ,it should not be their fault 
if the poor fellow was not cured4 ,jesus
 seeing their faith--,when ,jesus saw   
their faith--,and when he saw their     
faith1 he said unto the sick of the     
palsy1 ,son1 be of good                 
cheer--,son--,man1 thy sins are forgiven
 thee4 ,the forgiveness of the man's    
sins is by all of the narrators         
connected with the faith of his friends4
 ,this is very remarkable4 ,the only    
other instance in which similar words   
are recorded1 is that of the woman who  
came to him in ,simon's house1          
concerning whom he showed first1 that   
her love was a sign that her sins were  
already forgiven4 ,what greater honour  
could he honour their faith withal than 
grant in their name1 unasked1 the one   
mighty boon8 ,they had brought the man  

to him2 to them he forgave his sins4 ,he
 looked into his heart1 and probably    
saw1 as in the case of the man whom he  
cured by the pool of ,bethesda1 telling 
him to go and sin no more1 that his own 
sins had brought upon him this          
suffering1 a supposition which aids     
considerably to the understanding of the
 consequent conversation2 saw1 at all   
events1 that the assurance of           
forgiveness was what he most needed1    
whether because his conscience was      
oppressed with a sense of guilt1 or that
 he must be brought to think more of the
 sin than of the suffering2 for it      
involved an awful rebuke to the man1 if 
he required it still--that the ,lord    
should1 when he came for healing1       
present him with forgiveness4 ,nor did  
he follow it at once with the cure of   
his body1 but delayed that for a little1
 probably for the man's sake1 as        
probably for the sake of those present1 
whom he had been teaching for some time1
 and in whose hearts he would now fix   

the lesson concerning the divine        
forgiveness which he had preached to    
them in bestowing it upon the sick man4 
,for his words meant nothing1 except    
they meant that ,god forgave the man4   
,the scribes were right when they said  
that none could forgive sins but        
,god--that is1 in the full sense in     
which forgiveness is still needed by    
every human being1 should all his       
fellows whom he has injured have        
forgiven him already4  ,they said in    
their hearts1 ,he is a blasphemer4 ,this
 was what he had expected4  ,why do you 
think evil in your hearts8 he said1 that
 is1 evil of me--that ,i am a           
blasphemer4  ,he would now show them    
that he was no blasphemer2 that he had  
the power to forgive1 that it was the   
will of ,god that he should preach the  
remission of sins4 ,how could he show it
 them8 ,in one way only3 by dismissing  
the consequence1 the punishment of those
 sins1 sealing thus in the individual   
case the general truth4 ,he who could   

say to a man1 by the eternal law        
suffering the consequences of sin3 ,be  
whole1 well1 strong2 suffer no more1    
must have the right to pronounce his    
forgiveness2 else there was another than
 ,god who had to cure with a word the   
man whom his ,maker had afflicted4 ,if  
there were such another1 the kingdom of 
,god must be trembling to its fall1 for 
a stronger had invaded and reversed its 
decrees4 ,power does not give the right 
to pardon1 but its possession may prove 
the right4 ,whether is easier--to say1  
,thy sins be forgiven thee1 or to say1  
,rise up and walk8 ,if only ,god can do 
either1 he who can do the one must be   
able to do the other4  ,that ye may know
 that the ,son of man hath power upon   
earth to forgive sins--,arise1 and take 
up thy bed1 and go thy way into thine   
house4  ,up rose the man1 took up that  
whereon he had lain1 and went away1     
knowing in himself that his sins were   
forgiven him1 for he was able to glorify
 ,god4 ,it seems to me against our      

,lord's usual custom with the scribes   
and ,pharisees to grant them such proof 
as this4 ,certainly1 to judge by those  
recorded1 the whole miracle was in      
aspect and order somewhat unusual4 ,but 
,i think the men here assembled were    
either better than the most of their    
class1 or in a better mood than common1 
for ,st ,luke says of them that the     
power of the ,lord was present to heal  
them4 ,to such therefore proof might be 
accorded which was denied to others4    
,that he might heal these learned       
doctors around him1 he forgave the sins 
first and then cured the palsy of the   
man before him4 ,for their sakes he     
performed the miracle thus4 ,then1 like 
priests1 like people2 for where their   
leaders were listening1 the people broke
 open the roof to get the helpless into 
his presence4  ,they marvelled and      
glorified ,god which had given such     
power unto men--,saying1 ,we never saw  
it on this fashion4--,they were filled  
with fear1 saying1 ,we have seen strange

 things to-day4  ,and yet ,capernaum had
 to be brought down to hell1 and no man 
can tell the place where it stood4  ,two
 more cases remain1 both related by ,st 
,mark alone4  ,they brought him a man   
partially deaf and dumb4 ,he led him    
aside from the people3 he would be alone
 with him1 that he might come the better
 into relation with that individuality  
which1 until molten from within1 is so  
hard to touch4 ,possibly had the man    
come of himself1 this might have been   
less necessary2 but ,i repeat there must
 have been in every case reason for the 
individual treatment in the character   
and condition of the patient4 ,these    
were patent only to the ,healer4 ,in    
this case the closeness of the personal 
contact1 as in those cases of the blind1
 is likewise remarkable4 ,he put his    
fingers into his ears1 he spit and      
touched his tongue4 ,always in present  
disease1 bodily contact--in defects of  
the senses1 sometimes of a closer kind4 
,he would generate assured faith in     

himself as the healer4 ,but there is    
another remarkable particular here1     
which1 as far as ,i can remember1 would 
be alone in its kind but for a fuller   
development of it at the raising of     
,lazarus4 ,and looking up to heaven1 he 
sighed4  ,what did it mean8 ,what first 
of all was it8  ,that look1 was it not a
 look up to his own ,father8 ,that sigh1
 was it not the unarticulated prayer to 
the ,father of the man who stood beside 
him8 ,but did he need to look up as if  
,god was in the sky1 seeing that ,god   
was in him1 in his very deepest1 inmost 
being1 in fulness of presence1 and      
receiving conscious response1 such as he
 could not find anywhere else--not from 
the whole gathered universe8 ,why should
 he send a sigh1 like a ,david's dove1  
to carry the thought of his heart to his
 ,father8 ,true1 if all the words of    
human language had been blended into one
 glorious majesty of speech1 and the    
,lord had sought therein to utter the   
love he bore his ,father1 his voice must

 needs have sunk into the last          
inarticulate resource--the poor sigh1 in
 which evermore speech dies helplessly  
triumphant--appealing to the ,hearer to 
supply the lack1 saying ,i cannot1 but  
thou knowest--confessing defeat1 but    
claiming victory4 ,but the ,lord could  
talk to his ,father evermore in the     
forms of which words are but the        
shadows1 nay1 infinitely more1 without  
forms at all1 in the thoughts which are 
the souls of the forms4 ,why then needs 
he look up and sigh8--,that the man1    
whose faith was in the merest nascent   
condition1 might believe that whatever  
cure came to him from the hand of the   
healer1 came from the hand of ,god4     
,jesus did not care to be believed in as
 the doer of the deed1 save the deed    
itself were recognized as given him of  
the ,father4 ,if they saw him only1 and 
not the ,father through him1 there was  
little gained indeed4 ,the upward look  
and the sigh were surely the outward    
expression of the infrangible link which

 bound both the ,lord and the man to the
 ,father of all4 ,he would lift the     
man's heart up to the source of every   
gift4 ,no cure would be worthy gift     
without that3 it might be an injury4    
,the last case is that of the blind man 
of ,bethsaida1 whom likewise he led     
apart1 out of the town1 and whose dull  
organs he likewise touched with his     
spittle4 ,then comes a difference4 ,the 
deaf man was at once cured2 when he had 
laid his hands on the blind man1 his    
vision was but half-restored4 ,he asked 
him if he saw ought8 ,and he looked up  
and said1 ,i see the men3 for like trees
 ,footnote #g3 ,could it be translated1 
,as well as 7that is besides7 trees1 ,i 
see walkers about8 ,i see them walking  
about4 ,he could tell they were men and 
not trees1 only by their motion4 ,the   
,master laid his hands once more upon   
his eyes1 and when he looked up again1  
he saw every man clearly4  ,in thus     
graduating the process1 our ,lord1 ,i   
think1 drew forth1 encouraged1 enticed  

into strength the feeble faith of the   
man4 ,he brooded over him with his holy 
presence of love4 ,he gave the faith    
time to grow4 ,he cared more for his    
faith than his sight4 ,he let him1 as it
 were1 watch him1 feel him doing it1    
that he might know and believe4 ,there  
is in this a peculiar resemblance to the
 ordinary modes ,god takes in healing   
men4  ,these last miracles are          
especially full of symbolism and        
analogy4 ,but in considering any of the 
miracles1 ,i do not care to dwell upon  
this aspect of them1 for in this they   
are only like all the rest of the doings
 of ,god4 ,nature is brimful of symbolic
 and analogical parallels to the goings 
and comings1 the growth and the changes 
of the highest nature in man4 ,it could 
not be otherwise4 ,for not only did they
 issue from the same thought1 but the   
one is made for the other4 ,nature as an
 outer garment for man1 or a living     
house1 rather1 for man to live in4 ,so  
likewise must all the works of him who  

did the works of the ,father bear the   
same mark of the original of all4  ,the 
one practical lesson contained in this  
group is nearer the human fact and the  
human need than any symbolic meaning1   
grand as it must be1 which they may     
likewise contain2 nearer also to the    
constitution of things1 inasmuch as what
 a man must do is more to the man and to
 his ,maker than what he can only think2
 inasmuch1 also1 as the commonest things
 are the best1 and any man can do right1
 although he may be unable to tell the  
difference between a symbol and a       
sign3--it is that if ever there was a   
,man such as we read about here1 then he
 who prays for his friends shall be     
heard of ,god4 ,i do not say he shall   
have whatever he asks for4 ,god forbid4 
,but he shall be heard4 ,and the man who
 does not see the good of that1 knows   
nothing of the good of prayer2 can1 ,i  
fear1 as yet1 only pray for himself1    
when most he fancies he is praying for  
his friend4 ,often1 indeed1 when men    

suppose they are concerned for the      
well-beloved1 they are only concerned   
about what they shall do without them4  
,let them pray for themselves instead1  
for that will be the truer prayer4 ,i   
repeat1 all prayer is assuredly         
heard3--what evil matter is it that it  
should be answered only in the right    
time and right way8 ,the prayer argues a
 need--that need will be supplied4 ,one 
day is with the ,lord as a thousand     
years1 and a thousand years as one day4 
,all who have prayed shall one day      
justify ,god and say--,thy answer is    
beyond my prayer1 as thy thoughts and   
thy ways are beyond my thoughts and my  
ways4     ,,vii4 ,,the ,,casting ,,out  
,,of ,,devils4   ,before attempting to  
say the little ,i can concerning this   
group of miracles1 ,i would protect     
myself against possible misapprehension4
 ,the question concerning the nature of 
what is called possession has nothing   
whatever to do with that concerning the 
existence or nonexistence of a personal 

and conscious power of evil1 the one    
great adversary of the kingdom of       
heaven1 commonly called ,satan1 or the  
devil4 ,i say they are two distinct     
questions1 and have so little in common 
that the one may be argued without even 
an allusion to the other4  ,many think  
that in the cases recorded we have but  
the symptoms of well-known diseases1    
which1 from their exceptionally painful 
character1 involving loss of reason1    
involuntary or convulsive motions1 and  
other abnormal phenomena1 the           
imaginative and unscientific ,easterns  
attributed1 as the easiest mode of      
accounting for them1 to a foreign power 
taking possession of the body and mind  
of the man4 ,they say there is no       
occasion whatever to resort to an       
explanation involving an agency of which
 we know nothing from any experience of 
our own2 that1 as our ,lord did not come
 to rectify men's psychological or      
physiological theories1 he adopted the  
mode of speech common amongst them1 but 

cast out the evil spirits simply by     
healing the diseases attributed to their
 influences4  ,there seems to me nothing
 unchristian in this interpretation4    
,all diseases that trouble humanity may 
well be regarded as inroads of the evil 
powers upon the palaces and temples of  
,god1 where only the ,holy ,spirit has a
 right to dwell2 and to cast out such1  
is a marvel altogether as great as to   
expel the intruding forces to which the 
,jews attributed some of them4          
,certainly also our ,lord must have used
 multitudes of human expressions which  
did not more than adumbrate his own     
knowledge4 ,and yet ,i cannot admit that
 the solution meets all the appearances 
of the difficulty4 ,i say appearances1  
because ,i could not be dogmatic here if
 ,i would4 ,i know too little1          
understand too little1 to dare give such
 an opinion as possesses even the       
authority of personal conviction4 ,all  
,i have to say on the subject must      
therefore come to little4 ,perhaps if   

the marvellous1 as such1 were to me more
 difficult of belief1 anything ,i might 
have to say on the side of it would have
 greater weight4 ,but to me the         
marvellous is not therefore incredible1 
always provided that in itself the      
marvellous thing appears worthy4 ,i have
 no difficulty in receiving the old     
,jewish belief concerning possession2   
and ,i think it better explains the     
phenomena recorded than the growing     
modern opinion2 while the action of     
matter upon mind may well be regarded as
 involving greater mystery than the     
action of one spiritual nature upon     
another4 ,that a man should rave in     
madness because some little cell or two 
in the grey matter of his brain is out  
of order1 is surely no more within the  
compass of man's understanding than the 
supposition that an evil spirit1 getting
 close to the fountain of a man's       
physical life1 should disturb all the   
goings on of that life1 even to the     
production of the most appalling moral  

phenomena4 ,in either case it is not the
 man himself who originates the         
resulting actions1 but an external power
 operating on the man4  ,but we do not  
even know that there are such spirits1  
and we do know that a diseased brain is 
sufficient to account for the worst of  
the phenomena recorded4 ,i will not     
insist on the fact that we do not know  
that the diseased brain is enough to    
account for the phenomena1 that we only 
know it as in many cases a concomitant  
of such phenomena2 ,i will grant so     
much1 and yet insist that1 as the       
explanation does not fit the statements 
of the record1 and as we know so little 
of what is1 any hint of unknown         
possibilities falling from unknown      
regions1 should1 even as a stranger1    
receive the welcome of contemplation and
 conjecture1 so long as in itself it    
involves no moral contradiction4 ,the   
man who will not speculate at all1 can  
make no progress4 ,the thinking about   
the possible is as genuine1 as lawful1  

and perhaps as edifying an exercise of  
the mind as the severest induction4     
,better lies still beyond4 ,experiment  
itself must follow in the track of sober
 conjecture2 for if we know already1    
where is the good of experiment8  ,there
 seems to me nothing unreasonable in the
 supposition of the existence of spirits
 who1 having once had bodies such as    
ours1 and having abused the privileges  
of embodiment1 are condemned for a      
season to roam about bodiless1 ever     
mourning the loss of their capacity for 
the only pleasures they care for1 and   
craving after them in their             
imaginations4 ,such1 either in selfish  
hate of those who have what they have   
lost1 or from eagerness to come as near 
the possession of a corporeal form as   
they may1 might well seek to enter into 
a man4 ,the supposition at least is     
perfectly consistent with the facts     
recorded4 ,possibly also it may be      
consistent with the phenomena of some of
 the forms of the madness of our own    

day1 although all its forms are alike   
regarded as resulting from physical     
causes alone4  ,the first act of        
dispossession recorded is that told by  
,st ,mark and ,st ,luke1 as taking place
 at ,capernaum1 amongst his earliest    
miracles1 and preceding the cure of     
,simon's mother-in-law4 ,he was in the  
synagogue on the ,sabbath day1 teaching 
the congregation1 when a man present1   
who had an unclean spirit1 cried out4   
,if ,i accept the narrative1 ,i find    
this cry far more intelligible on the   
old than on the new theory4 ,the        
speaker1 no doubt using the organs of   
the man1 brain and all1 for utterance1  
recognizes a presence--to him the cause 
of terror--which he addresses as the    
,holy ,one of ,god4 ,this holy one he   
would propitiate by entreaty and the    
flattering acknowledgment of his divine 
mission1 with the hope of being left    
unmolested in the usurpation and cruelty
 by which he ministered to his own      
shadowy self-indulgences4 ,could        

anything be more consistently diabolic8 
,what other word could ,jesus address to
 such than1 ,hold thy peace1 and come   
out of him8 ,a being in such a condition
 could not be permitted to hold converse
 with the ,saviour2 for he recognized no
 salvation but what lay in the          
continuance of his own pleasures at the 
expense of another4 ,the form of the    
rebuke plainly assumes that it was not  
the man but some one in the man who had 
spoken2 and the narrative goes on to say
 that when the devil had thrown him down
 and torn him and cried with a loud     
voice--his rage and disappointment1 ,i  
presume1 finding its last futile        
utterance in the torture of his         
captive--he came out of him and left him
 unhurt4 ,thereupon the people          
questioned amongst themselves saying1   
,what thing is this8 ,it is a teaching  
new1 and with authority3 he commandeth  
even the unclean spirits1 and they obey 
him2 ,footnote #h3 ,st ,mark1 i4 #bg4   
,authorized ,version revised by ,dean   

,alford4 thus connecting at once his    
power over the unclean spirits with the 
doctrine he taught1 just as our ,lord in
 an after-instance associates power over
 demons with spiritual condition4 ,it   
was the truth in him that made him      
strong against the powers of untruth4   
,many such cures were performed1 but the
 individual instances recorded are few4 
,the next is that of the man--dumb1     
according to ,st ,luke1 both blind and  
dumb1 according to ,st ,matthew--who    
spake and saw as soon as the devil was  
cast out of him4 ,with unerring instinct
 the people concluded that he who did   
such deeds must be the ,son of ,david2  
the devils themselves1 according to ,st 
,mark1 were wont to acknowledge him the 
,son of ,god2 the ,scribes and          
,pharisees1 the would-be guides of the  
people1 alone refused the witness1 and  
in the very imbecility of unbelief1     
eager after any theory that might seem  
to cover the facts without acknowledging
 a divine mission in one who would not  

admit their authority1 attributed to    
,beelzebub himself the deliverance of   
distressed mortals from the powers of   
evil4  ,regarding the kingdom of ,god as
 a thing of externals1 they were        
fortified against recognizing in ,jesus 
himself or in his doctrine any sign that
 he was the enemy of ,satan1 and might  
even persuade themselves that such a    
cure was only one of ,satan's tricks for
 the advancement of his kingdom with the
 many by a partial emancipation of the  
individual4 ,but our ,lord attributes   
this false conclusion to its true       
cause--to no incapacity or mistake of   
judgement2 to no over-refining about the
 possible chicaneries of ,beelzebub2 but
 to a preference for any evil which     
would support them in their authority   
with the people--in itself an evil4     
,careless altogether about truth itself1
 they would not give a moment's quarter 
to any individual utterance of it which 
tended to destroy their honourable      
position in the nation4 ,each man to    

himself was his own god4 ,the ,spirit of
 ,god they shut out4 ,to them           
forgiveness was not offered4 ,they must 
pay the uttermost farthing--whatever    
that may mean--and frightful as the doom
 must be4 ,that he spoke thus against   
them was but a further carrying out of  
his mission1 a further inroad upon the  
kingdom of that ,beelzebub4 ,and yet    
they were the accredited authorities in 
the church of that day2 and he who does 
not realize this1 does not understand   
the battle our ,lord had to fight for   
the emancipation of the people4 ,it was 
for the sake of the people that he      
called the ,pharisees hypocrites1 and   
not for their own sakes1 for how should 
he argue with men who taught religion   
for their own aggrandizement8  ,it is to
 be noted that our ,lord recognizes the 
power of others besides himself to cast 
out devils4 ,by whom do your children   
cast them out8 ,did you ever say of them
 it was by ,beelzebub8 ,why say it of   
me8 ,what he claims he freely allows4   

,the ,saviour had no tinge of that      
jealousy of rival teaching--as if truth 
could be two1 and could avoid being     
one--which makes so many of his         
followers grasp at any waif of false    
argument4 ,he knew that all good is of  
,god1 and not of the devil4 ,all were   
with him who destroyed the power of the 
devil4  ,they who were cured1 and they  
in whom self-worship was not blinding   
the judgment1 had no doubt that he was  
fighting ,satan on his usurped ground4  
,torture was what might be expected of  
,satan2 healing what might be expected  
of ,god4 ,the reality of the healing1   
the loss of the man1 morally as well as 
physically1 to the kingdom of evil1 was 
witnessed in all the signs that         
followed4 ,our ,lord rests his argument 
on the fact that ,satan had lost these  
men4  ,we hear next1 from ,st ,luke1 of 
certain women who followed him1 having  
been healed of evil spirits and         
infirmities1 amongst whom is mentioned  
,mary1 called ,magdalene1 out of whom   

went seven devils4 ,no wonder a woman   
thus delivered should devote her        
restored self to the service of him who 
had recreated her4 ,we hear nothing of  
the circumstances of the cure1 only the 
result in her constant ministration4    
,hers is a curious instance of the      
worthlessness of what some think it a   
mark of high-mindedness to regard       
alone--the opinion1 namely1 of          
posterity4 ,without a fragment of       
evidence1 this woman has been all but   
universally regarded as impure4 ,but    
what a trifle to her6 ,down in this     
squabbling nursery of the race1 the name
 of ,mary ,magdalene may be degraded    
even to a subject for pictorial         
sentimentalities2 but the woman herself 
is with that ,jesus who set her free4   
,to the end of time they may call her   
what they please3 to her it is worth but
 a smile of holy amusement4 ,and just as
 worthy is the applause of posterity    
associated with a name4 ,to ,god alone  
we live or die4 ,let us fall1 as1 thank 

him1 we must1 into his hands4 ,let him  
judge us4 ,posterity may be wiser than  
we2 but posterity is not our judge4  ,we
 come now to a narrative containing more
 of the marvellous than all the rest4   
,the miracle was wrought on the         
south-eastern side of the lake--,st     
,matthew says1 upon two demoniacs2 ,st  
,mark and ,st ,luke make mention only of
 one4 ,the accounts given by the latter 
,evangelists are much more              
circumstantial than that by the former4 
,it was a case of peculiarly frightful  
character4 ,the man1 possessed of many  
demons1 was ferocious1 and of marvellous
 strength1 breaking chains and fetters1 
and untameable4 ,it is impossible to    
analyse the phenomena1 saying which were
 the actions of the man1 and which those
 of the possessing demons4 ,externally  
all were the man's1 done by the man     
finally1 some part1 ,i presume1 from his
 own poor withered will1 far the greater
 from the urging of the demons4 ,even in
 the case of a man driven by appetite or

 passion1 it is impossible to say how   
much is to be attributed to the man     
himself1 and how much to that lower     
nature in him which he ought to keep in 
subjection1 but which1 having been      
allowed to get the upper hand1 has      
become a possessing demon4 ,he met the  
,lord worshipping1 and1 as in a former  
instance1 praying for such clemency as  
devils can value4 ,was it the devils1   
then1 that urged the man into the       
presence of the ,lord8 ,was it not      
rather the other spirit1 the spirit of  
life1 which not the presence of a legion
 of the wicked ones could drive from    
him8 ,was it not the spirit of the      
,father in him which brought him1       
ignorant1 fearing1 yet vaguely hoping   
perhaps1 to the feet of the ,son8 ,he   
knew not why he came2 but he came--drawn
 or driven2 he could not keep away4     
,when he came1 however1 the words at    
least of his prayer were moulded by the 
devils--,i adjure thee by ,god that thou
 torment me not4 ,think of the man1     

tortured by such awful presences1       
praying to the healer not to torment    
him6 ,the prayer was compelled into this
 shape by the indwelling demons4 ,they  
would have him pray for indulgence for  
them4 ,but the ,lord heard the deeper   
prayer1 that is1 the need and misery of 
the man1 the horror that made him cry   
and cut himself with stones--and        
commanded the unclean spirit to come out
 of him4 ,thereupon1 ,st ,mark says1 he 
besought him much that he would not send
 them out of the country4 ,probably the 
country was one the condition of whose  
inhabitants afforded the demons unusual 
opportunities for their coveted         
pseudo-embodiment4 ,st ,luke says1 ,they
 besought him that he would not command 
them to go out into the deep--to such   
beings awful1 chiefly because there they
 must be alone1 afar from matter and all
 its forms4 ,in such loneliness the good
 man would be filled with the eternal   
presence of the living ,god2 but they   
would be aware only of their greedy1    

hungry selves--desires without objects4 
,no4 ,here were swine4 ,send us into the
 swine1 that we may enter into them4    
,deprived of the abode they preferred1  
debarred from men1 swine would serve    
their turn4 ,but even the swine--animals
 created to look unclean1 for a type to 
humanity of the very form and fashion of
 its greed--could not endure their      
presence4 ,the man had cut himself with 
stones in his misery2 the swine in      
theirs rushed into the waters of the    
lake and were drowned4 ,the evil        
spirits1 ,i presume1 having no further  
leave1 had to go to their deep after    
all4  ,the destruction of the swine must
 not be regarded as miraculous4 ,but    
there must have been a special reason in
 the character and condition of the     
people of ,gadara for his allowing this 
destruction of their property4 ,i       
suppose that although it worked vexation
 and dismay at first1 it prepared the   
way for some after-reception of the     
gospel4 ,now1 seeing him who had been a 

raving maniac1 sitting at the feet of   
,jesus1 clothed and in his right mind1  
and hearing what had come to the swine1 
they were filled with fear1 and prayed  
the healer to depart from them4  ,but   
who can imagine the delight of the man  
when that wild troop of maddening and   
defiling demons1 which had possessed him
 with all uncleanness1 vanished6 ,scarce
 had he time to know that he was naked1 
before the hands of loving human beings1
 in whom the good ,spirit ruled1 were   
taking off their own garments1 and      
putting them upon him4 ,he was a man    
once more1 and amongst men with human   
faces1 human hearts1 human ways4 ,he was
 with his own2 and that supreme form and
 face of the man who had set him free   
was binding them all into one holy      
family4 ,now he could pray of himself   
the true prayer of a soul which knew    
what it wanted1 and could say what it   
meant4 ,he sat down like a child at the 
feet of the man who had cured him2 and  
when1 yielding at once to the desire of 

those who would be rid of his presence1 
,jesus went down to the boat1 he        
followed1 praying that he might be with 
him2 for what could he desire but to be 
near that power which had restored him  
his divine self1 and the consciousness  
thereof--his own true existence1 that of
 which ,god was thinking when he made   
him8  ,but he would be still nearer the 
,lord in doing his work than in         
following him about4 ,it is remarkable  
that while more than once our ,lord     
charged the healed to be silent1 he     
leaves this man as his apostle--his     
witness with those who had banished him 
from their coasts4 ,something may be    
attributed to the different natures of  
the individuals2 some in preaching him  
would also preach themselves1 and so    
hurt both4 ,but this man was not of     
such4 ,to be with the ,lord was all his 
prayer4 ,therefore he was fit to be     
without him1 and to aid his work apart4 
,but ,i think it more likely that the   
reason lay in the condition of the      

people4 ,juda was in a state of         
excitement about him--that excitement   
had unhealthy elements1 and must not be 
fanned4 ,in some places the ,lord would 
not speak at all4 ,through some he would
 pass unknown4 ,but here all was        
different4 ,he had destroyed their      
swine2 they had prayed him to depart2 if
 he took from them this one sign of his 
real presence1 that is1 of the love     
which heals1 not the power which        
destroys1 it would be to abandon them4  
,but it is very noteworthy that he sent 
the man to his own house1 to his own    
friends4 ,they must be the most open to 
such a message as his1 and from such    
lips--the lips of their own flesh and   
blood4 ,he had been raving in tombs and 
deserts1 tormented with a legion of     
devils2 now he was one of themselves    
again1 with love in his eyes1 adoration 
in the very tones of his voice1 and help
 in his hands--reason once more supreme 
on the throne of his humanity4 ,he      
obeyed1 and published in ,gadara1 and   

the rest of the cities of ,decapolis1   
the great things1 as ,jesus himself     
called them1 which ,god had done for    
him4 ,for it was ,god who had done them4
 ,he was doing the works of his ,father4
  ,one more instance remains1 having    
likewise peculiar points of difficulty1 
and therefore of interest4  ,when ,jesus
 was on the mount of transfiguration1 a 
dumb1 epileptic1 and lunatic boy was    
brought by his father to those disciples
 who were awaiting his return4  ,but    
they could do nothing4 ,to their        
disappointment1 and probably to their   
chagrin1 they found themselves powerless
 over the evil spirit4 ,when ,jesus     
appeared1 the father begged of him the  
aid which his disciples could not give3 
,master1 ,i beseech thee1 look upon my  
son1 for he is mine only child4         
,whoever has held in his arms his child 
in delirium1 calling to his father for  
aid as if he were distant far1 and      
beating the air in wild and aimless     
defence1 will be able to enter a little 

into the trouble of this man's soul4 ,to
 have the child1 and yet see him        
tormented in some region inaccessible2  
to hold him to the heart and yet be     
unable to reach the thick-coming fancies
 which distract him2 to find himself    
with a great abyss between him and his  
child1 across which the cry of the child
 comes1 but back across which no        
answering voice can reach the           
consciousness of the sufferer--is terror
 and misery indeed4 ,but imagine in the 
case before us the intervals as         
well--the stupidity1 the vacant gaze1   
the hanging lip1 the pale flaccid       
countenance and bloodshot eyes1 idiocy  
alternated with madness--no voice of    
human speech1 only the animal babble of 
the uneducated dumb--the misery of his  
falling down anywhere1 now in the fire1 
now in the water1 and the divine shines 
out as nowhere else--for the father     
loves his only child even to agony4     
,what was there in such a child to love8
 ,everything3 the human was there1 else 

whence the torture of that which was not
 human8 whence the pathos of those eyes1
 hardly up to the dog's in intelligence1
 yet omnipotent over the father's heart8
 ,god was there4 ,the misery was that   
the devil was there too4 ,thence came   
the crying and tears4 ,rescue the       
divine2 send the devil to the deep1 was 
the unformed prayer in the father's     
soul4  ,before replying to his prayer1  
,jesus uttered words that could not have
 been addressed to the father1 inasmuch 
as he was neither faithless nor         
perverse4 ,which then of those present  
did he address thus8 ,to which of them  
did he say1 ,how long shall ,i be with  
you8 ,how long shall ,i suffer you8 ,i  
have thought it was the bystanders3 but 
why they8 ,they had not surely reached  
the point of such rebuke4 ,i have       
thought it was the disciples1 because   
perhaps it was their pride that rendered
 them unable to cast out the demon1     
seeing they tried it without faith      
enough in ,god4 ,but the form of address

 does not seem to belong to them3 the   
word generation could not well apply to 
those whom he had chosen out of that    
generation4 ,i have thought1 and gladly 
would ,i continue to think1 if ,i could 
honestly1 that the words were intended  
for the devils who tormented his        
countrymen and friends2 and but for ,st 
,mark's story1 ,i might have held to it4
 ,he1 however1 gives us one point which 
neither ,st ,matthew nor ,st ,luke      
mention--that when he came to his       
disciples he saw a great multitude about
 them1 and the scribes questioning with 
them4 ,he says the multitude were       
greatly amazed when they saw him--why1  
,i do not know1 except it be that he    
came just at the point where his        
presence was needful to give the one    
answer to the scribes pressing hard upon
 his disciples because they could not   
cast out this devil4 ,these scribes1    
these men of accredited education1 who1 
from their position as students of the  
law and the interpretations thereof1    

arrogated to themselves a mastery over  
the faith of the people1 but were       
themselves so careless about the truth  
as to be utterly opaque to its          
illuminating power--these scribes1 ,i   
say1 ,i do think it was whom our ,lord  
addressed as faithless and perverse     
generation4 ,the immediately following  
request to the father of the boy1 ,bring
 him unto me1 was the one answer to     
their arguments4  ,a fresh paroxysm was 
the first result4 ,but repressing all   
haste1 the ,lord will care for the      
father as much as for the child4 ,he    
will help his growing faith4  ,how long 
is it ago since thus hath come unto him8
  ,from a child4 ,and oft-times it hath 
cast him into the fire1 and into the    
waters1 to destroy him2 but if thou     
canst do anything1 have compassion on   
us1 and help us4 ,footnote #i3 ,again   
the us--so full of pathos4 ,if thou     
canst8 ,footnote #aj3 ,the oldest       
manuscripts4 7,dean ,alford74 ,if thou  
canst have faith--,all things1 c4 7,new 

,translation of the ,gospel of ,st      
,mark4 ,rev4 ,f4,h4 ,godwin74 ,all      
things are possible to him that         
believeth4  ,lord1 ,i believe2 help thou
 mine unbelief4  ,whether the words of  
,jesus1 him that believeth1 meant       
himself as believing in the ,father1 and
 therefore gifted with all power1 or the
 man as believing in him1 and therefore 
capable of being the recipient of the   
effects of that power1 ,i am not sure4  
,i incline to the former4 ,the result is
 the same1 for the man resolves the     
question practically and personally3    
what was needful in him should be in    
him4 ,i believe2 help thou mine         
unbelief4  ,in the honesty of his heart1
 lest he should be saying more than was 
true--for how could he be certain that  
,jesus would cure his son8 or how could 
he measure and estimate his own         
faith8--he appeals to the ,lord of      
,truth for all that he ought to be1 and 
think1 and believe4 ,help thou mine     
unbelief4 ,it is the very triumph of    

faith4 ,the unbelief itself cast like   
any other care upon him who careth for  
us1 is the highest exercise of belief4  
,it is the greatest effort lying in the 
power of the man4 ,no man can help      
doubt4 ,the true man alone1 that is1 the
 faithful man1 can appeal to the ,truth 
to enable him to believe what is true1  
and refuse what is false4 ,how this     
applies especially to our own time and  
the need of the living generations1 is  
easy to see4 ,of all prayers it is the  
one for us4  ,possibly our ,lord might  
have held a little farther talk with    
him1 but the people came crowding about4
 ,he rebuked the foul spirit1 saying    
unto him1 ,thou dumb and deaf spirit1 ,i
 charge thee1 come out of him1 and enter
 no more into him4 ,and the spirit cried
 and rent him sore1 and came out of him3
 and he was as one dead2 insomuch that  
many said1 ,he is dead4 ,but ,jesus took
 him by the hand1 and lifted him up2 and
 he arose4  ,why could not we cast him  
out8 asked his disciples as soon as they

 were alone4  ,this kind can come forth 
by nothing but by prayer and fasting4   
,what does this answer imply8 ,the      
prayer and fasting must clearly be on   
the part of those who would heal4 ,they 
cannot be required of one possessed with
 a demon4 ,if he could fast and pray1   
the demon would be gone already4  ,it   
implies that a great purity of soul is  
needful in him who would master the     
powers of evil4 ,i take prayer and      
fasting to indicate a condition of mind 
elevated above the cares of the world   
and the pleasures of the senses1 in     
close communion with the ,god of life2  
therefore by its very purity an awe and 
terror to the unclean spirits1 a fit    
cloud whence the thunder of the word    
might issue against them4 ,the expulsion
 would appear to be the result of moral1
 and hence natural1 superiority--a      
command resting upon oneness with the   
ultimate will of the ,supreme1 in like  
manner as an evil man is sometimes cowed
 in the presence of a good man4 ,the    

disciples had not attained this lofty   
condition of faith4  ,from this ,i lean 
to think that the words of our          
,lord--,all things are possible to him  
that believeth--apply to our ,lord      
himself4 ,the disciples could not help  
the child3 ,if thou canst do anything1  
said the father4 ,all things are        
possible to him that believeth1 says our
 ,lord4 ,he can help him4 ,that it was  
the lack of faith in the disciples which
 rendered the thing impossible for them1
 ,st ,matthew informs us explicitly1 for
 he gives the reply of our ,lord more   
fully than the rest3 ,because of your   
unbelief1 he said1 and followed with the
 assertion that faith could remove      
mountains4  ,but the words--,this       
kind--suggest that the case had its     
peculiarities4 ,it would                
appear--although ,i am not certain of   
this interpretation--that some kinds of 
spirits required for their expulsion1 or
 at least some cases of possession      
required for their cure1 more than      

others of the presence of ,god in the   
healer4 ,i do not care to dwell upon    
this farther than to say that there are 
points in the narrative which seem to   
indicate that it was an unusually bad   
case4 ,the ,lord asked how long he had  
been ill1 and was told1 from childhood4 
,the demon--to use the language of our  
ignorance--had had time and opportunity1
 in his undeveloped condition1 to lay   
thorough hold upon him2 and when he did 
yield to the superior command of the    
,lord1 he left him as dead--so close had
 been the possession1 that for a time   
the natural powers could not operate    
when deprived of the presence of a force
 which had so long usurped1 maltreated1 
and exhausted1 while falsely sustaining 
them4 ,the disciples1 although they had 
already the power to cast out demons1   
could not cast this one out1 and were   
surprised to find it so4 ,there appears 
to me no absurdity1 if we admit the     
demons at all1 in admitting also that   
some had greater force than others1 be  

it regarded as courage or obstinacy1 or 
merely as grasp upon the captive mortal4
  ,in all these stories there is much of
 comfort both to the friends of those   
who are insane1 and to those who are    
themselves aware of their own partial or
 occasional insanity4 ,for such sorrow  
as that of ,charles and ,mary ,lamb1    
walking together towards the asylum1    
when the hour had come for her to repair
 thither1 is there not some assuagement 
here8 ,it may be answered--,we have no  
ground to hope for such cure now4 ,i    
think we have2 but if our faith will not
 reach so far1 we may at least1 like    
,athanasius1 recognize the friendship of
 ,death1 for death is the divine cure of
 many ills4  ,but we all need like      
healing4 ,no man who does not yet love  
the truth with his whole being1 who does
 not love ,god with all his heart and   
soul and strength and mind1 and his     
neighbour as himself1 is in his sound   
mind1 or can act as a rational being1   
save more or less approximately4 ,this  

is as true as it would be of us if      
possessed by other spirits than our own4
 ,every word of unkindness1 ,god help   
us6 every unfair hard judgment1 every   
trembling regard of the outward and     
fearless disregard of the inward life1  
is a siding with the spirit of evil     
against the spirit of good1 with our    
lower and accidental selves1 against our
 higher and essential--our true selves4 
,these the spirit of good would set free
 from all possession but his own1 for   
that is their original life4 ,out of us1
 too1 the evil spirits can go by that   
prayer alone in which a man draws nigh  
to the ,holy4 ,nor can we have any power
 over the evil spirit in others except  
in proportion as by such prayer we cast 
the evil spirit out of ourselves4       
,,viii4 ,,the ,,raising ,,of ,,the      
,,dead4   ,i linger on the threshold4   
,how shall ,i enter the temple of this  
wonder8 ,through all ages men of all    
degrees and forms of religion have hoped
 at least for a continuance of life     

beyond its seeming extinction4 ,without 
such a hope1 how could they have endured
 the existence they had8 ,true1 there   
are in our day men who profess unbelief 
in that future1 and yet lead an         
enjoyable life1 nor even say to         
themselves1 ,let us eat and drink1 for  
to-morrow we die2 but say instead1 with 
nobleness1 ,let us do what good we may1 
for there are men to come after us4 ,of 
all things let him who would be a       
,christian be fair to every man and     
every class of men4 ,before1 however1 ,i
 could be satisfied that ,i understood  
the mental condition of such1 ,i should 
require a deeper insight than ,i possess
 in respect of other men4 ,these1       
however numerous they seem in our day1  
would appear to be exceptions to the    
race4 ,no doubt there have always been  
those who from absorption in the present
 and its pleasures1 have not cared about
 the future1 have not troubled          
themselves with the thought of it4 ,some
 of them would rather not think of it1  

because if there be such a future1 they 
cannot be easy concerning their part in 
it2 while others are simply occupied    
with the poor present--a present grand  
indeed if it be the part of an endless  
whole1 but poor indeed if it stand      
alone4 ,but here are thoughtful men1 who
 say1 ,there is no more4 ,let us make   
the best of this4 ,nor is their notion  
of best contemptible1 although in the   
eyes of some of us1 to whom the only    
worth of being lies in the hope of      
becoming that which1 at the rate of     
present progress1 must take ages to be  
realized1 it is poor4 ,i will venture   
one or two words on the matter4  ,their 
ideal does not approach the ideal of    
,christianity for this life even4       
,before ,i can tell whether their words 
are a true representation of themselves1
 in relation to this future1 ,i must    
know both their conscious and           
unconscious being4 ,no wonder ,i should 
be loath to judge them4  ,no poet of    
high rank1 as far as ,i know1 ever      

disbelieved in the future4 ,he might    
fear that there was none2 but that very 
fear is faith4 ,the greatest poet of the
 present day believes with ardour4 ,that
 it is not proven to the intellect1 ,i  
heartily admit4 ,but if it were true1 it
 were such as the intellect could not   
grasp1 for the understanding must be the
 offspring of the life--in itself       
essential4 ,how should the intellect    
understand its own origin and nature8   
,it is too poor to grasp this question2 
for the continuity of existence depends 
on the nature of existence1 not upon    
external relations4 ,if after death we  
should be conscious that we yet live1 we
 shall even then1 ,i think1 be no more  
able to prove a further continuance of  
life1 than we can now prove our present 
being4 ,it may be easier to             
believe--that will be all4 ,but we      
constantly act upon grounds which we    
cannot prove1 and if we cannot feel so  
sure of life beyond the grave as of     
common every-day things1 at least the   

want of proof ought neither to destroy  
our hope concerning it1 nor prevent the 
action demanded by its bare possibility4
  ,but last1 ,i do say this1 that those 
men1 who1 disbelieving in a future      
state1 do yet live up to the conscience 
within them1 however much lower the     
requirements of that conscience may be  
than those of a conscience which        
believes itself enlightened from the    
,lord1 who is that spirit1 shall enter  
the other life in an immeasurably more  
enviable relation thereto than those who
 say ,lord1 ,lord1 and do not the things
 he says to them4  ,it may seem strange 
that our ,lord says so little about the 
life to come--as we call it--though in  
truth it is one life with the           
present--as the leaf and the blossom are
 one life4 ,even in argument with the   
,sadducees he supports his side upon    
words accepted by them1 and upon the    
nature of ,god1 but says nothing of the 
question from a human point of regard4  
,he seems always to have taken it for   

granted1 ever turning the minds of his  
scholars towards that which was deeper  
and lay at its root--the life           
itself--the oneness with ,god and his   
will1 upon which the continuance of our 
conscious being follows of a necessity1 
and without which if the latter were    
possible1 it would be for human beings  
an utter evil4  ,when he speaks of the  
world beyond1 it is as his ,father's    
house4 ,he says there are many mansions 
there4 ,he attempts in no way to        
explain4 ,man's own imagination         
enlightened of the spirit of truth1 and 
working with his experience and         
affections1 was a far safer guide than  
his intellect with the best schooling   
which even our ,lord could have given   
it4 ,the memory of the poorest home of a
 fisherman on the shore of the ,galilean
 lake1 where he as a child had spent his
 years of divine carelessness in his    
father's house1 would1 at the words of  
our ,lord my ,father's house1 convey to 
,peter or ,james or ,john more truth    

concerning the many mansions than a     
revelation to their intellect1 had it   
been possible1 as clear as the          
,apocalypse itself is obscure4  ,when he
 said ,i have overcome the world he had 
overcome the cause of all doubt1 the    
belief in the outside appearances and   
not in the living truth3 he left it to  
his followers to say1 from their own    
experience knowing the thing1 not merely
 from the belief of his resurrection1   
,he has conquered death and the grave4  
,o ,death1 where is thy sting8 ,o       
,grave1 where is thy victory8 ,it is the
 inward life of truth that conquers the 
outward death of appearance2 and nothing
 else1 no revelation from without1 could
 conquer it4  ,these miracles of our    
,lord are the nearest we come to news of
 any kind concerning--,i cannot say     
from--the other world4 ,i except of     
course our ,lord's own resurrection4 ,of
 that ,i shall yet speak as a miracle1  
for miracle it was1 as certainly as any 
of our ,lord's1 whatever interpretation 

be put upon the word4 ,and ,i say the   
nearest to news we come1 because not one
 of those raised from the dead gives us 
at least an atom of information4 ,is it 
possible they may have told their       
friends something which has filtered    
down to us in any shape8  ,i turn to the
 cases on record4 ,they are only three4 
,the day after he cured the servant of  
the centurion at ,capernaum1 ,jesus went
 to ,nain1 and as they approached the   
gate--but ,i cannot part the story from 
the lovely words in which it is told by 
,st ,luke3 ,there was a dead man carried
 out1 the only son of his mother1 and   
she was a widow2 and much people of the 
city was with her4 ,and when the ,lord  
saw her1 he had compassion on her1 and  
said unto her1 ,weep not4 ,and he came  
and touched the bier2 and they that bare
 him stood still4 ,and he said1 ,young  
man1 ,i say unto thee1 ,arise4 ,and he  
that was dead sat up1 and began to      
speak4 ,and he delivered him to his     
mother4  ,in each of the cases there is 

an especial fitness in the miracle4     
,this youth was the only son of a widow2
 the daughter of ,jairus was his one    
only daughter2 ,lazarus was the brother 
of two orphan sisters4  ,i will not     
attempt by any lingering over the simple
 details to render the record more      
impressive4 ,that lingering ought to be 
on the part of the reader of the        
narrative itself4 ,friends crowded      
around a loss--the centre of the        
gathering that which was not--the sole  
presence the hopeless sign of a vanished
 treasure--an open gulf1 as it were1    
down which love and tears and sad       
memories went plunging in a soundless   
cataract3 the weeping mother--the dead  
man borne in the midst4 ,they were going
 to the house of death1 but ,life was   
between them and it--was walking to meet
 them1 although they knew it not4 ,a    
face of tender pity looks down on the   
mother4 ,she heeds him not4 ,he goes up 
to the bier1 and lays his hand on it4   
,the bearers recognize authority1 and   

stand4 ,a word1 and the dead sits up4 ,a
 moment more1 and he is in the arms of  
his mother4 ,o mother6 mother6 wast thou
 more favoured than other mothers8 ,or  
was it that1 for the sake of all mothers
 as well as thyself1 thou wast made the 
type of the universal mother with the   
dead son--the raising of him but a      
foretaste of the one universal bliss of 
mothers with dead sons8 ,that thou wert 
an exception would have ill met thy     
need1 for thy motherhood could not be   
justified in thyself alone4 ,it could   
not have its rights save on grounds     
universal4 ,thy motherhood was common to
 all thy sisters4 ,to have helped thee  
by exceptional favour would not have    
been to acknowledge thy motherhood4     
,that must go mourning still1 even with 
thy restored son in its bosom1 for its  
claims are universal or they are not4   
,thou wast indeed a chosen one1 but that
 thou mightest show to all the last fate
 of the mourning mother2 for in ,god's  
dealings there are no exceptions4 ,his  

laws are universal as he is infinite4   
,jesus wrought no new thing--only the   
works of the ,father4 ,what matters it  
that the dead come not back to us1 if we
 go to them8 ,what matters it8 said ,i6 
,it is tenfold better4 ,dear as home is1
 he who loves it best must know that    
what he calls home is not home1 is but a
 shadow of home1 is but the open porch  
of home1 where all the winds of the     
world rave by turns1 and the glowing    
fire of the true home casts lovely      
gleams from within4  ,certainly this    
mother did not thus lose her son again4 
,doubtless next she died first1 knowing 
then at last that she had only to wait4 
,the dead must have their sorrow too1   
but when they find it is well with them1
 they can sit and wait by the mouth of  
the coming stream better than those can 
wait who see the going stream bear their
 loves down to the ocean of the unknown4
 ,the dead sit by the river-mouths of   
,time3 the living mourn upon its higher 
banks4  ,but for the joy of the mother1 

we cannot conceive it4 ,no mother even  
who has lost her son1 and hopes one     
blessed eternal day to find him again1  
can conceive her gladness4 ,had it been 
all a dream8 ,a dream surely in this    
sense1 that the final1 which alone1 in  
the full sense1 is ,god's will1 must    
ever cast the look of a dream over all  
that has gone before4 ,when we last     
awake1 we shall know that we dreamed4   
,even every honest judgment1 feeling1   
hope1 desire1 will show itself a        
dream--with this difference from some   
dreams1 that the waking is the more     
lovely1 that nothing is lost1 but       
everything gained1 in the full blaze of 
restored completeness4 ,how triumphant  
would this mother die1 when her turn    
came6  ,and how calmly would the        
restored son go about the duties of the 
world4 ,footnote3#aa ,those who can take
 the trouble1 and are capable of        
understanding it1 will do well to study 
,robert ,browning's ,epistle of an ,arab
 ,physician4  ,he sat up and began to   

speak4  ,it is vain to look into that   
which ,god has hidden2 for surely it is 
by no chance that we are left thus in   
the dark4 ,he began to speak4 ,why does 
not the ,evangelist go on to give us    
some hint of what he said8 ,would not   
the hearts of mothers1 fathers1 sisters1
 brothers1 wives1 children1             
husbands--who shall say where the divine
 madness of love will                   
cease8--grandfathers1                   
grandmothers--themselves with flickering
 flame--yes1 grandchildren1 weeping over
 the loss of the beloved gray head and  
tremulously gentle voice--would not all 
these have blessed ,god for ,st ,luke's 
record of what the son of the widow     
said8 ,for my part1 ,i thank ,god he was
 silent4  ,when ,i think of the pictures
 of heaven drawn from the attempt of    
prophecy to utter its visions in the    
poor forms of the glory of earth1 ,i see
 it better that we should walk by faith1
 and not by a fancied sight4 ,i judge   
that the region beyond is so different  

from ours1 so comprising in one         
surpassing excellence all the goods of  
ours1 that any attempt of the           
had-been-dead to describe it1 would have
 resulted in the most wretched of       
misconceptions4 ,such might please the  
lower conditions of ,christian          
development--but so much the worse1 for 
they could not fail to obstruct its     
further growth4 ,it is well that ,st    
,luke is silent2 or that the mother and 
the friends who stood by the bier1 heard
 the words of the returning spirit only 
as the babble of a child from which they
 could draw no definite meaning1 and to 
which they could respond only by        
caresses4  ,the story of the daughter of
 ,jairus is recorded briefly by ,st     
,matthew1 more fully by ,st ,luke1 most 
fully by ,st ,mark4 ,one of the rulers  
of the synagogue at ,capernaum falls at 
the feet of our ,lord1 saying his little
 daughter is at the point of death4 ,she
 was about twelve years of age4 ,he begs
 the ,lord to lay his hands on her that 

she may live4 ,our ,lord goes with him1 
followed by many people4 ,on his way to 
restore the child he is arrested by a   
touch4 ,he makes no haste to outstrip   
death4 ,we can imagine the impatience of
 the father when the ,lord stood and    
asked who touched him4 ,what did that   
matter8 his daughter was dying2 ,death  
would not wait4  ,but the woman's heart 
and soul must not be passed by4 ,the    
father with the only daughter must wait 
yet a little4 ,the will of ,god cannot  
be outstripped4  ,while he yet spake1   
there came from the ruler of the        
synagogue's house certain which said1   
,thy daughter is dead3 why troublest    
thou the ,master any further8 ,ah6 ,i   
thought so6 ,there it is6 ,death has won
 the race6 we may suppose the father to 
say--bitterly within himself4 ,but      
,jesus1 while he tried the faith of men1
 never tried it without feeding its     
strength4 ,with the trial he always     
gives the way of escape4 ,as soon as    
,jesus heard the word that was          

spoken--not leaving it to work its agony
 of despair first--he saith unto the    
ruler of the synagogue1 ,be not afraid2 
only believe4 ,they are such simple     
words--commonplace in the ears of those 
who have heard them often and heeded    
them little6 but containing more for    
this man's peace than all the           
consolations of philosophy1 than all the
 enforcements of morality2 yea1 even    
than the raising of his daughter itself4
 ,to arouse the higher1 the hopeful1 the
 trusting nature of a man2 to cause him 
to look up into the unknown region of   
mysterious possibilities--the ,god so   
poorly known--is to do infinitely more  
for a man than to remove the pressure of
 the direst evil without it4 ,i will go 
further3 ,to arouse the hope that there 
may be a ,god with a heart like our own 
is more for the humanity in us than to  
produce the absolute conviction that    
there is a being who made the heaven and
 the earth and the sea and the fountains
 of waters4 ,jesus is the express image 

of ,god's substance1 and in him we know 
the heart of ,god4 ,to nourish faith in 
himself was the best thing he could do  
for the man4  ,we hear of no word from  
the ruler further4 ,if he answered not  
our ,lord in words1 it is no wonder4    
,the compressed lip and the uplifted eye
 would say more than any words to the   
heart of the ,saviour4  ,now it would   
appear that he stopped the crowd and    
would let them go no farther4 ,they     
could not all see1 and he did not wish  
them to see4 ,it was not good for men to
 see too many miracles4 ,they would     
feast their eyes1 and then cease to     
wonder or think4 ,the miracle1 which    
would be all1 and quite dissociated from
 religion1 with many of them1 would     
cease to be wonderful1 would become a   
common thing with most4 ,yea1 some would
 cease to believe that it had been4     
,they would say she did sleep after     
all--she was not dead4 ,a wonder is a   
poor thing for faith after all2 and the 
miracle could be only a wonder in the   

eyes of those who had not prayed for it1
 and could not give thanks for it2 who  
did not feel that in it they were       
partakers of the love of ,god4  ,jesus  
must have hated anything like display4  
,god's greatest work has never been done
 in crowds1 but in closets2 and when it 
works out from thence1 it is not upon   
crowds1 but upon individuals4 ,a crowd  
is not a divine thing4 ,it is not a     
body4 ,its atoms are not members one of 
another4 ,a crowd is a chaos over which 
the ,spirit of ,god has yet to move1 ere
 each retires to his place to begin his 
harmonious work1 and unite with all the 
rest in the organized chorus of the     
human creation4 ,the crowd must be      
dispersed that the church may be formed4
  ,the relation of the crowd to the     
miracle is rightly reflected in what    
came to the friends of the house4 ,to   
them1 weeping and wailing greatly1 after
 the ,eastern fashion1 he said when he  
entered1 ,why make ye this ado1 and     
weep8 ,the damsel is not dead1 but      

sleepeth4 ,they laughed him to scorn4   
,he put them all out4  ,but what did our
 ,lord mean by those words--,the damsel 
is not dead1 but sleepeth8 ,not         
certainly that1 as we regard the        
difference between death and sleep1 his 
words were to be taken literally2 not   
that she was only in a state of coma or 
lethargy2 not even that it was a case of
 suspended animation as in catalepsy2   
for the whole narrative evidently       
intends us to believe that she was dead 
after the fashion we call death4 ,that  
this was not to be dead after the       
fashion our ,lord called death1 is a    
blessed and lovely fact4  ,neither can  
it mean1 that she was not dead as       
others1 in that he was going to wake her
 so soon2 for they did not know that1   
and therefore it could give no ground   
for the expostulation1 ,why make ye this
 ado1 and weep8  ,nor yet could it come 
only from the fact that to his eyes     
death and sleep were so alike1 the one  
needing the power of ,god for awaking   

just as much as the other4 ,true they   
must be more alike in his eyes than even
 in the eyes of the many poets who have 
written of ,death and his brother       
,sleep2 but he sees the differences none
 the less clearly1 and how they look to 
us1 and his knowledge could be no reason
 for reproaching our ignorance4 ,the    
explanation seems to me large and       
simple4 ,these people professed to      
believe in the resurrection of the dead1
 and did believe after some feeble      
fashion4 ,they were not ,sadducees1 for 
they were the friends of a ruler of the 
synagogue4 ,our ,lord did not bring the 
news of resurrection to the world3 that 
had been believed1 in varying degrees1  
by all peoples and nations from the     
first3 the resurrection he taught was a 
far deeper thing--the resurrection from 
dead works to serve the living and true 
,god4 ,but as with the greater number   
even of ,christians1 although it was    
part of their creed1 and had some       
influence upon their moral and spiritual

 condition1 their practical faith in the
 resurrection of the body was a poor    
affair4 ,in the moment of loss and      
grief1 they thought little about it4    
,they lived then in the present almost  
alone2 they were not saved by hope4 ,the
 reproach therefore of our ,lord was    
simply that they did not take from their
 own creed the consolation they ought4  
,if the child was to be one day restored
 to them1 then she was not dead as their
 tears and lamentations would imply4    
,any one of themselves who believed in  
,god and the prophets1 might have stood 
up and said--,mourners1 why make such   
ado8 ,the maid is not dead1 but         
sleepeth4 ,you shall again clasp her to 
your bosom4 ,hope1 and fear not--only   
believe4 ,it was in this sense1 ,i      
think1 that our ,lord spoke4  ,but it   
may not at first appear how much grander
 the miracle itself appears in the light
 of this simple interpretation of the   
,master's words4 ,the sequel stands in  
the same relation to the words as       

if--turning into the death-chamber1 and 
bringing the maid out by the hand--he   
had said to them3 ,see--,i told you she 
was not dead but sleeping4 ,the words   
apply to all death1 just as much as to  
that in which this girl lay4 ,the ,lord 
brings his assurance1 his knowledge of  
what we do not know1 to feed our feeble 
faith4 ,it is as if he told us that our 
notion of death is all wrong1 that there
 is no such thing as we think it2 that  
we should be nearer the truth if we     
denied it altogether1 and gave to what  
we now call death the name of sleep1 for
 it is but a passing appearance1 and no 
right cause of such misery as we        
manifest in its presence4 ,i think it   
was from this word of our ,lord1 and    
from the same utterance in the case of  
,lazarus1 that ,st ,paul so often uses  
the word sleep for die and for death4   
,indeed the notion of death1 as we feel 
it1 seems to have vanished entirely from
 ,st ,paul's mind--he speaks of things  
so in a continuity1 not even referring  

to the change--not even saying before   
death or after death1 as if death made  
no atom of difference in the progress of
 holy events1 the divine history of the 
individual and of the race together4 ,in
 a word1 when he raised the dead1 the   
,son did neither more nor less nor other
 than the work of the ,father--what he  
is always doing2 he only made it        
manifest a little sooner to the eyes and
 hearts of men4  ,but they to whom he   
spoke laughed him to scorn4 ,they knew  
she was dead1 and their unfaithfulness  
blinded their hearts to what he meant4  
,they were unfit to behold the proof of 
what he had said4 ,such as they1 in such
 mood1 could gather from it no benefit4 
,a faithful heart alone is capable of   
understanding the proof of the truest   
things4 ,it is faith towards ,god which 
alone can lay hold of any of his facts4 
,there is a foregoing fitness4          
,therefore he put them all out4 ,but the
 father and mother1 whose love and      
sorrow made them more easily persuaded  

of mighty things1 more accessible to    
holy influences1 and the three          
disciples1 whose faith rendered them fit
 to behold otherwise dangerous wonders1 
he took with him into the chamber where 
the damsel lay--dead toward             
men--sleeping toward ,god4 ,dead as she 
was1 she only slept4  ,damsel1 ,i say   
unto thee1 arise4 ,and her spirit came  
again1 and straightway the damsel arose 
and walked1 and he commanded to give her
 meat4 ,for in the joy of her           
restoration1 they might forget that the 
more complete the health of a worn and  
exhausted body1 the more needful was    
food--food which1 in all its commonness1
 might well support the miracle2 for not
 only did it follow by the next word to 
that which had wrought the miracle1 but 
it worked in perfect harmony with the   
law which took shape in this            
resurrection1 and in its relations to   
the human being involved no whit less   
marvel than lay in the miracle itself4  
,the raising of the dead and the feeding

 of the living are both and equally     
divine--therefore in utter harmony4 ,and
 we do not any more understand the power
 in the body which takes to itself that 
food1 than we understand the power going
 out from ,jesus to make this girl's    
body capable of again employing its     
ministrations4 ,they are both of one and
 must be perfect in harmony1 the one as 
much the outcome of law as the other4   
,he charges the parents to be silent1 it
 may be for his sake1 who did not want  
to be made a mere wonder of1 but more   
probably for their sakes1 that the holy 
thing might not evaporate in speech1 or 
be defiled with foolish talk and the    
glorification of self-importance in     
those for whom a mighty wonder had been 
done2 but that in silence the seed might
 take root in their hearts and bring    
forth living fruit in humility1 and     
uprightness1 and faith4  ,and now for   
the wonderful story of ,lazarus4 ,in    
this miracle one might think the desire 
of ,jesus for his friend's presence     

through his own coming trouble1 might   
have had a share1 were it not that we   
never find him working a miracle for    
himself4 ,he knew the perfect will of   
the ,father1 and left all to him4 ,those
 who cannot know that will and do not   
care for it1 have to fall into trouble  
that they may know ,god as the ,saviour 
from their own doings--as the fountain  
of all their well-being4 ,this ,jesus   
had not to learn1 and therefore could   
need no miracle wrought for him4 ,even  
his resurrection was all for others4    
,that miracle was wrought in1 not for   
him4  ,he knew ,lazarus was dying4 ,he  
abode where he was and let him die4 ,for
 a hard and therefore precious lesson   
for sisters and friends lay in that     
death1 and the more the love the more   
precious the lesson--the same that lies 
in every death2 and the end the same for
 all who love--resurrection4 ,the       
raising of ,lazarus is the type of the  
raising of all the dead4 ,of ,lazarus1  
as of the daughter of ,jairus1 he said  

he sleepeth2 but ,i go that ,i may awake
 him out of sleep4 ,he slept as every   
dead man sleeps4  ,read the story4 ,try 
to think not only what the disciples    
felt1 but what ,jesus was thinking2 how 
he1 who saw the other side1 regarded the
 death he was about to destroy4  ,lord1 
if thou hadst been here1 said ,martha1  
my brother had not died4  ,did she mean 
to hint what she had not faith enough to
 ask8  ,thy brother shall rise again1   
said the ,lord4  ,but her faith was so  
weak that she took little comfort from  
the assurance4 ,alas6 she knew what it  
meant4 ,she knew all about it4 ,he spoke
 of the general far-off resurrection1   
which to her was a very little thing4   
,it was true he should rise again2 but  
what was that to the present consuming  
grief8 ,a thousand years might be to    
,god as one day1 but to ,martha the one 
day was a thousand years4 ,it is only to
 him who entirely believes in ,god that 
the thousand years become one day also4 
,for he that believes shares in the     

vision of him in whom he believes4 ,it  
is through such faith that ,jesus would 
help her--far beyond the present awful  
need4 ,he seeks to raise her confidence 
in himself by the strongest assertions  
of the might that was in him4 ,i am the 
resurrection and the life3 he that      
believeth in me1 though he were dead1   
yet shall he live6 ,the death of not    
believing in ,god--the ,god revealed in 
,jesus--is the only death4 ,the other is
 nowhere but in the fears and fancies of
 unbelief4 ,and whosoever liveth and    
believeth in me shall never die4 ,there 
is for him nothing to be called death2  
nothing that is what death looks to us4 
,believest thou this8  ,martha was an   
honest woman4 ,she did not fully        
understand what he meant4 ,she could    
not1 therefore1 do more than assent to  
it4 ,but she believed in him1 and that  
much she could tell him plainly4  ,yea1 
,lord3 ,i believe that thou art the     
,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 which should 
come into the world4  ,and that hope    

with the confession arose in her heart1 
she gave the loveliest sign3 she went   
and called her sister4 ,but even in the 
profounder ,mary faith reached only to  
the words of her sister3  ,lord1 if thou
 hadst been here1 my brother had not    
died4  ,when he saw her trouble1 and    
that of the ,jews with her1 he was      
troubled likewise4 ,but why8 ,the purest
 sympathy with what was about to vanish 
would not surely make him groan in his  
spirit4 ,why1 then1 this trouble in our 
,lord's heart8 ,we have a right1 yea1 a 
duty1 to understand it if we can1 for he
 showed it4  ,i think it was caused by  
an invading sense of the general misery 
of poor humanity from the lack of that  
faith in the ,father without which he1  
the ,son1 could do1 or endure1 nothing4 
,if the ,father ceased the ,son must    
cease4 ,it was the darkness between ,god
 and his creatures that gave room for   
and was filled with their weeping and   
wailing over their dead4 ,to them death 
must appear an unmitigated and          

irremediable evil4 ,how frightful to    
feel as they felt6 to see death as they 
saw it6 ,nothing could help their misery
 but that faith in the infinite love    
which he had come to bring them2 but how
 hard it was to persuade them to receive
 it6 ,and how many weeping generations  
of loving hearts must follow6 ,his      
,father was indeed with them all1 but   
how slowly and painfully would each     
learn the one precious fact6  ,where    
have ye laid him8 he asked4  ,lord1 come
 and see1 they answered1 in such        
mournful accents of human misery that he
 wept with them4  ,they come to the     
grave4  ,take ye away the stone4  ,lord1
 by this time he stinketh1 for he hath  
been dead four days1 said she who       
believed in the ,resurrection and the   
,life6 ,they are the saddest of sad     
words4 ,i hardly know how to utter the  
feeling they raise4 ,in all the         
relations of mortality to immortality1  
of body to soul1 there are painful and  
even ugly things1 things to which1 by   

common consent1 we refer only upon dire 
necessity1 and with a sense of shame4   
,happy they in whom the mortal has put  
on immortality6 ,decay and its          
accompaniments1 all that makes the most 
beloved of the appearances of ,god's    
creation a terror1 compelling us to call
 to the earth for succour1 and pray her 
to take our dead out of our sight1 to   
receive her own back into her bosom1 and
 unmake in secret darkness that which   
was the glory of the light in our       
eyes--this was upper-most with ,martha1 
even in the presence of him to whom     
,death was but a slave to come and go at
 his will4 ,careful of his feelings1 of 
the shock to his senses1 she would      
oppose his will4 ,for the dead brother's
 sake also1 that he should not be       
dishonoured in his privacy1 she would   
not have had that stone removed4 ,but   
had it been as ,martha feared1 who so   
tender with feeble flesh as the ,son of 
,man8 ,who so unready to impute the     
shame it could not help8 ,who less      

fastidious over the painful working of  
the laws of his own world8    ,entire   
affection hateth nicer hands4  ,and at  
the worst1 what was decay to him1 who   
could recall the disuniting atoms under 
the restored law of imperial life8      
,said ,i not unto thee1 that if thou    
wouldest believe1 thou shouldest see the
 glory of ,god8  ,again ,i say the      
essential glory of ,god who raises all  
the dead1 not merely an exceptional     
glory of ,god in raising this one dead  
man4  ,they should see not corruption   
but glory4 ,no evil odour of dissolution
 should assail them1 but glowing life   
should spring from the place of the     
dead2 light should be born from the very
 bosom of the darkness4  ,they took away
 the friendly stone4 ,then ,jesus spoke1
 not to the dead man1 but to the living 
,father4 ,the men and women about him   
must know it as the ,father's work4 ,and
 ,jesus lifted up his eyes1 and said1   
,father1 ,i thank thee that thou hast   
heard me4 ,and ,i knew that thou hearest

 me always3 but because of the people   
which stand by ,i said it1 that they may
 believe that thou hast sent me4 ,so    
might they believe that the work was    
,god's1 that he was doing the will of   
,god1 and that they might trust in the  
,god whose will was such as this4 ,he   
claimed the presence of ,god in what he 
did1 that by the open claim and the     
mighty deed following it they might see 
that the ,father justified what the ,son
 said1 and might receive him and all    
that he did as the manifestation of the 
,father4 ,and now--  ,lazarus1 come     
forth4  ,slow toiling1 with hand and    
foot bound in the grave clothes1 he that
 had been dead struggled forth to the   
light4 ,what an awful moment6 ,when did 
ever corruption and glory meet and      
embrace as now6 ,oh6 what ready hands1  
eager almost to helplessness1 were      
stretched trembling towards the feeble  
man returning from his strange journey1 
to seize and carry him into the         
day--their poor day1 which they thought 

all the day1 forgetful of that higher   
day which for their sakes he had left   
behind1 content to walk in moonlight a  
little longer1 gladdened by the embraces
 of his sisters1 and--perhaps--,i do not
 know--comforting their hearts with news
 of the heavenly regions6  ,joy of all  
joys6 ,the dead come back6 ,is it any   
wonder that this ,mary should spend     
three hundred pence on an ointment for  
the feet of the ,raiser of the ,dead8   
,i doubt if he told them anything8 ,i do
 not think he could make even his own   
flesh and blood--of woman-kind1 quick to
 understand--know the things he had seen
 and heard and felt4 ,all that can be   
said concerning this1 is thus said by   
our beloved brother ,tennyson in his    
book ,in ,memoriam3    ',where wert     
thou1 brother1 those four days8'        
,there lives no record of reply1        
,which telling what it is to die1   ,had
 surely added praise to praise4         
,behold a man raised up by ,christ6     
,the rest remaineth unrevealed2   ,he   

told it not2 or something sealed   ,the 
lips of that ,evangelist4  ,why are we  
left in such ignorance8  ,without the   
raising of the dead1 without the rising 
of the ,saviour himself1 ,christianity  
would not have given what it could of   
hope for the future4 ,hope is not faith1
 but neither is faith sight2 and if we  
have hope we are not miserable men4 ,but
 ,christianity must not1 could not      
interfere with the discipline needful   
for its own fulfilment1 could not depose
 the schoolmaster that leads unto       
,christ4 ,one main doubt and terror     
which drives men towards the revelation 
in ,jesus1 is this strange thing ,death4
 ,how shall any man imagine he is       
complete in himself1 and can do without 
a ,father in heaven1 when he knows that 
he knows neither the mystery whence he  
sprung by birth1 nor the mystery to     
which he goes by death8 ,god has given  
us room away from himself as ,robert    
,browning says3--    444,god1 whose     
pleasure brought    ,man into being1    

stands away1   ,as it were1 an          
hand-breadth off1 to give   ,room for   
the newly-made to live1   ,and look at  
,him from a place apart1   ,and use ,his
 gifts of brain and heart--  and this   
room1 in its time-symbol1 is bounded by 
darkness on the one hand1 and darkness  
on the other4 ,whence ,i came and       
whither ,i go are dark3 how can ,i live 
in peace without the ,god who ordered it
 thus8 ,faith is my only refuge--an     
absolute belief in a being so much      
beyond myself1 that he can do all for   
this me with utter satisfaction to this 
me1 protecting all its rights1 jealously
 as his own from which they spring1 that
 he may make me at last one with himself
 who is my deeper self1 inasmuch as his 
thought of me is my life4 ,and not to   
know him1 even if ,i could go on living 
and happy without him1 is death4  ,it   
may be said1 ,why all this8 ,why not go 
on like a brave man to meet your fate1  
careless of what that fate may be8  ,but
 what if this fate should depend on     

myself8 ,am ,i to be careless then8 ,i  
answer4  ,the fate is so uncertain6 ,if 
it be annihilation1 why quail before it8
 ,cowardice at least is contemptible4   
,is not indifference more contemptible8 
,that one who has once thought should   
not care to go on to think8 ,that this  
glory should perish--is it no grief8 ,is
 life not a good with all its pain8     
,ought one to be willing to part with a 
good8 ,ought he not to cleave fast      
thereto8 ,have you never grudged the    
coming sleep1 because you must cease for
 the time to be so much as you were     
before8 ,for my part1 ,i think the man  
who can go to sleep without faith in    
,god has yet to learn what being is4 ,he
 who knows not ,god cannot1 however1    
have much to lose in losing being4 ,and 
yet--and yet--did he never love man or  
woman or child8 ,is he content that     
there should be no more of it8 ,above   
all1 is he content to go on with man and
 woman and child now1 careless of       
whether the love is a perishable thing8 

,if it be1 why does he not kill himself1
 seeing it is all a lie--a false        
appearance of a thing too glorious to be
 fact1 but for which our best nature    
calls aloud--and cannot have it8 ,if one
 knew for certain that there was no life
 beyond this1 then the noble thing would
 be to make the best of this1 yea even  
then to try after such things as are    
written in the ,gospel as we call       
it--for they are the noblest4 ,that ,i  
am sure of1 whatever ,i may doubt4 ,but 
not to be sure of annihilation1 and yet 
choose it to be true1 and act as if it  
were true1 seems to me to indicate a    
nature at strife with immortality--bound
 for the dust by its own choice--of the 
earth1 and returning to the dust4  ,the 
man will say1 ,that is yielding         
everything4 ,let us eat and drink1 for  
to-morrow we die4 ,i am of the dust1 for
 ,i believe in nothing beyond4  ,no1 ,i 
return4 ,i recognize another law in     
myself which seems to me infinitely     
higher4 ,and ,i think that law is in you

 also1 although you are at strife with  
it1 and will revive in you to your      
blessed discontent4 ,by that ,i will    
walk1 and not by yours--a law which bids
 me strive after what ,i am not but may 
become--a law in me striving against the
 law of sin and down-dragging decay--a  
law which is one with my will1 and1 if  
true1 must of all things make one at    
last4 ,if ,i am made to live ,i ought   
not to be willing to cease4 ,this       
unwillingness to cease--above all1 this 
unwillingness to cease to love my own1  
the fore-front to me of my all men--may 
be in me the sign1 may well be in me the
 sign that ,i am made to live4 ,above   
all to pass away without the possibility
 of making reparation to those whom ,i  
have wronged1 with no chance of saying  
,i am sorry--what shall ,i do for you8  
,grant me some means of delivering      
myself from this burden of wrong--seems 
to me frightful4 ,no ,god to help one to
 be good now6 no ,god who cares whether 
one is good or not6 if a ,god1 then one 

who will not give his creature time     
enough to grow good1 even if he is      
growing better1 but will blot him out   
like a rain-drop6 ,great ,god1          
forbid--if thou art4 ,if thou art not1  
then this1 like all other prayers1 goes 
echoing through the soulless vaults of a
 waste universe1 from the thought of    
which its peoples recoil in horror4     
,death1 then1 is genial1 soul-begetting1
 and love-creating2 and ,life is        
nowhere1 save in the imaginations of the
 children of the grave4 ,whence1 then1  
oh6 whence came those their             
imaginations8 ,death1 thou art not my   
father6 ,grave1 thou art not my mother6 
,i come of another kind1 nor shall ye   
usurp dominion over me4  ,what better   
sign of immortality than the raising of 
the dead could ,god give8 ,he cannot1   
however1 be always raising the dead     
before our eyes2 for then the holiness  
of death's ends would be a failure4 ,we 
need death2 only it shall be undone once
 and again for a time1 that we may know 

it is not what it seems to us4 ,i have  
already said that probably we are not   
capable of being told in words what the 
other world is4 ,but even the very      
report through the ages that the dead   
came back1 as their friends had known   
them1 with the old love unlost in the   
grave1 with the same face to smile and  
bless1 is precious indeed4 ,that they   
remain the same in all that made them   
lovely1 is the one priceless fact--if we
 may but hope in it as a fact4 ,that we 
shall behold1 and clasp1 and love them  
again follows of simple necessity4 ,we  
cannot be sure of the report as if it   
were done before our own eyes1 yet what 
a hope it gives even to him whose       
honesty and his faith together make him1
 like ,martha1 refrain speech1 not      
daring to say ,i believe of all that is 
reported6 ,i think such a one will one  
day be able to believe more than he even
 knows how to desire4 ,for faith in     
,jesus will well make up for the lack of
 the sight of the miracle4  ,does ,god1 

then1 make death look what it is not8   
,why not let it appear what it is1 and  
prevent us from forming false judgments 
of it8  ,it is our low faithlessness    
that makes us misjudge it1 and nothing  
but faith could make us judge it aright4
 ,and that1 while in faithlessness1 we  
should thus misjudge it1 is well4 ,in   
what it appears to us1 it is a type of  
what we are without ,god4 ,but there is 
no falsehood in it4 ,the dust must go   
back to the dust4 ,he who believes in   
the body more than in the soul1 cleaves 
to this aspect of death3 he who believes
 in thought1 in mind1 in love1 in truth1
 can see the other side--can rejoice    
over the bursting shell which allows the
 young oak to creep from its            
kernel-prison4 ,the lower is true1 but  
the higher overcomes and absorbs it4    
,when that which is perfect is come1    
then that which is in part shall be done
 away4 ,when the spirit of death is     
seen1 the body of death vanishes from   
us4 ,death is ,god's angel of birth4 ,we

 fear him4 ,the dying stretches out     
loving hands of hope towards him4 ,i do 
not believe that death is to the dying  
the dreadful thing it looks to the      
beholders4 ,i think it is more like what
 the spirit may then be able to remember
 of its own birth as a child into this  
lower world1 this porch of the heavenly4
 ,how will he love his mother then6 and 
all humanity in her1 and ,god who gave  
her1 and ,god who gives her back6  ,the 
future lies dark before us1 with an     
infinite hope in the darkness4 ,to be at
 peace concerning it on any other ground
 than the love of ,god1 would be an     
absolute loss4 ,better fear and hope and
 prayer1 than knowledge and peace       
without the prayer4  ,to sum up3 ,an    
express revelation in words would       
probably be little intelligible4 ,in    
,christ we have an ever-growing         
revelation4 ,he is the resurrection and 
the life4 ,as we know him we know our   
future4  ,in our ignorance lies a force 
of need1 compelling us towards ,god4    

,in our ignorance likewise lies the room
 for the development of the simple will1
 as well as the necessity for arousing  
it4 ,hence this ignorance is but the    
shell of faith4  ,in this1 as in all his
 miracles1 our ,lord shows in one       
instance what his ,father is ever doing 
without showing it4  ,even the report of
 this is the best news we can have from 
the other world--as we call it4         
,,ix4 ,,the ,,government ,,of ,,nature4 
,the miracles ,i include in this class  
are the following3--  #a4 ,the turning  
of water into wine1 already treated of1 
given by ,st ,john4 #b4 ,the draught of 
fishes1 given by ,st ,luke4 #c4 ,the    
draught of fishes1 given by ,st ,john4  
#d ,the feeding of the four thousand1   
given by ,st ,matthew and ,st ,mark4 #e4
 ,the feeding of the five thousand1     
recorded by all the ,evangelists4 #f4   
,the walking on the sea1 given by ,st   
,matthew1 ,st ,mark1 and ,st ,john4 #g4 
,the stilling of the storm1 given by ,st
 ,matthew1 ,st ,mark1 and ,st ,luke4 #h4

 ,the fish bringing the piece of money1 
told by ,st ,matthew alone4  ,these     
miracles1 in common with those already  
considered1 have for their end the help 
or deliverance of man4 ,they differ from
 those1 however1 in operating mediately1
 through a change upon external things1 
and not at once on their human objects4 
,but besides the fact that they have to 
do with what we call nature1 they would 
form a class on another ground4 ,in     
those cases of disease1 the miracles are
 for the setting right of what has gone 
wrong1 the restoration of the order of  
things1--namely1 of the original        
condition of humanity4 ,no doubt it is a
 law of nature that where there is sin  
there should be suffering2 but even its 
cure helps to restore that righteousness
 which is highest nature2 for the cure  
of suffering must not be confounded with
 the absence of suffering4 ,but the     
miracles of which ,i have now to speak1 
show themselves as interfering with what
 we may call the righteous laws of      

nature4 ,water should wet the foot1     
should ingulf him who would tread its   
surface4 ,bread should come from the    
oven last1 from the field first4 ,fishes
 should be now here now there1 according
 to laws ill understood of men--nay1    
possibly according to a piscine choice  
quite unknown of men4 ,wine should take 
ripening in the grape and in the bottle4
 ,in all these cases it is otherwise4   
,yet even in these1 ,i think1 the       
restoration of an original law--the     
supremacy of righteous man1 is          
foreshown4 ,while a man cannot order his
 own house as he would1 something is    
wrong in him1 and therefore in his      
house4 ,i think a true man should be    
able to rule winds and waters and loaves
 and fishes1 for he comes of the ,father
 who made the house for him4 ,had ,jesus
 not been capable of these things1 he   
might have been the best of men1 but    
either he could not have been a perfect 
man1 or the perfect ,god1 if such there 
were1 was not in harmony with the       

perfect man4 ,man is not master in his  
own house because he is not master in   
himself1 because he is not a law unto   
himself--is not himself obedient to the 
law by which he exists4 ,harmony1 that  
is law1 alone is power4 ,discord is     
weakness4 ,god alone is perfect1 living1
 self-existent law4  ,i will try1 in a  
few words1 to give the ground on which  
,i find it possible to accept these     
miracles4 ,i cannot lay it down as for  
any other man4 ,i do not wonder at most 
of those to whom the miracles are a     
stumbling-block4 ,i do a little wonder  
at those who can believe in ,christ and 
yet find them a stumbling-block4  ,how  
,god creates1 no man can tell4 ,but as  
man is made in ,god's image1 he may     
think about ,god's work1 and dim        
analogies may arise out of the depth of 
his nature which have some resemblance  
to the way in which ,god works4 ,i say  
then1 that1 as we are the offspring of  
,god--the children of his will1 like as 
the thoughts move in a man's mind1 we   

live in ,god's mind4 ,when ,god thinks  
anything1 then that thing is4 ,his      
thought of it is its life4 ,everything  
is because ,god thinks it into being4   
,can it then be very hard to believe    
that he should alter by a thought any   
form or appearance of things about us8  
,it is inconsistent to work otherwise   
than by law4  ,true2 but we know so     
little of this law that we cannot say   
what is essential in it1 and what only  
the so far irregular consequence of the 
unnatural condition of those for whom it
 was made1 but who have not yet willed  
,god's harmony4 ,we know so little of   
law that we cannot certainly say what   
would be an infringement of this or that
 law4 ,that which at first sight appears
 as such1 may be but the operating of a 
higher law which rightly dominates the  
other4 ,it is the law1 as we call it1   
that a stone should fall to the ground4 
,a man may place his hand beneath the   
stone1 and then1 if his hand be strong  
enough1 it is the law that the stone    

shall not fall to the ground4 ,the law  
has been lawfully prevented from working
 its full end4 ,in similar ways1 ,god   
might stop the working of one law by the
 intervention of another4 ,such         
intervention1 if not understood by us1  
would be what we call a miracle4        
,possibly a different condition of the  
earth1 producible according to law1     
might cause everything to fly off from  
its surface instead of seeking it4 ,the 
question is whether or not we can       
believe that the usual laws might be set
 aside by laws including higher         
principles and wider operations4 ,all ,i
 have to answer is--,give me good       
reason1 and ,i can4 ,a man may          
say--,what seems good reason to you1    
does not to me4 ,i answer1 ,we are both 
accountable to that being1 if such there
 be1 who has lighted in us the candle of
 judgment4 ,to him alone we stand or    
fall4 ,but there must be a final way of 
right1 towards which every willing heart
 is led1--and which no one can find who 

does not seek it4 ,all ,i want to show  
here1 is a conceivable region in which a
 miracle might take place without any   
violence done to the order of things4   
,our power of belief depends greatly on 
our power of imagining a region in which
 the things might be4 ,i do not see how 
some people could believe what to others
 may offer small difficulty4 ,let us    
beware lest what we call faith be but   
the mere assent of a mind which has     
cared and thought so little about the   
objects of its so-called faith1 that it 
has never seen the difficulties they    
involve4 ,some such believers are the   
worst antagonists of true faith--the    
children of the ,pharisees of old4  ,if 
any one say we ought to receive nothing 
of which we have no experience2 ,i      
answer1 there is in me a necessity1 a   
desire before which all my experience   
shrivels into a mockery4 ,its complement
 must lie beyond4 ,we ought1 ,i grant1  
to accept nothing for which we cannot   
see the probability of some sufficient  

reason1 but ,i thank ,god that this     
sufficient reason is not for me limited 
to the realm of experience4 ,to suppose 
that it was1 would change the hope of a 
life that might be an ever-burning      
sacrifice of thanksgiving1 into a poor  
struggle with events and things and     
chances--to doom the ,psyche to         
perpetual imprisonment in the worm4 ,i  
desire the higher2 ,i care not to live  
for the lower4 ,the one would make me   
despise my fellows and recoil with      
disgust from a self ,i cannot           
annihilate2 the other fills me with     
humility1 hope1 and love4 ,is the       
preference for the one over the other   
foolish then--even to the meanest       
judgment8  ,a higher condition of       
harmony with law1 may one day enable us 
to do things which must now appear an   
interruption of law4 ,i believe it is in
 virtue of the absolute harmony in him1 
his perfect righteousness1 that ,god can
 create at all4 ,if man were in harmony 
with this1 if he too were righteous1 he 

would inherit of his ,father a something
 in his degree correspondent to the     
creative power in ,him2 and the world he
 inhabits1 which is but an extension of 
his body1 would1 ,i think1 be subject to
 him in a way surpassing his wildest    
dreams of dominion1 for it would be the 
perfect dominion of holy law--a virtue  
flowing to and from him through the     
channel of a perfect obedience4 ,i      
suspect that our ,lord in all his       
dominion over nature1 set forth only the
 complete man--man as ,god means him one
 day to be4 ,why should he not know     
where the fishes were8 or even make them
 come at his will8 ,why should not that 
will be potent as impulse in them8 ,if  
we admit what ,i hail as the only       
fundamental idea upon which ,i can      
speculate harmoniously with facts1 and  
as alone disclosing regions wherein     
contradictions are soluble1 and doubts  
previsions of loftier truth--,i mean the
 doctrine of the ,incarnation2 or if    
even we admit that ,jesus was good      

beyond any other goodness we know1 why  
should it not seem possible that the    
whole region of inferior things might be
 more subject to him than to us8 ,and if
 more1 why not altogether8 ,i believe   
that some of these miracles were the    
natural result of a physical nature     
perfect from the indwelling of a perfect
 soul1 whose unity with the ,life of all
 things and in all things was           
absolute--in a word1 whose sonship was  
perfect4  ,if in the human form ,god    
thus visited his people1 he would       
naturally show himself ,lord over their 
circumstances4 ,he will not lord it over
 their minds1 for such lordship is to   
him abhorrent3 they themselves must see 
and rejoice in acknowledging the        
lordship which makes them free4 ,there  
was no grand display1 only the simple   
doing of what at the time was needful4  
,some say it is a higher thing to       
believe of him that he took things just 
as they were1 and led the revealing life
 without the aid of wonders4 ,on any    

theory this is just what he did as far  
as his own life was concerned4 ,but he  
had no ambition to show himself the best
 of men4 ,he comes to reveal the        
,father4 ,he will work even wonders to  
that end1 for the sake of those who     
could not believe as he did and had to  
be taught it4 ,no miracle was needful   
for himself3 he saw the root of the     
matter--the care of ,god4 ,but he       
revealed this root in a few rare and    
hastened flowers to the eyes that could 
not see to the root4 ,there is perfect  
submission to lower law for himself1 but
 revelation of the ,father to them by   
the introduction of higher laws         
operating in the upper regions bordering
 upon ours1 not separated from ours by  
any impassable gulf--rather connected by
 gently ascending stairs1 many of whose 
gradations he could blend in one        
descent4 ,he revealed the ,father as    
being under no law1 but as law itself1  
and the cause of the laws we know--the  
cause of all harmony because himself the

 harmony4 ,men had to be delivered not  
only from the fear of suffering and     
death1 but from the fear1 which is a    
kind of worship1 of nature4 ,nature     
herself must be shown subject to the    
,father and to him whom the ,father had 
sent4 ,men must believe in the great    
works of the ,father through the little 
works of the ,son3 all that he showed   
was little to what ,god was doing4 ,they
 had to be helped to see that it was    
,god who did such things as often as    
they were done4 ,he it is who causes the
 corn to grow for man4 ,he gives every  
fish that a man eats4 ,even if things   
are terrible yet they are ,god's1 and   
the ,lord will still the storm for their
 faith in ,him--tame a storm1 as a man  
might tame a wild beast--for his ,father
 measures the waters in the hollow of   
his hand1 and men are miserable not to  
know it4 ,for himself1 ,i repeat1 his   
faith is enough2 he sleeps on his pillow
 nor dreams of perishing4  ,on the      
individual miracles of this class1 ,i   

have not much to say4 ,the first of them
 was wrought in the animal kingdom4  ,he
 was teaching on the shore of the lake1 
and the people crowded him4 ,that he    
might speak with more freedom1 he       
stepped into an empty boat1 and having  
prayed ,simon the owner of it1 who was  
washing his nets near by1 to thrust it a
 little from the shore1 sat down1 and no
 longer incommoded by the eagerness of  
his audience1 taught them from the boat4
 ,when he had ended he told ,simon to   
launch out into the deep1 and let down  
his nets for a draught4 ,simon had      
little hope of success1 for there had   
been no fish there all night2 but he    
obeyed1 and caught such a multitude of  
fishes that the net broke4 ,they had to 
call another boat to their aid1 and both
 began to sink from the overload of     
fishes4 ,but the great marvel of it     
wrought on the mind of ,simon as every  
wonder tends to operate on the mind of  
an honest man3 it brought his sinfulness
 before him4 ,in self-abasement he fell 

down at ,jesus' knees4 ,whether he      
thought of any individual sins at the   
moment1 we cannot tell2 but he was      
painfully dissatisfied with himself4 ,he
 knew he was not what he ought to be4 ,i
 am unwilling however to believe that   
such a man desired1 save1 it may be1 as 
a passing involuntary result of         
distress1 to be rid of the holy         
presence4 ,i judge rather that his      
feeling was like that of the            
centurion--that he felt himself unworthy
 to have the ,lord in his boat4 ,he may 
have feared that the ,lord took him for 
a good man1 and his honesty could not   
endure such a mistake3  ,depart from me1
 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord4  ,the
 ,lord accepted the spirit1 therefore   
not the word of his prayer4  ,fear not2 
from henceforth thou shalt catch men4   
,his sense of sinfulness1 so far from   
driving the ,lord from him1 should draw 
other men to him4 ,as soon as that cry  
broke from his lips1 he had become fit  
to be a fisher of men4 ,he had begun to 

abjure that which separated man from    
man4  ,after his resurrection1 ,st ,john
 tells us the ,lord appeared one        
morning1 on the shore of the lake1 to   
some of his disciples1 who had again    
been toiling all night in vain4 ,he told
 them once more how to cast their net1  
and they were not able to draw it for   
the multitude of fishes4  ,it is the    
,lord1 said ,st ,john1 purer-hearted1   
perhaps therefore keener-eyed1 than the 
rest4  ,since the same thing had        
occurred before1 ,simon had become the  
fisher of men1 but had sinned grievously
 against his ,lord4 ,he knew that ,lord 
so much better now1 however1 that when  
he heard it was he1 instead of crying   
,depart from me1 he cast himself into   
the sea to go to him4  ,i take next the 
feeding of the four thousand with the   
seven loaves and the few little fishes1 
and the feeding of the five thousand    
with the five loaves and the two fishes4
  ,concerning these miracles1 ,i think  
,i have already said almost all ,i have 

to say4 ,if he was the ,son of ,god1 the
 bread might as well grow in his hands  
as the corn in the fields4 ,it is1 ,i   
repeat1 only a doing in condensed form1 
hence one more easily associated with   
its real source1 of that which ,god is  
for ever doing more widely1 more slowly1
 and with more detail both of           
fundamental wonder and of circumstantial
 loveliness4 ,whence more fittingly     
might food come than from the hands of  
such an elder brother8 ,no doubt there  
will always be men who cannot believe   
it3--happy are they who demand a good   
reason1 and yet can believe a wonder6   
,associated with words which appeared to
 me foolish1 untrue1 or even poor in    
their content1 ,i should not believe it4
 ,associated with such things as he     
spoke1 ,i can receive it with ease1 and 
,i cherish it with rejoicing4 ,it must  
be noted in respect of the feeding of   
the five thousand1 that while the other 
evangelists merely relate the deed as   
done for the necessities of the         

multitude1 ,st ,john records also the   
use our ,lord made of the miracle4 ,it  
was the outcome of his essential        
relation to humanity4 ,of humanity he   
was ever the sustaining food4 ,to       
humanity he was about to give himself in
 an act of such utter devotion as could 
only be shadowed--now in the spoken1    
afterwards in the acted symbol of the   
eucharist4 ,the miracle was a type of   
his life as the life of the world1 a    
sign that from him flows all the weal of
 his creatures4 ,the bread we eat is but
 its outer husk3 the true bread is the  
,lord himself1 to have whom in us is    
eternal life4 ,except ye eat the flesh  
of the ,son of man and drink his blood  
ye have no life in you4 ,he knew that   
the grand figure would disclose to the  
meditation of the loving heart          
infinitely more of the truth of the     
matter than any possible amount of      
definition and explanation1 and yet must
 ever remain far short of setting forth 
the holy fact to the boldest and        

humblest mind4 ,but lest they should    
start upon a wrong track for the        
interpretation of it1 he says to his    
disciples afterwards1 that this body of 
his should return to ,god2 that what he 
had said concerning the eating of it had
 a spiritual sense3 ,it is the spirit   
that giveth life2 the flesh profiteth   
nothing--for that4 ,in words he         
contradicts what he said before1 that   
they might see the words to have meant  
infinitely more than as words they were 
able to express2 that not their bodies  
on his body1 but their souls must live  
on his soul1 by a union and communion of
 which the eating of his flesh and the  
drinking of his blood was1 after all1   
but a poor and faint figure4 ,in this   
miracle1 for the souls as for the bodies
 of men1 he did and revealed the work of
 the ,father4 ,he who has once          
understood the meaning of ,christ's     
words in connection with this miracle1  
can never be content they should be less
 than true concerning his ,father in    

heaven4 ,whoever would have a perfect   
,father1 must believe that he bestows   
his very being for the daily food of his
 creatures4 ,he who loves the glory of  
,god will be very jealous of any word   
that would enhance his greatness by     
representing him incapable of suffering4
 ,verily ,god has taken and will ever   
take and endure his share1 his largest  
share of that suffering in and through  
which the whole creation groans for the 
sonship4  ,follows at once the equally  
wonderful story of his walking on the   
sea to the help of his disciples4 ,after
 the former miracle1 the multitude would
 have taken him by force to make him    
their king4 ,any kind of honour they    
would readily give him except that      
obedience for the truth's sake which was
 all he cared for4 ,he left them and    
went away into a mountain alone to pray 
to his ,father4 ,likely he was weary in 
body1 and also worn in spirit for lack  
of that finer sympathy which his        
disciples could not give him being very 

earthly yet4 ,he who loves his fellows  
and labours among those who can ill     
understand him will best know what this 
weariness of our ,lord must have been   
like4 ,he had to endure the             
world-pressure of surrounding humanity  
in all its ungodlike phases4 ,hence even
 he1 the everlasting ,son of the        
,father1 found it needful to retire for 
silence and room and comfort into       
solitary places4 ,there his senses would
 be free1 and his soul could the better 
commune with the ,father4 ,the          
mountain-top was his chamber1 the       
solitude around him its closed door1 the
 evening sky over his head its open     
window4 ,there he gathered strength from
 the will of the ,father for what yet   
remained to be done for the world's     
redemption4 ,how little could the men   
below1 who would have taken him by force
 and made him a king1 understand of such
 communion6 ,yet every one of them must 
go hungering and thirsting and grasping 
in vain1 until the door of that         

communion was opened for him4 ,they     
would have made him a king3 he would    
make them poor in spirit1 mighty in     
aspiration1 all kings and priests unto  
,god4  ,but amidst his prayer1 amidst   
the eternal calm of his rapturous       
communion1 he saw his disciples thwarted
 by a wind stronger than all their      
rowing3 he descended the hill and walked
 forth on the water to their help4  ,if 
ignorant yet devout speculation may be  
borne with here1 ,i venture to say that 
,i think the change of some kind that   
was necessary somehow before the body of
 the ,son of ,man could1 like the       
,spirit of old1 move upon the face of   
the waters1 passed1 not upon the water1 
but1 by the will of the ,son of ,man    
himself1 upon his own body4 ,i shall    
have more to say concerning this in a   
following chapter--now ,i merely add    
that we know nothing yet1 or next to    
nothing1 of the relation between a right
 soul and a healthy body4 ,to some no   
doubt the notion of a healthy body      

implies chiefly a perfection of all the 
animal functions1 which is1 on the      
supposition1 a matter of course2 but    
what ,i should mean by an absolutely    
healthy body is1 one entirely under the 
indwelling spirit1 and responsive       
immediately to all the laws of its      
supremacy1 whatever those laws may be in
 the divine ideal of a man4 ,as we are  
now1 we find the diseased body          
tyrannizing over the almost helpless    
mind3 the healthy body would be the     
absolutely obedient body4  ,what power  
over his own dwelling a ,saviour coming 
fresh from the closest speech with him  
who made that body for holy subjection1 
might have1 who can tell6 ,if ,i hear of
 any reasonable wonder resulting        
therefrom1 ,i shall not find it hard to 
believe1 and shall be willing to wait   
until ,i1 pure1 inhabit an obedient     
house1 to understand the plain thing    
which is now a mystery4 ,meantime ,i can
 honour the laws ,i do know1 and which  
honest men tell me they have discovered1

 no less than those honest men          
who--without my impulse1 it may be1 to  
speculate in this direction--think such 
as ,i foolish in employing the          
constructive faculty with regard to     
these things4 ,but where1 ,i pray them1 
lies any field so absolutely its region 
as the unknown which yet the heart      
yearns to know8 ,such cannot be the     
unknowable4 ,it is endless comfort to   
think of something that might be true4  
,and the essence of whatever seems to a 
human heart to be true1 ,i expect to    
find true--in greater forms1 and without
 the degrading accidents which so often 
accompany it in the brain of the purest 
thinker4 ,why should ,i not speculate in
 the only direction in which things to  
me worthy of speculation appear likely  
to lie8 ,there is a wide may be around  
us2 and every true speculation widens   
the probability of changing the may be  
into the is4 ,the laws that are known   
and the laws that shall be known are all
 lights from the ,father of lights3 he  

who reverently searches for such will   
not long mistake a flash in his own     
brain for the candle of the ,lord4 ,but 
if he should mistake1 he will be little 
the worse1 so long as he is humble1 and 
ready to acknowledge error2 while1 if he
 should be right1 he will be none the   
worse for having seen the glimmer of the
 truth from afar--may1 indeed1 come to  
gather a little honour from those who1  
in the experimental verification of an  
idea1 do not altogether forget that1    
without some foregone speculation1 the  
very idea on which they have initiated  
their experiment1 and are now expending 
their most valued labour1 would never   
have appeared in their firmament to     
guide them to new facts and realities4  
,nor would it be impossible to imagine  
how ,st ,peter might come within the    
sphere of the holy influence1 so that   
he1 too1 for a moment should walk on the
 water4 ,faith will yet prove itself as 
mighty a power as it is represented by  
certain words of the ,lord which are at 

present a stumbling-block even to devout
 ,christians1 who are able to accept    
them only by putting explanations upon  
them which render them unworthy of his  
utterance4 ,when ,i say a power1 ,i do  
not mean in itself1 but as connecting   
the helpless with the helpful1 as       
uniting the empty need with the full    
supply1 as being the conduit through    
which it is right and possible for the  
power of the creating ,god to flow to   
the created necessity4  ,when the ,lord 
got into the boat1 the wind ceased1 and 
immediately1 says ,st ,john1 the ship   
was at the land whither they went4 ,as  
to whether the ceasing of the wind was  
by the ordinary laws of nature1 or some 
higher law first setting such in        
operation1 no one who has followed the  
spirit of my remarks will wonder that ,i
 do not care to inquire3 they are all of
 one4 ,nor1 in regard to their finding  
themselves so quickly at the end of     
their voyage1 will they wonder if ,i    
think that we may have just one instance

 of space itself being subject to the   
obedient ,god1 and that his wearied     
disciples1 having toiled and rowed hard 
for so long1 might well find themselves 
at their desired haven as soon as they  
received him into their boat4 ,either   
,god is all in all1 or he is nothing4   
,either ,jesus is the ,son of the       
,father1 or he did no miracle4 ,either  
the miracles are fact1 or ,i lose--not  
my faith in this man--but certain       
outward signs of truths which these very
 signs have aided me to discover and    
understand and see in themselves4  ,the 
miracle of the stilling of the storm    
naturally follows here4  ,why should not
 he1 who taught his disciples that ,god 
numbered the very hairs of their heads1 
do what his ,father is constantly       
doing--still storms--bring peace out of 
uproar8 ,of course1 if the storm was    
stilled1 it came about by natural       
causes--that is1 by such as could still 
a storm4 ,that anything should be done  
by unnatural causes1 that is1 causes not

 of the nature of the things concerned1 
is absurd4 ,the sole question is whether
 ,nature works alone1 as some           
speculators think1 or whether there is a
 soul in her1 namely1 an                
intent2--whether these things are the   
result of thought1 or whether they      
spring from a dead heart2 unconscious1  
yet productive of conscious beings1 to  
think1 yea1 speculate eagerly concerning
 a conscious harmony hinted at in their 
broken music and conscious discord2     
beings who1 although thus born of       
unthinking matter1 invent the notion of 
an all lovely1 perfect1 self-denying    
being1 whose thought gives form to      
matter1 life to nature1 and thought to  
man--subjecting himself for their sakes 
to the troubles their waywardness has   
brought upon them1 that they too may at 
length behold a final good--may see the 
,holy face to face--think his thoughts  
and will his wisdom6  ,that things      
should go by a law which does not       
recognize the loftiest in him1 a man    

feels to be a mockery of him4 ,there    
lies little more satisfaction in such a 
condition of things than if the whole   
were the fortuitous result of ever      
conflicting1 never combining forces4    
,wherever individual and various        
necessity1 choice1 and prayer1 come in1 
there must be the present ,god1 able and
 ready to fit circumstances to the      
varying need of the thinking1 willing   
being he has created4 ,machinery will   
not do here--perfect as it may be4 ,that
 ,god might make a world to go on with  
absolute physical perfection to all     
eternity1 ,i could easily believe2 but  
where the gain8--nay1 where the fitness1
 if he would train thinking beings to   
his own freedom8 ,for such he must be   
ever present1 ever have room to order   
things for their growth and change and  
discipline and enlightenment4 ,the      
present living idea informing the       
cosmos1 is nobler than all forsaken     
perfection--nobler1 as a living man is  
nobler than an automaton4  ,if one      

should say3 ,the laws of ,god ought to  
admit of no change1 ,i answer3 ,the same
 working of unalterable laws might under
 new circumstances look a breach of     
those laws4 ,that ,god will never alter 
his laws1 ,i fully admit and uphold1 for
 they are the outcome of his truth and  
fact2 but that he might not act in ways 
unrecognizable by us as consistent with 
those laws1 ,i have yet to see reason   
ere ,i believe4 ,why should his perfect 
will be limited by our understanding of 
that will8 ,should he be paralyzed      
because we are blind8 ,that he should   
ever require us to believe of him what  
we think wrong1 ,i do not believe2 that 
he should present to our vision what may
 be inconsistent with our half-digested 
and constantly changing theories1 ,i can
 well believe4 ,why not--if only to keep
 us from petrifying an imperfect notion1
 and calling it an ,idea8 ,what ,i would
 believe is1 that a present ,god manages
 the direction of those laws1 even as a 
man1 in his inferior way1 works out his 

own will in the midst and by means of   
those laws4 ,shall ,god create that     
which shall fetter and limit and enslave
 himself8 ,what should his laws1 as     
known to us1 be but the active mode in  
which he embodies certain truths--that  
mode also the outcome of his own nature8
 ,if so1 they must be always capable of 
falling in with any1 if not of effecting
 every1 expression of his will4  ,there 
remains but one miracle of this class to
 consider--one to some minds involving  
greater difficulties than all the rest4 
,they say the story of the fish with a  
piece of money in its mouth is more like
 one of the tales of eastern fiction    
than a sober narrative of the           
quiet-toned gospel4 ,i acknowledge a    
likeness3 why might there not be some   
likeness between what ,god does and what
 man invents8 ,but there is one         
noticeable difference3 there is nothing 
of colour in the style of the story4 ,no
 great roc1 no valley of diamonds1 no   
earthly grandeur whatever is hinted at  

in the poor bare tale4 ,peter had to do 
with fishes every day of his life3 an   
ordinary fish1 taken with the hook1 was 
here the servant of the ,lord--and why  
should not the poor fish have its share 
in the service of the ,master8 ,why     
should it not show for itself and its   
kind that they were utterly his8 that   
along with the waters in which they     
dwelt1 and the wind which lifteth up the
 waves thereof1 they were his creatures1
 and gladly under his dominion8 ,what   
the scaly minister brought was no ring1 
no rich jewel1 but a simple piece of    
money1 just enough1 ,i presume1 to meet 
the demand of those whom1 although they 
had no legal claim1 our ,lord would not 
offend by a refusal2 for he never cared 
to stand upon his rights1 or treat that 
as a principle which might be waived    
without loss of righteousness4 ,i take  
for granted that there was no other way 
at hand for those poor men to supply the
 sum required of them4     ,x4          
,,miracles ,,of ,,destruction4   ,,if we

 regard the miracles of our ,lord as an 
epitome of the works of his ,father1    
there must be room for what we call     
destruction4  ,in the grand process of  
existence1 destruction is one of the    
phases of creation2 for the inferior    
must ever be giving way for the growth  
of the superior3 the husk must crumble  
and decay1 that the seed may germinate  
and appear4 ,as the whole creation      
passes on towards the sonship1 death    
must ever be doing its sacred work about
 the lower regions1 that life may ever  
arise triumphant1 in its ascent towards 
the will of the ,father4  ,i cannot     
therefore see good reason why the almost
 solitary act of destruction recorded in
 the story should seem unlike the       
,master4 ,true this kind is unlike the  
other class in this1 that it has only an
 all but solitary instance3 he did not  
come for the manifestation of such      
power4 ,but why1 when occasion appeared1
 should it not have its place8 ,why     
might not the ,lord1 consistently with  

his help and his healing1 do that in one
 instance which his ,father is doing    
every day8 ,i refer now1 of course1 to  
the withering of the fig-tree4 ,in the  
midst of the freshest greenery of       
summer1 you may see the wan branches of 
the lightning-struck tree4 ,as a poet   
drawing his pen through syllable or word
 that mars his clear utterance or       
musical comment1 such is the destruction
 of the ,maker4 ,it is the indrawn sigh 
of the creating ,breath4  ,our ,lord had
 already spoken the parable of the      
fig-tree that bore no fruit4 ,this      
miracle was but the acted parable4 ,here
 he puts into visible form that which   
before he had embodied in words4 ,all   
shapes of argument must be employed to  
arouse the slumbering will of men4 ,even
 the obedience that comes of the lowest 
fear is a first step towards an         
infinitely higher condition than that of
 the most perfect nature created        
incapable of sin4  ,the right           
interpretation of the external          

circumstances1 however1 is of course    
necessary to the truth of the miracle4  
,it seems to me to be the following4 ,i 
do not know to whom ,i am primarily     
indebted for it4  ,the time of the      
gathering of figs was near1 but had not 
yet arrived3 upon any fruitful tree one 
might hope to find a few ripe figs1 and 
more that were eatable4 ,the ,lord was  
hungry as he went to ,jerusalem from    
,bethany1 and saw on the way a tree with
 all the promise that a perfect foliage 
could give4 ,he went up to it1 if haply 
he might find anything thereon4 ,the    
leaves were all2 fruit there was none in
 any stage2 the tree was a pretence2 it 
fulfilled not that for which it was     
sent4 ,here was an opportunity in their 
very path of enforcing1 by a visible    
sign proceeding from himself1 one of the
 most important truths he had striven to
 teach them4 ,what he had been saying   
was in him a living truth3 he condemned 
the tree to become in appearance that   
which it was in fact--a useless thing3  

when they passed the following morning1 
it had withered away1 was dried up from 
the roots4 ,he did not urge in words the
 lesson of the miracle-parable2 he left 
that to work when the fate of fruitless 
,jerusalem should also have become fact4
    ,for the present the marvel of it   
possessed them too   much for the       
reading of its lesson2 therefore1       
perhaps1   our ,lord makes little of the
 marvel and much of the   power of      
faith2 assuring them of answers to their
 prayers1   but adding1 according to ,st
 ,mark1 that forgiveness of   others is 
the indispensable condition of their own
 acceptance   --fit lesson surely to    
hang on that withered tree4  ,after all1
 the thing destroyed was only a tree4   
,in respect of humanity there is but one
 distant1 and how distant approach to   
anything similar6 ,in the               
pseudo-evangels there are several tales 
of vengeance--not one in these books4   
,the fact to which ,i refer is recorded 
by ,st ,john alone4 ,it is1 that when   

the band of men and officers from the   
chief priests and ,pharisees came to    
take him1 and ,jesus went forth and said
 unto them1 ,whom seek ye8 and in reply 
to theirs1 had said ,i am he1 they went 
backward and fell to the ground4  ,there
 are one or two facts in connection with
 the record of this incident1 which     
although not belonging quite immediately
 to my present design1 ,i would yet     
note1 with the questions they suggest4  
,the synoptical ,gospels record the     
,judas-kiss3 ,st ,john does not4  ,st   
,john alone records the going backward  
and falling to the ground--prefacing the
 fact with the words1 ,and ,judas also1 
which betrayed him1 stood with them4    
,had not the presence of ,judas1        
then--perhaps his kiss--something to do 
with the discomfiture of these men8 ,if 
so--and it seems to me probable--how    
comes it that ,st ,john alone omits the 
kiss--,st ,john alone records the       
recoil8 ,i repeat--if the kiss had to do
 with the recoil--as would seem from    

mystical considerations most probable1  
from artistic most suitable--why are    
they divided8 ,i think just because     
those who saw1 saw each a part1 and     
record only what they saw or had        
testimony concerning4 ,had ,st ,john    
seen the kiss1 he who was so capable of 
understanding the mystical fitness of   
the connection of such a kiss with such 
a recoil1 could hardly have omitted it1 
especially seeing he makes such a point 
of the presence of ,judas4 ,had he been 
an inventor--here is just such a thing  
as he would have invented2 and just here
 his record is barer than that of the   
rest--bare of the one incident which    
would have best helped out his own idea 
of the story4 ,the consideration is     
suggestive4  ,but why this exercise of  
at least repellent1 which is            
half-destructive force1 reminding us of 
,milton's words--    ,yet half his      
strength he put not forth1   ,but       
checked ,his thunder in mid volley8  ,it
 may have had to do with the repentance 

of ,judas which followed4 ,it may have  
had to do with the future history of the
 ,jewish men who composed that band4    
,but ,i suspect the more immediate      
object of our ,lord was the safety of   
his disciples4 ,as soon as the men who  
had gone backward and fallen to the     
ground1 had risen and again advanced1 he
 repeated the question--,whom seek ye8  
,jesus of ,nazareth1 they replied4 ,i am
 he1 said the ,lord again1 but added1   
now that they had felt his power--,if   
therefore ye seek me1 let these go their
 way4 ,st ,john's reference in respect  
of these words to a former saying of the
 ,lord1 strengthens this conclusion4    
,and there was no attempt even to lay   
hands on them4 ,he had astonished and   
terrified his captors to gain of them   
his sole request--that his friends      
should go unhurt4 ,there was work for   
them to do in the world2 and he knew    
besides that they were not yet capable  
of enduring for his sake4 ,at all events
 it was neither for vengeance nor for   

self-preservation that this gentlest    
form of destruction was manifested4 ,i  
suspect it was but another shape of the 
virtue that went forth to heal4 ,a few  
men fell to the ground that his         
disciples might have time to grow       
apostles1 and redeem the world with the 
news of him and his ,father4 ,for the   
sake of humanity the fig-tree withered2 
for the resurrection of the world1 his  
captors fell3 small hurt and mighty     
healing4  ,daring to interpret the work 
of the ,father from the work of the     
,son1 ,i would humbly believe that all  
destruction is for creation--that1 even 
for this1 death alone is absolutely     
destroyed--that1 namely1 which stands in
 the way of the outgoing of the         
,father's will1 then only completing its
 creation when men are made holy4  ,god 
does destroy2 but not life4 ,its outer  
forms yield that it may grow1 and       
growing pass into higher embodiments1 in
 which it can grow yet more4 ,that alone
 will be destroyed which has the law of 

death in itself--namely1 sin4 ,sin is   
death1 and death must be swallowed up of
 hell4 ,life1 that is ,god1 is the heart
 of things1 and destruction must be     
destroyed4 ,for this victory endless    
forms of life must yield2--even the form
 of the life of the ,son of ,god himself
 must yield upon the cross1 that the    
life might arise a life-giving spirit2  
that his own words might be             
fulfilled--,for if ,i depart not1 the   
,comforter will not come unto you4 ,all 
spirit must rise victorious over form2  
and the form must die lest it harden to 
stone around the growing life4 ,no form 
is or can be great enough to contain the
 truth which is its soul2 for all truth 
is infinite being a thought of ,god4 ,it
 is only in virtue of the flowing away  
of the form1 that is death1 and the ever
 gathering of new form behind1 that is  
birth or embodiment1 that any true      
revelation is possible4 ,on what other  
terms shall the infinite embrace the    
finite but the terms of an endless      

change1 an enduring growth1 a           
recognition of the divine as for ever   
above and beyond1 a forgetting of that  
which is behind1 a reaching unto that   
which is before8 ,therefore destruction 
itself is holy4 ,it is as if the        
,eternal said1 ,i will show myself2 but 
think not to hold me in any form in     
which ,i come4 ,the form is not ,i4 ,the
 still small voice is ever reminding us 
that the ,lord is neither in the        
earthquake nor the wind nor the fire2   
but in the lowly heart that finds him   
everywhere4 ,the material can cope with 
the eternal only in virtue of           
everlasting evanescence4     ,,xi4 ,,the
 ,,resurrection4   ,the works of the    
,lord he himself represents as given him
 of the ,father3 it matters little      
whether we speak of his resurrection as 
a miracle wrought by himself1 or wrought
 in him by the ,father4 ,if he was one  
with the ,father1 the question cannot be
 argued1 seeing that ,jesus apart from  
the ,father is not a conceivable idea4  

,it is only natural that he who had     
power to call from the grave the body   
which had lain there for four days1     
should have power over the body he had  
himself laid down1 to take it again with
 reanimating possession4 ,for distinctly
 do ,i hold that he took again the same 
body in which he had walked about on the
 earth1 suffered1 and yielded unto      
death4 ,in the same body--not merely the
 same form1 in which he had taught them1
 he appeared again to his disciples1 to 
give them the final consolations of a   
visible presence1 before departing for  
the sake of a yet higher presence in the
 spirit of truth1 a presence no longer  
limited by even the highest forms of the
 truth4  ,it is not surprising that the 
records of such a marvel1 grounded upon 
the testimony of men and women          
bewildered first with grief1 and next   
all but distracted with the sudden      
inburst of a gladness too great for that
 equanimity which is indispensable to   
perfect observation1 should not         

altogether correspond in the minutiae of
 detail4 ,all knew that the ,lord had   
risen indeed3 what matter whether some  
of them saw one or two angels in the    
tomb8 ,the first who came saw one angel 
outside and another inside the          
sepulchre4 ,one at a different time saw 
two inside4 ,what wonder then that one  
of the records should say of them all1  
that they saw two angels8 ,i do not care
 to set myself to the reconciliation of 
the differing reports4 ,their trifling  
disagreement is to me even valuable from
 its truth to our human nature4 ,all ,i 
care to do is to suggest to any one     
anxious to understand the records the   
following arrangement of facts4 ,when   
,mary ,magdalene found the tomb empty1  
not seeing1 or heedless of the angel1   
she forsook her companions1 and ran to  
the chief of the disciples to share the 
agony of this final loss4 ,perhaps      
something might yet be done to rescue   
the precious form1 and lay it aside with
 all futile honours4 ,with ,peter and   

,john she returned to the grave1 whence1
 in the mean time1 her former           
companions1 having seen and conversed   
with the angel outside and the angel    
inside1 had departed to find their      
friends4 ,peter and ,john1 having1 the  
one entered1 the other looked into the  
tomb1 and seen only the folded garments 
of desertion1 returned home1 but ,mary  
lingered weeping by the place which was 
not now even the grave of the beloved1  
so utterly had not only he but the signs
 of him vanished4 ,as she wept1 she     
stooped down into the sepulchre4 ,there 
sat the angels in holy contemplation1   
one at the head1 the other at the feet  
where the body of ,jesus had lain4      
,peter nor ,john had beheld them3 to the
 eyes of ,mary as of the other women    
they were manifest4 ,it is a lovely     
story that follows1 full of marvel1 as  
how should it not be8  ,woman1 why      
weepest thou8 said the angels4  ,because
 they have taken away my ,lord1 and ,i  
know not where they have laid him1      

answered ,mary1 and turning away1       
tear-blinded1 saw the gardener1 as she  
thought4  ,woman1 why weepest thou8     
repeats the gardener4  ,whom seekest    
thou8  ,hopelessness had dulled every   
sense3 not even a start at the sound of 
his voice6  ,sir1 if thou have borne him
 hence1 tell me where thou hast laid    
him1 and ,i will take him away4  ,mary6 
,master6  ,touch me not2 for ,i am not  
yet ascended to my ,father2 but go to my
 brethren1 and say unto them1 ,i ascend 
unto my ,father and your ,father2 and to
 my ,god and your ,god4  ,she had the   
first sight of him4 ,it would almost    
seem that1 arrested by her misery1 he   
had delayed his ascent1 and shown       
himself sooner than his first intent4   
,touch me not1 for ,i am not yet        
ascended4 ,she was about to grasp him   
with the eager hands of reverent love3  
why did he refuse the touch8  ,doubtless
 the tone of the words deprived them of 
any sting4 ,doubtless the self-respect  
of the woman was in no way wounded by   

the master's recoil4 ,for the rest1 we  
know so little of the new conditions of 
his bodily nature1 that nothing is ours 
beyond conjecture4 ,it may be1 for      
anything ,i know1 that there were even  
physical reasons why she should not yet 
touch him2 but my impression is that1   
after the hard work accomplished1 and   
the form in which he had wrought and    
suffered resumed1 he must have the      
,father's embrace first1 as after a long
 absence any man would seek first the   
arms of his dearest friend4 ,it may well
 be objected to this notion1 that he had
 never been absent from ,god--that in   
his heart he was at home with him       
continually4 ,and yet the body with all 
its limitations1 with all its           
partition-walls of separation1 is       
,god's1 and there must be some way in   
which even it can come into a willed    
relation with him to whom it is nearer  
even than to ourselves1 for it is the   
offspring of his will1 or as the        
prophets of old would say--the work of  

his hands4 ,that which ,god has invented
 and made1 which has its very origin in 
the depth of his thought1 can surely    
come nigh to ,god4 ,therefore ,i think  
that in some way which we cannot        
understand1 ,jesus would now seek the   
presence of the ,father2 would1 having  
done the work which he had given him to 
do1 desire first of all to return in the
 body to him who had sent him by giving 
him a body4 ,hence although he might    
delay his return at the sound of the    
woman's grief1 he would rather she did  
not touch him first4 ,if any one thinks 
this founded on too human a notion of   
the ,saviour1 ,i would only reply that  
,i suspect a great part of our          
irreligion springs from our disbelief in
 the humanity of ,god4 ,there lie       
endless undiscovered treasures of grace4
 ,after he had once ascended to the     
,father1 he not only appeared to his    
disciples again and again1 but their    
hands handled the word of life1 and he  
ate in their presence4 ,he had been to  

his ,father1 and had returned that they 
might know him lifted above the grave   
and all that region in which death has  
power2 that as the elder brother1 free  
of the oppressions of humanity1 but     
fulfilled of its tenderness1 he might   
show himself captain of their salvation4
 ,upon the body he inhabited1 death     
could no longer lay his hands1 and from 
the vantage-ground he thus held1 he     
could stretch down the arm of salvation 
to each and all4  ,for in regard of this
 glorified body of ,jesus1 we must note 
that it appeared and disappeared at the 
will of its owner2 and it would seem    
also that other matter yielded and gave 
it way2 yes1 even that space itself was 
in some degree subjected to it4 ,upon   
the first of these1 the record is clear4
 ,if any man say he cannot believe it1  
my only answer is that ,i can4 ,if he   
ask how it could be1 the nearest ,i can 
approach to an answer is to indicate the
 region in which it may be possible3 the
 border-land where thought and matter   

meet is the region where all marvels and
 miracles are generated4 ,the wisdom of 
this world can believe that matter      
generates mind3 what seems to me the    
wisdom from above can believe that mind 
generates matter--that matter is but the
 manifest mind4 ,on this supposition    
matter may well be subject to mind2 much
 more1 if ,jesus be the ,son of ,god1   
his own body must be subject to his     
will4 ,i doubt1 indeed1 if the condition
 of any man is perfect before the body  
he inhabits is altogether obedient to   
his will--before1 through his own       
absolute obedience to the ,father1 the  
realm of his own rule is put under him  
perfectly4  ,it may be objected that    
although this might be credible of the  
glorified body of even the human        
resurrection1 it is hard to believe that
 the body which suffered and died on the
 cross could become thus plastic to the 
will of the indwelling spirit4 ,but ,i  
do not see why that which was born of   
the spirit of the ,father1 should not be

 so inter-penetrated and possessed by   
the spirit of the ,son1 that1 without   
the loss of one of its former faculties1
 it should be endowed with many added   
gifts of obedience2 amongst the rest    
such as are indicated in the narrative  
before us4  ,why was this miracle       
needful8  ,perhaps1 for one thing1 that 
men should not limit him1 or themselves 
in him1 to the known forms of humanity2 
and for another1 that the best hope     
might be given them of a life beyond the
 grave2 that their instinctive desires  
in that direction might thus be         
infinitely developed and assured4 ,i    
suspect1 however1 that it followed just 
as the natural consequence of all that  
preceded4  ,if ,christ be risen1 then is
 the grave of humanity itself empty4 ,we
 have risen with him1 and death has     
henceforth no dominion over us4 ,of     
every dead man and woman it may be said3
 ,he--she--is not here1 but is risen and
 gone before us4 ,ever since the ,lord  
lay down in the tomb1 and behold it was 

but a couch whence he arose refreshed1  
we may say of every brother3 ,he is not 
dead but sleepeth4 ,he too is alive and 
shall arise from his sleep4  ,the way to
 the tomb may be hard1 as it was for    
him2 but we who look on1 see the        
hardness and not the help2 we see the   
suffering but not the sustaining3 that  
is known only to the dying and ,god4    
,they can tell us little of this1 and   
nothing of the glad safety beyond4      
,with any theory of the conditions of   
our resurrection1 ,i have scarcely here 
to do4 ,it is to me a matter of         
positively no interest whether or not1  
in any sense1 the matter of our bodies  
shall be raised from the earth4 ,it is  
enough that we shall possess forms      
capable of revealing ourselves and of   
bringing us into contact with ,god's    
other works2 forms in which the idea1 so
 blurred and broken in these1 shall be  
carried out--remaining so like1 that    
friends shall doubt not a moment of the 
identity1 becoming so unlike1 that the  

tears of recognition shall be all for   
the joy of the gain and the gratitude of
 the loss4 ,not to believe in mutual    
recognition beyond1 seems to me a far   
more reprehensible unbelief than that in
 the resurrection itself4 ,i can well   
understand how a man should not believe 
in any life after death4 ,i will confess
 that although probabilities are for it1
 appearances are against it4 ,but that a
 man1 still more a woman1 should believe
 in the resurrection of the very same   
body of ,jesus1 who took pains that his 
friends should recognize him therein2   
that they should regard his resurrection
 as their one ground for the hope of    
their own uprising1 and yet not believe 
that friend shall embrace friend in the 
mansions prepared for them1 is to me    
astounding4 ,such a shadowy resumption  
of life ,i should count unworthy of the 
name of resurrection4 ,then indeed would
 the grave be victorious1 not alone over
 the body1 not alone over all which made
 the life of this world precious and by 

which we arose towards the divine--but  
so far victorious over the soul that    
henceforth it should be blind and deaf  
to what in virtue of loveliest memories 
would have added a new song to the      
praises of the ,father1 a new glow to   
the love that had wanted but that to    
make it perfect4 ,in truth ,i am ashamed
 of even combating such an essential    
falsehood4 ,were it not that here and   
there a weak soul is paralysed by the   
presence of the monstrous lie1 and we   
dare not allow sympathy to be swallowed 
up of even righteous disdain1 a         
contemptuous denial would be enough4    
,what seemed to the disciples the final 
acme of disappointment and grief1 the   
vanishing of his body itself1 was in    
reality the first sign of the dawn of an
 illimitable joy4 ,he was not there     
because he had risen4     ,,xii4 ,,the  
,,transfiguration4   ,i have judged it  
fitting to close this series of         
meditations with some thoughts on the   
,transfiguration1 believing the story to

 be as it were a window through which we
 gain a momentary glimpse of the region 
whence all miracles appear--a glimpse   
vague and dark for all the transfiguring
 light1 for ,god himself is by abundant 
clarity invisible4 ,in the story we find
 a marvellous change1 a lovely miracle1 
pass upon the form itself whence the    
miracles flowed1 as if the pent-up grace
 wrought mightily upon the earthen      
vessel which contained it4  ,our ,lord  
would seem to have repeatedly sought    
some hill at eventide for the solitude  
such a place alone could afford him4 ,it
 must often have been impossible for him
 to find any other chamber in which to  
hold communion with his ,father         
undisturbed4 ,this1 ,i think1 was one of
 such occasions4 ,he took with him the  
favoured three1 whom also he took apart 
from the rest in the garden of          
,gethsemane1 to retire even from them a 
little1 that he might be alone with the 
,father1 yet know that his brothers were
 near him--the ocean of human need thus 

drawn upwards in an apex of perfect     
prayer towards the throne of the        
,father4  ,i think this1 his one only   
material show1 if we except the entry   
into ,jerusalem upon the ass1 took place
 in the night4 ,then the son of ,joseph 
the carpenter was crowned1 not his head 
only with a crown placed thereon from   
without1 but his whole person with a    
crown of light born in him and passing  
out from him4 ,according to ,st ,luke he
 went up the mountain to pray1 but      
,peter and they that were with him were 
heavy with sleep4 ,st ,luke also says   
that on the next day1 when they were    
come down from the mountain1 that       
miracle was performed which ,st ,matthew
 and ,st ,mark represent as done        
immediately on the descent4 ,from this  
it appears more than likely that the    
night was spent upon the mountain4  ,st 
,luke says that the fashion of his      
countenance was altered1 and his raiment
 was white and glistering4 ,st ,matthew 
says1 ,his face did shine as the sun1   

and his raiment was white as the light4 
,st ,mark says1 ,his raiment became     
shining1 exceeding white as snow1 so as 
no fuller on earth can white them4 ,st  
,luke is alone in telling us that it was
 while he prayed that this change passed
 upon him4 ,he became outwardly glorious
 from inward communion with his ,father4
 ,but we shall not attain to the might  
of the meaning1 if we do not see what   
was the more immediate subject of his   
prayer4 ,it is1 ,i think1 indicated in  
the fact1 also recorded by ,st ,luke1   
that the talk of his heavenly visitors  
was of his decease which he should      
accomplish at ,jerusalem4 ,associate    
with this the fact that his talk with   
his disciples1 as they came down the    
mountain1 pointed in the same direction1
 and that all open report of the vision 
was to be withheld until he should have 
risen from the dead1 and it will appear 
most likely that the master1 oppressed  
with the thought of that which now drew 
very nigh1 sought the comfort and       

sympathy of his ,father1 praying in the 
prospect of his decease4 ,let us observe
 then how1 in heaving off the weight of 
this awful shadow by prayer1 he did not 
grow calm and resigned alone1 if he were
 ever other than such1 but his faith    
broke forth so triumphant over the fear1
 that it shone from him in physical     
light4 ,every cloud of sorrow or dread1 
touched with such a power of            
illumination1 is itself changed into a  
glory4 ,the radiance goes hand in hand  
with the coming decay and the three     
days' victory of death4 ,it is as a     
foretaste of his resurrection1 a putting
 on of his new glorified body for a     
moment while he was yet in the old body 
and the awful shadow yet between4 ,it   
may be to something like this as taking 
place in other men that the apostle     
refers when he says3 ,we shall not all  
sleep1 but we shall all be changed4     
,that coming death was to be but as the 
overshadowing cloud1 from which the     
glory should break anew and for ever4   

,the transfiguration then was the divine
 defiance of the coming darkness4  ,let 
us now speculate for a moment upon the  
relation of the spiritual and physical  
manifested in it4 ,he became1 ,i repeat1
 outwardly glorious from inward         
communion with his ,father4 ,in like    
circumstance1 the face of ,moses shone  
marvellously4 ,and what wonder8 ,what   
should make a man's face shine1 if not  
the presence of the ,holy8 if not       
communion with the ,father of his       
spirit8 ,in the transfiguration of      
,jesus we have1 ,i think1 just the      
perfect outcome of those natural results
 of which we have the first signs in    
,moses--the full daylight1 of which his 
shining face was as the dawn4 ,thus1    
like the other miracles1 ,i regard it as
 simply a rare manifestation of the     
perfect working of nature4 ,who knows   
not that in moments of lofty emotion1 in
 which self is for the time forgotten1  
the eyes shine1 and the face is so      
transfigured that we are doubtful       

whether it be not in a degree absolutely
 luminous6 ,i say once more1 in the     
,lord we find the perfecting of all the 
dull hunts of precious things which     
common humanity affords us4 ,if so1 what
 a glory must await every lowliest      
believer1 since the communion of our    
elder brother with his ,father and our  
,father1 a communion for whose          
perfecting in us he came1 caused not    
only his face to shine1 but the dull    
garments he wore to become white as snow
 through the potency of the permeating  
light issuing from his whole person6    
,the outer man shone with the delight of
 the inner man--for his ,father was with
 him--so that even his garments shared  
in the glory4 ,such is what the presence
 of the ,father will do for every man4  
,may ,i not add that the shining of the 
garments is a type of the glorification 
of everything human when brought into   
its true relations by and with the      
present ,god8  ,keeping the same point  
of view1 ,i turn now to the resurrection

 with which the whole fact is so closely
 associated3--,i think the virtue of    
divine presence which thus broke in     
light from the body of ,jesus1 is the   
same by which his risen body1 half      
molten in power1 was rendered plastic to
 the will of the indwelling spirit4     
,what if this light were the healing    
agent of the bodies of men1 as the      
deeper other light from which it sprung 
is the healing agent of themselves8 ,are
 not the most powerful of the rays of   
light invisible to our vision8  ,some   
will object that this is a too material 
view of life and its facts4 ,i answer   
that the question is whether ,i use the 
material to interpret the spiritual1 as 
,i think ,i do1 or to account for it1 as
 ,i know ,i do not4 ,in my theory1 the  
spiritual both explains and accounts for
 the material4  ,if the notions we have 
of what we may call material light      
render it the only fitting image to     
express the invisible ,truth1 the being 
of ,god1 there must be some closest tie 

between them--not of connection only1   
but of unity4 ,such a fitness could not 
exist without such connection2 except1  
indeed1 there were one god of the       
,natural and another of the             
,supernatural1 who yet were brothers1   
and thought in similar modes1 and the   
one had to supplement the work of the   
other4 ,the essential truth of ,god it  
must be that creates its own visual     
image in the sun that enlightens the    
world3 when man who is the image of ,god
 is filled with the presence of the     
eternal1 he too1 in virtue of his divine
 nature thus for the moment ripened to  
glory1 radiates light from his very     
person4 ,where1 when1 or how the inner  
spiritual light passes into or generates
 outward physical light1 who can tell8  
,this border-land1 this touching of what
 we call mind and matter1 is the region 
of miracles--of material creation1 ,i   
might have said1 which is the           
great--suspect1 the only miracle4 ,but  
if matter be the outcome of spirit1 and 

body and soul be one man1 then1 if the  
soul be radiant of truth1 what can the  
body do but shine8  ,i conjecture then1 
that truth1 which is light in the soul1 
might not only cast out disease1 which  
is darkness in the body1 but change that
 body even1 without the intervention of 
death1 into the likeness of the body of 
,jesus1 capable of all that could be    
demanded of it4 ,except by violence ,i  
do not think the body of ,jesus could   
have died4 ,no physiologist can tell why
 man should die4 ,i think a perfect soul
 would be capable of keeping its body   
alive4 ,an imperfect one cannot fill it 
with light in every part--cannot        
thoroughly inform the brute matter with 
life4 ,the transfiguration of ,jesus was
 but the visible outbreak of a life so  
strong as to be life-giving1            
life-restoring4 ,the flesh it could melt
 away and evermore renew4 ,such a body  
might well walk upon the stormiest      
waters4 ,a body thus responsive to and  
interpenetrative of light1 which is the 

visible life1 could have no sentence of 
death in it4 ,it would never have died4 
,but ,i find myself in regions where ,i 
dare tread no further for the darkness  
of ignorance4 ,i see many glimmers3 they
 are too formless and uncertain4  ,when 
or how the light died away1 we are not  
told4 ,my own fancy is that it went on  
shining but paling all the night upon   
the lonely mount1 to vanish in the dawn 
of the new day4 ,when he came down from 
the mountain the virtue that dwelt in   
him went forth no more in light to the  
eyes1 but in healing to the poor torn   
frame of the epileptic boy4 ,so he      
vanished at last from the eyes of his   
friends1 only to draw nearer--with a    
more intense and healing presence--to   
their hearts and minds4  ,even so come1 
,lord ,jesus4